# draw.io + MCP vs Eraser API + MCP

> draw.io + MCP has a score of 62.4 (B) against Eraser API + MCP's 38.7 (E). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 53 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-eraser
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-eraser.md (~1,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-eraser.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-eraser.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-05

draw.io + MCP has a score of 62.4 (B) against Eraser API + MCP's 38.7 (E). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 53 points.

- draw.io + MCP: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #219 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/drawio.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/drawio.json
- Eraser API + MCP: grade E, 38.7/100, rank #427 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/eraser.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/eraser.json

## Which one, for what

Pick draw.io + MCP for reliability (+35), schema & documentation (+30), agent ergonomics (+15), payments & pricing (+25), maintenance & community (+53), transparency & trust (+23).

Pick Eraser API + MCP for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | draw.io + MCP | Eraser API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 15 | draw.io + MCP +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 52 | draw.io + MCP +30 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 34 | draw.io + MCP +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 57 | Eraser API + MCP +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 35 | draw.io + MCP +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 33 | draw.io + MCP +53 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 51 | draw.io + MCP +23 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **38.7 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | draw.io + MCP | Eraser API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | draw.io | Eraser |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.draw.io/mcp` | `https://app.eraser.io/api` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | none |
| Tools exposed | 2 | 42 |
| 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 | `io.draw/mcp` | `io.eraser/eraser` |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-05-22 |
| Popularity | 8.5k stars, 25k npm/wk | 76 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**draw.io + MCP.** Free, keyless and Apache 2.0, with a Docker image for self-hosting. Tool descriptions embed a 34.5 KB XML reference and a 14 KB Mermaid reference, roughly 13,000 tokens.

**Eraser API + MCP.** Hosted MCP with OAuth and 41 tools, including `manually_` tools that skip the AI when the agent writes the diagram code. No status page, rate limits, SLA or changelog.

## Before you call either

### draw.io + MCP

1. Pass `mermaid` to `create_diagram` for any type on its Mermaid list. Use `xml` only for icons, mockups or hand-placed layouts
2. Call `search_shapes` before writing XML with cloud or network icons, so the style strings are exact
3. Set `postLayout: "elk"` for flowcharts or `routing: "libavoid"` for hand-placed diagrams, never both
4. Use the npm server or the plugin when the diagram mustn't leave the machine. The hosted App sends it to draw.io's server
5. Expect the tool list to cost about 13,000 tokens before the first call

### Eraser API + MCP

1. Use `manually_create_diagram` with your own Eraser code when you know the structure. It skips the AI and its credits
2. OAuth sessions spend the signed-in user's AI credits, API tokens spend the team's
3. Call /render/elements ($0.20) when you already have diagram code; /render/prompt costs $0.80
4. Set a spend limit before running in CI. At 100 per cent the API stops until the next calendar month

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