# Adobe Photoshop API vs Robolly (slim)

> Robolly scores 48.4 (D) to Adobe Photoshop's 44 (E) for design templates. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-photoshop-api-vs-robolly.md (~4,350 tokens) · this version ~2,430 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-photoshop-api-vs-robolly.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-photoshop-api-vs-robolly
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
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Robolly scores 48.4 (D) on agent readiness against Adobe Photoshop API's 44 (E), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Adobe Photoshop API leads on reliability, schema & documentation, security & auth, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do design templates.

- Adobe Photoshop API: E 44, rank #1218 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adobe-photoshop-api.min.md
- Robolly: D 48.4, rank #1115 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robolly.min.md
- Adobe Photoshop API, good for Enterprise creative operations already on Adobe that automate PSD templating, actions and retouching at volume. Ahead on Reliability, 55 against 48; Schema & documentation, 70 against 57; Security & auth, 62 against 47; Maintenance & community, 42 against 5; Transparency & trust, 60 against 49.
- Robolly, good for Template-driven images, PDFs and short videos for marketers and developers who want a hosted editor and simple synchronous calls. Ahead on Agent ergonomics, 75 against 36; Payments & pricing, 35 against 0. Also Free to start without a card; No incidents deducted, where Adobe Photoshop API loses 4 points for them.

| Category | Adobe Photoshop API | Robolly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 48 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 70 | 57 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 36 | 75 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 62 | 47 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 0 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 42 | 5 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 60 | 49 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Adobe Photoshop API | Robolly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Adobe | Avantis Innovations LLC (Robolly) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://photoshop-api.adobe.io` | `https://api.robolly.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Licence | none | Closed service under the Robolly terms of use (effective 8 April 2026) |
| Tools exposed | none | 9 |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-08 | none |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-04-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-10-24 | 2026-04-08 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 498 npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | none |

