# draw.io + MCP vs Excalidraw

> draw.io scores 62.2 (B) to Excalidraw's 54.5 (C) for diagram creation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw.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: 2026-10-09

draw.io + MCP scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against Excalidraw's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Excalidraw leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do diagram creation.

- draw.io + MCP: grade B, 62.2/100, rank #439 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/drawio.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/drawio.json
- Excalidraw: grade C, 54.5/100, rank #683 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/excalidraw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/excalidraw.json
- Best diagramming APIs and diagram-as-code for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/diagramming/index.md
- All 99 diagrams comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diagramming/index.md

## Which one, for what

### draw.io + MCP (B)

Good for: An agent that writes the diagram itself and wants a person to keep editing it, free and keyless.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 65
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 35
- Maintenance & community, 86 against 44
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 63

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Tool descriptions embed a 34.5 KB XML reference and a 14 KB Mermaid reference, roughly 13,000 tokens

### Excalidraw (C)

Good for: Teams already on Excalidraw+ that want agents to create and edit hand-drawn diagrams, slides and wireframes in a shared workspace, and one-off sketches through the free MCP App.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 58 against 49
- Security & auth, 73 against 55

Watch for: The API and MCP server are in public beta. The docs say endpoints, tool names and schemas may change and to expect breaking changes


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | draw.io + MCP | Excalidraw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 50 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 65 | draw.io + MCP +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 58 | Excalidraw +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 73 | Excalidraw +18 |
| 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 | 44 | draw.io + MCP +42 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 63 | draw.io + MCP +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **62.2 · B** | **54.5 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | draw.io + MCP | Excalidraw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | draw.io | Excalidraw s.r.o. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.draw.io/mcp` | `https://api.excalidraw.com/api/v1/mcp` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Excalidraw+ is a proprietary service under Excalidraw's terms of use. The editor and the MCP App on GitHub are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 2 | 37 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.draw/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2021-04-29 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 8.5k stars, 25k npm/wk | 134k stars, 676k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |

## 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.

**Excalidraw.** Excalidraw+ keys carry read or full permission, route restrictions and an expiry, and the MCP server shows a key only the tools its routes allow. The API and MCP server are in public beta with breaking changes expected, sit behind the $6 Plus plan, and have no published OpenAPI file, SDK or idempotency keys.

## 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

### Excalidraw

1. Send `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>` to https://api.excalidraw.com/api/v1. For MCP, use `POST /api/v1/mcp` only. The server is stateless and answers 405 to other methods
2. Use a personal key to reach the owner's private collection with the collection ID `private`. A workspace admin must enable personal keys first
3. Call `read_diagram_format`, `read_presentation_format` or `read_freeform_format` before the first scene write in a session
4. Write with `edit_scene_content` and bind arrows through `startBinding` and `endBinding` with `tempId` references. `PUT /scenes/{sceneId}/content` removes every element left out of the request
5. Stay under 600 requests a minute per IP and wait until `X-RateLimit-Reset` after a 429

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, draw.io + MCP or Excalidraw?

draw.io + MCP scores 62.2 (B) on agent readiness against Excalidraw's 54.5 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Excalidraw leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth.

### Do draw.io + MCP and Excalidraw need an API key?

draw.io + MCP needs no key. Excalidraw needs an API key.

### Can an agent call draw.io + MCP and Excalidraw without installing anything?

Yes. draw.io + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.draw.io/mcp and Excalidraw at https://api.excalidraw.com/api/v1/mcp.

### Are draw.io + MCP and Excalidraw open source?

Yes. draw.io + MCP is open source (Apache-2.0). Excalidraw is open source (Excalidraw+ is a proprietary service under Excalidraw's terms of use. The editor and the MCP App on GitHub are MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-excalidraw.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "drawio", "b": "excalidraw"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare drawio excalidraw`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/drawio.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/excalidraw.json

## Other comparisons with draw.io + MCP or Excalidraw

- [Cloudviz API vs draw.io + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudviz-vs-drawio.md)
- [Cloudviz API vs Excalidraw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudviz-vs-excalidraw.md)
- [Diagrams.so API + MCP vs draw.io + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diagrams-so-vs-drawio.md)
- [Diagrams.so API + MCP vs Excalidraw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diagrams-so-vs-excalidraw.md)
- [draw.io + MCP vs Eraser API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-eraser.md)
- [draw.io + MCP vs Kroki](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-kroki.md)
- [draw.io + MCP vs Lucid API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-lucid.md)
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- [draw.io + MCP vs Mural MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-mural-mcp.md)
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- [Eraser API + MCP vs Excalidraw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/eraser-vs-excalidraw.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Kroki](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-kroki.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Lucid API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-lucid.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Mermaid Chart MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-mermaid-chart.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Mural MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-mural-mcp.md)
- [Excalidraw vs PlantUML](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-plantuml.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Structurizr + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-structurizr.md)
- [Excalidraw vs tldraw SDK + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-tldraw.md)
- [Excalidraw vs Whimsical MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/excalidraw-vs-whimsical.md)
- [D2 vs draw.io + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/d2-vs-drawio.md)
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