Head to head · Design templates · October 2026 research run
Adobe Photoshop API vs Templated API + MCP
Templated API + MCP has a score of 61.3 (C) against Adobe Photoshop API's 44.1 (E). Both do design templates. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 38 points.
Adobe Photoshop APIAdobe · HTTP API
E44.1/100#405 of 452
Templated API + MCPTemplated · HTTP API
C61.3/100#231 of 452
Which one, for what
Pick Adobe Photoshop API for
- security & auth (+24)
Pick Templated API + MCP for
- reliability (+20)
- agent ergonomics (+27)
- payments & pricing (+35)
- maintenance & community (+38)
- transparency & trust (+11)
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Adobe Photoshop API | Templated API + MCP | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 55 | 75 | Templated API + MCP +20 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 70 | 72 | Templated API + MCP +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 36 | 63 | Templated API + MCP +27 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 62 | 38 | Adobe Photoshop API +24 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 0 | 35 | Templated API + MCP +35 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 42 | 80 | Templated API + MCP +38 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 61 | 72 | Templated API + MCP +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| Total | 44.1 · E | 61.3 · C |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Adobe Photoshop API | Templated API + MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Adobe | Templated |
| Hosted endpoint | https://photoshop-api.adobe.io | https://api.templated.io/v1 |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 25 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | io.github.templated-io/mcp-server-templated |
| Last release | 2026-09-08 | 2026-09-08 |
| Popularity | 498 npm/wk | 3 stars, 62 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | 4/5 (2) |
Verdicts
Adobe Photoshop API
Edits real PSDs, including text layers, smart objects, layer effects, groups and artboards. Enterprise contract only. No self-serve sign-up, free tier or public price.
Templated API + MCP
MIT-licensed MCP server with 25 tools, every one annotated with readOnlyHint and destructiveHint. One API key with full account access, and the MCP docs offer it as ?apiKey= in the URL.
Before you call either
Adobe Photoshop API
- Call v2 paths on photoshop-api.adobe.io. Remove background and its status live on image.adobe.io
- Skip @adobe/photoshop-apis and the getting-started curl, which still target v1 /pie/psdService paths
- Poll /v2/status/{jobId} or subscribe to I/O Events, since every call returns a job
- Retry only 5xx and 429, using retry-after and at most three attempts
- Cache the IMS token and refresh it before 24 hours run out
Templated API + MCP
- Call get_template_layers before create_render so the keys in
layersmatch the template - Set async true with a webhook_url for MP4, zip or batch renders, since zip without a webhook returns 400
- Video credits are width x height x fps x seconds / 50,000,000, so 10 seconds of 1080p at 30 fps costs 13
- Pass folderId or externalId on the MCP URL when one server serves several customers
- Back off on your own schedule after a 429, since the docs give no retry guidance