# AI Diagram Maker MCP vs D2 (slim)

> D2 scores 62.3 (B) to AI Diagram Maker MCP's 43.8 (E) for diagram creation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-diagram-maker-mcp-vs-d2.md (~4,600 tokens) · this version ~2,680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-diagram-maker-mcp-vs-d2.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ai-diagram-maker-mcp-vs-d2
- 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
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

D2 scores 62.3 (B) on agent readiness against AI Diagram Maker MCP's 43.8 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. AI Diagram Maker MCP leads on schema & documentation. Both do diagram creation.

- AI Diagram Maker MCP: E 43.8, rank #1225 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ai-diagram-maker-mcp.min.md
- D2: B 62.3, rank #561 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/d2.min.md
- AI Diagram Maker MCP, good for Quick architecture, sequence, ERD and flowchart diagrams from a coding agent, with a link to edit them. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 75 against 65. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install; Runs on your own machine; No incidents deducted, where D2 loses 3 points for them.
- D2, good for Agents that need to produce or edit architecture, sequence, grid, SQL table or class diagrams as reviewable text and render them locally. Ahead on Reliability, 68 against 30; Agent ergonomics, 78 against 66; Payments & pricing, 60 against 20; Maintenance & community, 74 against 17; Transparency & trust, 70 against 35. Also No key needed to call it; Open source.

| Category | AI Diagram Maker MCP | D2 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 30 | 68 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 75 | 65 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 66 | 78 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 45 | 48 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 17 | 74 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 35 | 70 |

