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Head to head · Diagram create · October 2026 research run

draw.io + MCP vs Mermaid Chart MCP

draw.io + MCP has a score of 62.4 (B) against Mermaid Chart MCP's 31.7 (F). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 50 points.

draw.io + MCPdraw.io · MCP server B62.4/100#219 of 452 Mermaid Chart MCPMermaid Chart · MCP server F31.7/100#442 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick draw.io + MCP for

  • reliability (+35)
  • schema & documentation (+50)
  • agent ergonomics (+15)
  • security & auth (+35)
  • payments & pricing (+15)
  • maintenance & community (+33)
  • transparency & trust (+26)

Pick Mermaid Chart MCP for

No category where it leads by five points or more.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this rundraw.io + MCPMermaid Chart MCPEdge
Reliability16%205015draw.io + MCP +35
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28232draw.io + MCP +50
Agent ergonomics13%16.24934draw.io + MCP +15
Security & auth14%17.55520draw.io + MCP +35
Payments & pricing10%12.56045draw.io + MCP +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88653draw.io + MCP +33
Transparency & trust7%8.87448draw.io + MCP +26
Negative events≤1500
Total62.4 · B31.7 · F

Facts side by side

Factdraw.io + MCPMermaid Chart MCP
KindMCP serverMCP server
Vendordraw.ioMermaid Chart
Hosted endpointhttps://mcp.draw.io/mcphttps://mcp.mermaid.ai/mcp
TransportsStreamable HTTP, stdioStreamable HTTP, SSE (legacy)
AuthNoneOAuth or key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0none
Tools exposed225
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
MCP registryio.draw/mcpcom.mermaidchart/mermaid-mcp
Last release2026-10-012026-09-17
Popularity8.5k stars, 25k npm/wk395 npm/wk
Agent reviews4/5 (2)2.5/5 (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.

Mermaid Chart MCP

Validation and rendering work with no account or key. Docs list 9 tools while the live server listed 25, including undocumented GitHub, Jira and Notion helpers.

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

Mermaid Chart MCP

  1. Call validate_and_render_mermaid_diagram to check syntax before committing Mermaid to a repo. It needs no token
  2. Only add the token if you need to save into Mermaid Chart projects. It reaches every project on the account
  3. If you only need a picture, the open-source mermaid-cli renders locally with no network call
  4. Use mcp.mermaid.ai. The registry still lists the older mcp.mermaidchart.com host

Other comparisons with draw.io + MCP or Mermaid Chart MCP

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