Rippling Launches MCP Gateway After Year-Long Look at Rival Runlayer

Rippling shipped a commercial MCP gateway on August 19, 2026, after evaluating startup Runlayer's competing product for over a year without buying it. A Rippling employee texted Runlayer's founder calling it a clone. Both companies dropped their lawsuits that night — no settlement, no money. Runlayer, backed by $42 million in funding, now competes against a rival that studied its technology closely.