# draw.io + MCP vs Structurizr + MCP

> draw.io + MCP has a score of 62.4 (B) against Structurizr + MCP's 60.2 (C). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is reliability, 23 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-structurizr
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-structurizr.md (~1,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-structurizr.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-structurizr.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 Structurizr + MCP's 60.2 (C). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is reliability, 23 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
- Structurizr + MCP: grade C, 60.2/100, rank #252 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/structurizr.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/structurizr.json

## Which one, for what

Pick draw.io + MCP for schema & documentation (+21), security & auth (+12), payments & pricing (+10), maintenance & community (+18).

Pick Structurizr + MCP for reliability (+23), agent ergonomics (+6), transparency & trust (+6).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | draw.io + MCP | Structurizr + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 73 | Structurizr + MCP +23 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 61 | draw.io + MCP +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 55 | Structurizr + MCP +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 43 | draw.io + MCP +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 50 | draw.io + MCP +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 68 | draw.io + MCP +18 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 80 | Structurizr + MCP +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **60.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | draw.io + MCP | Structurizr + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | draw.io | Structurizr |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.draw.io/mcp` | `https://mcp.structurizr.com/mcp` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 2 | 6 |
| 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 | no |
| MCP registry | `io.draw/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-19 |
| Popularity | 8.5k stars, 25k npm/wk | 419 stars |
| 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.

**Structurizr + MCP.** One model can generate several C4 architecture views. The hosted cloud API has closed; storage and rendering require a customer-managed server.

## 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

### Structurizr + MCP

1. Call `validate` and then `inspect` on the DSL before pushing a workspace
2. Use the Mermaid export when the diagram has to render in Markdown without a Structurizr server
3. Export needs a view key. Parse the DSL first to list the views
4. Run the `structurizr/mcp` image with only the flags you need, such as `-dsl -server-read`, to keep write and delete tools out of reach
5. The workspace API returns JSON, never images. PNG and SVG come from the separate export command

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

- [Cloudviz API vs draw.io + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudviz-vs-drawio.md)
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