Spanly vs Temporal AI

Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings

Analysis reviewed Live tool data as of 2026-09-01
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At a glance

DimensionSpanlyTemporal AI
PurposeMCP-native observabilityDurable execution for AI workflows
Target UsersMCP server teamsAI agent & microservices teams
Pricing ModelFreemium (pay per request)Freemium (usage-based billing)
Open SourceYes (SDK/CLI, Apache 2.0)Yes (core, MIT license)
Key DifferentiatorReal-time MCP request tracingAutomatic state capture & retries
Latest News HighlightAgentjacking warning (June 2026)Usage-based billing & custom roles (June 2026)

Choose Spanly if you already have an APM and need deep MCP-specific tracing with low overhead; it's purpose-built for MCP servers. Choose Temporal if you need to build reliable, long-running AI agent workflows with automatic retries and state persistence, even without MCP. For teams doing both, they complement each other.

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Spanly
Spanly

MCP server observability: traces, security scans, and auto-fix patches

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Temporal AI
Temporal AI

Durable execution platform keeping AI agents and workflows running through failures with automatic state capture and retries.

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Pricing
Freemium
Freemium
Plans
$0/mo
$82.50/mo (billed annually at $990)
$415.83/mo (billed annually at $4,990)
Custom
$0/mo (with $1,000 in credits)
$100/mo
$500/mo
Custom
Popularity
0 views
7.5k views
Skill Level
Intermediate
Intermediate
API Available
Platforms
WebCLIAPI
WebAPICLI
Categories
🔌 MCP Servers & Agent Tooling📡 LLM Observability & Evals
🕸️ Agent Frameworks & Orchestration⚙️ Developer Infrastructure
Features
Real-time MCP request tracing with full JSON-RPC payload capture
Per-server, per-client, per-tool performance metrics (P50/P95/P99)
Security scanners for prompt injection, tool poisoning, secrets, and schema issues
Automated patch workflow: canary, A/B test, then apply fixes to live traffic
Health monitors that check server uptime and alert on downtime
Error tracking with stack traces and AI-generated fault write-ups
Drift detection that identifies degraded tools over time
Client conformance monitoring (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.)
Data residency in US and EU regions, selectable per project
OpenTelemetry ingestion and export for MCP spans
Public dashboards with read-only share links
Alert rules with Slack, email, webhook, and in-app notifications
MCP Gateway on your own domain (Business)
SAML/OIDC single sign-on (Business)
Audit log (Business)
Durable execution with automatic state capture
Workflow orchestration with automatic retry and recovery
Activities with automatic retries and timeouts
Native SDKs for Python, Go, TypeScript, Ruby, C#, Java, PHP, Rust (preview)
Human-in-the-loop with signals and pause/resume
Saga pattern via compensating transactions
Full visibility UI for workflow state
Serverless Workers for Google Cloud Run (pre-release)
Serverless Workers for AWS Lambda (public preview)
Standalone Activities for independent execution
Workflow Streams for real-time interactivity
Task Queue Priority & Fairness (GA)
Temporal Worker Controller (GA) for K8s lifecycle
External Storage for large payloads (public preview)
Custom Roles for granular permissions (pre-release)
Integrations
Datadog
Sentry
New Relic
OpenTelemetry
Slack
PagerDuty
GitHub
LangGraph
OpenAI Agents SDK
Google ADK
Google Cloud Run
AWS Lambda
Azure
NVIDIA
Salesforce
Twilio
Docker
Kubernetes
Braintrust

Who should pick which

  • MCP server operator
    Pick: Spanly

    Spanly provides real-time MCP request tracing, error capture, and performance metrics specifically for MCP servers. It integrates with existing APMs and supports EU/US data residency.

  • AI agent developer (reliability)
    Pick: Temporal AI

    Temporal's durable execution ensures AI agents survive crashes and retries, with automatic state capture and human-in-the-loop via signals. It works with OpenAI Agents SDK and Google ADK.

  • Platform team needing both
    Pick: Spanly

    Teams running MCP servers in production need MCP-native observability. Spanly complements Temporal by monitoring MCP server health and tracing tool calls.

  • Microservices orchestrator
    Pick: Temporal AI

    Temporal handles long-running multi-step workflows with Saga compensating transactions, automatic retries, and full visibility. It's overkill for simple cron jobs but ideal for complex orchestration.

  • Compliance officer (EU AI Act)
    Pick: Spanly

    Spanly's 2026-06-04 article provides a practical checklist for logging MCP tool calls under EU AI Act traceability requirements, and the platform supports EU data residency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Spanly vs Temporal AI: which should you choose?

Choose Spanly if you already have an APM and need deep MCP-specific tracing with low overhead; it's purpose-built for MCP servers. Choose Temporal if you need to build reliable, long-running AI agent workflows with automatic retries and state persistence, even without MCP. For teams doing both, they complement each other.

Can Spanly be used without MCP?

No, Spanly is specifically designed for MCP servers and only captures MCP JSON-RPC messages.

Can Temporal replace Spanly for MCP monitoring?

No, Temporal is a workflow engine, not an observability tool. It doesn't capture JSON-RPC payloads or provide per-tool metrics.

Do both tools offer open-source options?

Yes, Spanly's SDK and CLI are open source (Apache 2.0), and Temporal's core is open source (MIT). Both can be self-hosted.

Which is cheaper for a small team?

Spanly's free tier (100K requests) is generous. Temporal Cloud's free tier is limited; self-hosted Temporal is free but requires infrastructure.

Can I integrate Spanly with Temporal?

Yes, you could instrument a Temporal worker that calls MCP tools. Spanly would capture the MCP requests, while Temporal tracks the workflow.

Does Spanly support alerting?

Yes, up to 100 alert rules on the Business plan, with Slack/PagerDuty routing.

Does Temporal support human-in-the-loop?

Yes, via signals and pause/resume, allowing human approval before proceeding.

What's the latest pricing change?

Temporal introduced usage-based billing (Billable Actions) in June 2026 for better cost transparency. Spanly's pricing remains per-request tiers.

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Explore each tool further

Spanly
View Spanly reviewSpanly alternatives
Temporal AI
View Temporal AI reviewTemporal AI alternatives

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Last reviewed: July 2, 2026