| Fact (where they differ) | AI Diagram Maker MCP | D2 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | AI Diagram Maker (Rajasekar Elango) | D2 project (The Hack Foundation) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.aidiagrammaker.com/mcp` | no (local only) |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio |  |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| Licence | MIT for the MCP server. The AI Diagram Maker service it calls is closed, under terms last updated 24 September 2025 | MPL-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 5 | none |
| MCP registry | `io.github.erajasekar/ai-diagram-maker-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-04-10 | 2026-09-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-24 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-24 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Popularity | 63 npm/wk | 26k stars, 22k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Maintenance & community, D2 +57: AI Diagram Maker MCP 17 (Last release v3.0.8, published to npm on 10 April 2026, 210 days before this check (0). No release since 8 August (0). Four issues in all. The two open ones, from 4 May (hosted MCP credit usage) and 13 October 2026, show no reply, and one closed issue had a comment (5 of 25). In the official MCP registry under the GitHub-verified namespace io.github.erajasekar, but the entry is 1.0.0 from 19 March 2026 while npm is on 3.0.8 (10 of 15). The only workflow publishes to the registry. No tests or CI, and the MCP SDK floor is ^1.9.0 (2 of 10). 0 + 0 + 5 + 10 + 2 = 17.); D2 74 (Release 0.9.0 on 7 September 2026, 56 days before this check, and no release since (20). Five tagged versions since 4 August, 0.7.2, 0.8.0 and 0.8.1 on 6 August, 0.8.2 on 24 August and 0.9.0 (20); the three 6 August versions leave the 90-day window after 4 November. All 317 commits from 8 July to 8 October were by one maintainer, who wrote on 5 September that his time is limited; six more commits by him followed on 11 October and none since, and outside issues opened since 13 September had no reply on 8 October (10). The Go library and `@d2lang/d2` 0.1.34 match 0.9.0 (15). Go 1.27, dependencies refreshed in 0.8.2 and CI on every push (9). 20+20+10+15+9 = 74.)
- Payments & pricing, D2 +40: AI Diagram Maker MCP 20 (No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public (Plus $10, Max $20 a month), with credits counted at 1,000 tokens each, so there's no per-diagram price (10 of 20). Basic is free forever with 50 credits a month, but the page doesn't say whether a card is needed or whether API and MCP calls are included (10 of 20, half as with an unstated card rule). A person signs up in the app and creates the key (0). 0 + 10 + 10 + 0 = 20.); D2 60 (Read with the self-hosted rule. Free MPL-2.0 software with nothing to buy and no payment protocol (0). No price to publish (20). No card or trial needed (20). An agent can install and run it with no signup (20).)
- Reliability, D2 +38: AI Diagram Maker MCP 30 (Hosted lines, because every tool call is generated on the AI Diagram Maker service, through the hosted endpoint or the npx server. No status page found on the site or in the README (0). No readable incident history (5). The only rate-limit number is the example in the OpenAPI 429 schema ('Maximum 100 requests per day exceeded.'), which isn't stated as the limit (5 of 15). The 429 body is specified with limit, remaining, resetAt and retryAfter, while there's no idempotency or retry guidance for calls that spend credits (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). Nothing labels the service or server beta (10). 0 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 30.); D2 68 (Read with the local-software lines, because D2 runs on the owner's machine. Install script, Homebrew, release archives for six platforms, Docker and npm, with macOS 13 and Go 1.27 stated (20). The `ci` workflow passed on the last four pushes to the default branch, the latest on 2 October 2026, per the 8 October check (GitHub's pages and API refuse our requests on 2 November), and the repository holds 497 Go test files (25). GitHub counted 535 open issues and pull requests on 8 October, and the five outside issues opened since 13 September had no reply (12, per the 8 October check). Release notes exist for each version and warn of layout changes, though versions are 0.x and we found no note for the Go import path moving to `github.com/d2lang/d2` (11). The latest release is 0.9.0, and the maintainer lists a stable 1.0 as a goal (0).)
- Transparency & trust, D2 +35: AI Diagram Maker MCP 35 (The MCP server is MIT (package.json and LICENSE, added 18 March 2026). The service is closed, under terms last updated 24 September 2025 that name the operator only as AI Diagram Maker (20 of 30). The privacy policy of the same date keeps diagrams, revisions and chat prompts and responses 'as long as necessary', and the terms license user input 'to provide and improve our services', with no retention periods and no word on model training or the AI providers used (8 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices (0). No subprocessors or data locations named (0). The MCP server's source sends no telemetry of its own. 20 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 28.); D2 70 (MPL-2.0 for the language, the renderers and TALA (30). No privacy policy, and the software runs locally. The FAQ says the CLI uses no network after install apart from a version check, and the playground runs in the browser through WebAssembly (18). Release notes mark deprecated Go and d2.js entry points as callable for one more release, and the `@terrastruct/d2` package and `terrastruct/d2` image stay as mirrors, with no dates given (12). The FAQ states there is no telemetry. We found no documented switch for the version check (14).)
- Agent ergonomics, D2 +12: AI Diagram Maker MCP 66 (Five compact tools (25). Output can be SVG or PNG and the API can return the D2 source with `debug`, but there's nothing to page or trim, and results carry the rendered image (10 of 20). Typed error bodies with codes, a 422 that returns the failing D2 code, and retryAfter on 429 (16 of 20). No readOnlyHint or other annotations in the source and no idempotency key, and every call spends credits (5 of 20). Only `content` is required and the hosted endpoint needs no install, but there is no SDK beyond the server (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 16 + 5 + 10 = 66.); D2 78 (One command with text in and a diagram out, and no tool definitions to load (22). `--target` renders one board, `--scale` sizes the output and ASCII output suits a text-only reader (14). `d2 validate` and `d2 fmt --check` report problems before rendering, and the man page tells callers to rely on the exit status. No list of error codes (13). Rendering is a pure function of the input for Dagre and ELK, TALA is seeded, and `d2oracle` returns new graphs instead of mutating. A partial file can be written on error (15). `d2 in.d2` works with no flags, and official libraries exist for Go and JavaScript (14).)
- Schema & documentation, AI Diagram Maker MCP +10: AI Diagram Maker MCP 75 (All five tools have zod input schemas in src/tools, and the repository ships an OpenAPI 3 file for POST /api/v2/diagrams/generate (25). No llms.txt (404) and no docs site for agents beyond the README (0). Each description says what the tool does and when to use it, listing trigger phrases and the diagram types, without saying when another tool fits better (16 of 20). `content` has a minimum length and `diagramType` an eight-value enum; the OpenAPI adds `inputType` and `format` enums (13 of 15). Examples in the parameter descriptions and README, and the OpenAPI documents 400, 401, 402, 422 (D2 failed to compile) and 429 with typed error bodies (13 of 15). Git tags from v1.1.1 to v3.0.8 and a /api/v2 path, with no changelog or release notes (8 of 15). 25 + 0 + 16 + 13 + 13 + 8 = 75.); D2 65 (Read as a CLI and library. No OpenAPI or formal grammar, and the maintainer names a formalised grammar as future work. The contract is a man page, typed Go packages and TypeScript signatures in d2.js (12). No llms.txt (HTTP 404), though the docs are Markdown in a public repository (3). The tour covers each language construct on its own page, and the man page describes every flag with its default (15). Flags are typed with defaults and environment variables, and d2.js lists its compile and render options (10). Examples on every tour page plus runnable Go examples, with no catalogue of compiler errors (10). Release notes for every version on the docs site and a separate d2.js changelog (15).)