Why the edge:
- Agent ergonomics, Robolly +39: Adobe Photoshop API 36 (Every call returns a job and outputs go to your own storage, so responses stay small, but a full document manifest can be large (12). Little to page or filter beyond manifest options (8). Error codes defined, with Adobe's own caveat about unhelpful messages (8). No idempotency key. Retry guidance limits retries to 5xx and the status GET is safe to poll (8). The only official SDK, @adobe/photoshop-apis 2.0.1, calls only v1 /pie/psdService paths, which reached end of life on 2026-07-31, and every call needs a token exchange, two headers and pre-signed URLs (0).); Robolly 75 (Nine MCP tools (25). The renders list pages with a cursor, and templates are found by name (14 of 20). Errors carry `errorCode` and `developerMessage` with eight documented codes (17 of 20). Identical renders are cached for 45 days, so repeats are free and safe, the MCP server has no delete tool, and annotations couldn't be read on the closed server (12 of 20). Renders return the file synchronously by default, but there's no SDK (7 of 15). 25 + 14 + 17 + 12 + 7 = 75.)
- Maintenance & community, Adobe Photoshop API +37: Adobe Photoshop API 42 (Adobe publishes no dated release notes, so we used the public spec. New v2 capabilities (layer effects, nested group export) were merged on 2026-09-08 and remove background was restored to the spec on 2026-09-21 (30). No releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days, only docs commits (5). Support goes through an Adobe customer success manager. The docs repo is active but has no public changelog (5). The official JavaScript SDK was last tagged on 2025-06-24 and targets v1 only (0). The SDK repo has CI workflows but no commits since June 2025 (2).); Robolly 5 (No changelog, release notes or dated API change was found. The sitemap marks every docs page as modified on 4 November 2026, which reads as a site rebuild rather than a change, so it isn't counted (0). No dated changes since 8 August (0). Support by email, with chat on higher plans; not tested (5 of 15). Not in the official MCP registry and no SDKs (0). No public package or repository (0). 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 + 0 = 5.)
- Payments & pricing, Robolly +35: Adobe Photoshop API 0 (No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the OpenAPI spec (0). No public price, enterprise contract through Adobe sales per the 30 September check (0). No free tier (0). A person has to negotiate a contract before any credentials exist (0).); Robolly 35 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public and a table gives the credit cost of each format and size (15 of 20). 7-day trial with no card (20). A person signs up, then copies the key or approves OAuth (0). 0 + 15 + 20 + 0 = 35.)
- Security & auth, Adobe Photoshop API +15: Adobe Photoshop API 62 (OAuth server-to-server credentials from the Developer Console, exchanged for 24-hour tokens. The scopes (openid, AdobeID, read_organizations) aren't per operation (25). Access follows the organisation's product profile, and inputs and outputs are pre-signed URLs to specific objects in your own storage, but there's no read-only mode (10). Returns renders and manifests of your own files (10). No per-call audit log found (0). security.txt is PGP-signed and valid until 2027-07-30, with a PSIRT address and an Intigriti bug bounty. We didn't check certifications for Firefly Services in this run (17).); Robolly 47 (Bearer API key, signed render links, and MCP OAuth with one `robolly:mcp` scope limited to the organisation the user approves. Connections are listed and revoked under Connected AI Tools, and the API key is never shared with an OAuth client. No key scopes or rotation documented (22 of 30). The MCP server can create and update templates but not delete them; there's no read-only mode (10 of 20). Tools return the user's templates and public gallery designs (10 of 15). A renders list and the connected-tools view give some visibility, with no audit log documented (5 of 15). No security.txt (the path returns the site's HTML shell), disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification (0). 22 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 0 = 47.)
- Schema & documentation, Adobe Photoshop API +13: Adobe Photoshop API 70 (OpenAPI 3.0.1 spec for v2 in the public AdobeDocs/ffs-photoshop-API repo, 8 operations (25). No llms.txt found, but the docs include a Markdown 'LLM migration reference guide' written for AI assistants (5). Five of the eight operations have a summary and no description in the spec, though the guides are long and specific (12). 94 enums, required fields and 32 examples in the spec (13). Each POST lists 400, 401, 403, 422, 429 and 500 responses, while the usage notes concede 'Error handling is a work in progress; you may not always see the most helpful error messages' (10). Versioned /v2 paths, but the release notes page is a heading with no entries (5).); Robolly 57 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found for the REST API, and the MCP server is closed. The MCP page lists all nine tools and `get_template_modifications` returns each template's keys, constraints and examples at run time (8 of 25, on that partial evidence). llms.txt indexes the docs (10). The MCP page says what each tool does, which tools change templates or spend credits, and that there is no delete tool (14 of 20). Modification keys follow `{element-name}.{modification-key}` with constraints from the template rather than a fixed schema (7 of 15). Request examples throughout and an error code table with eight codes (13 of 15). /v1 paths with no changelog (5 of 15). 8 + 10 + 14 + 7 + 13 + 5 = 57.)
- Transparency & trust, Adobe Photoshop API +11: Adobe Photoshop API 60 (Closed service under Adobe's terms (15). Inputs and outputs stay on your own pre-signed storage, but we found no retention or training statement specific to the Photoshop API (5). The v1 shutdown was announced on 20 April 2026 for 31 July 2026, 102 days, with dated FAQs. The getting-started page and guides still show v1 calls with no notice (12). No subprocessor list or data locations found for Firefly Services (0).); Robolly 49 (Closed service under terms effective 8 April 2026 from Avantis Innovations LLC in Wyoming. The terms can change without notice (15). The privacy policy of the same date covers Google sign-in and Sheets data, says spreadsheet rows aren't kept beyond a render and account data is deleted with the account, and otherwise names no periods (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or notices (0). Hosting is described only as third-party vendors, with no processors or locations named, while the footer says Made in EU (2 of 20). 15 + 10 + 0 + 2 = 27.)