# draw.io + MCP vs tldraw SDK + MCP

> draw.io + MCP has a score of 62.4 (B) against tldraw SDK + MCP's 61 (C). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is reliability, 25 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-tldraw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-tldraw.md (~1,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-tldraw.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/drawio-vs-tldraw.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 tldraw SDK + MCP's 61 (C). Both do diagram create. The largest gap is reliability, 25 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
- tldraw SDK + MCP: grade C, 61/100, rank #236 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tldraw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tldraw.json

## Which one, for what

Pick draw.io + MCP for security & auth (+15), payments & pricing (+25), transparency & trust (+23).

Pick tldraw SDK + MCP for reliability (+25), agent ergonomics (+22).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | draw.io + MCP | tldraw SDK + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 75 | tldraw SDK + MCP +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 82 | 79 | draw.io + MCP +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 71 | tldraw SDK + MCP +22 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 40 | draw.io + MCP +15 |
| 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 | 89 | tldraw SDK + MCP +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 51 | draw.io + MCP +23 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **61 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | draw.io + MCP | tldraw SDK + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | draw.io | tldraw |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://mcp.draw.io/mcp` | `https://tldraw-mcp-app.tldraw.workers.dev/mcp` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, stdio | Streamable HTTP, SSE (legacy) |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | tldraw licence (source-available, production needs a licence key) |
| 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 | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.draw/mcp` | `io.github.tldraw/tldraw` |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-30 |
| Popularity | 8.5k stars, 25k npm/wk | 51k stars, 490k 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.

**tldraw SDK + MCP.** Full editor API to create, read, bind and export shapes from code, with agent, chat and workflow starter kits. Source-available, and commercial prices aren't published.

## 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

### tldraw SDK + MCP

1. Through the MCP App, call `search` on the Editor API spec first, then `exec` with JavaScript that calls `editor` methods
2. Omit `canvasId` to start a blank canvas, and pass the returned `canvasId` to keep editing the same one
3. Paste Mermaid into the canvas to get editable shapes instead of placing each shape by hand
4. Return `editor.getCurrentPageShapes()` from `exec` to check what was drawn
5. Read the release notes before a minor upgrade. Minor versions can break

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