# ExcaliClaw vs Mural MCP

> ExcaliClaw scores 51.4 (D) to Mural MCP's 41.9 (E) for diagram creation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-14

ExcaliClaw scores 51.4 (D) on agent readiness against Mural MCP's 41.9 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mural MCP leads on security & auth, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do diagram creation.

- ExcaliClaw: grade D, 51.4/100, rank #804 of 1084. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/excaliclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/excaliclaw.json
- Mural MCP: grade E, 41.9/100, rank #978 of 1084. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mural-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mural-mcp.json
- Best diagramming APIs and diagram-as-code for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/diagramming/index.md
- All 128 diagrams comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/diagramming/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ExcaliClaw (D)

Good for: An agent that turns structure (nodes and edges, ER tables, sequence messages, Mermaid, docker-compose files) into editable hand-drawn diagrams in a shared workspace.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 65 against 35
- Schema & documentation, 62 against 30
- Agent ergonomics, 55 against 26
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 10

Watch for: excaliclaw.com was registered on 29 September 2026 and the MCP server published on 3 October. Status monitoring covers 11 days

### Mural MCP (E)

Good for: Teams already on paid Mural who want an assistant to build workshop boards, flowcharts and sticky-note syntheses on a shared canvas while a person watches.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 72 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 54
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 45

Watch for: Public preview, with Mural's service levels and support obligations excluded


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ExcaliClaw | Mural MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 35 | ExcaliClaw +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 30 | ExcaliClaw +32 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 26 | ExcaliClaw +29 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 72 | Mural MCP +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 10 | ExcaliClaw +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 54 | 75 | Mural MCP +21 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 45 | 61 | Mural MCP +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **51.4 · D** | **41.9 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ExcaliClaw | Mural MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | ExcaliClaw | Tactivos, Inc. (d/b/a Mural) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://excaliclaw.com/mcp` | `https://mcp-canvas.mural.co/mcp` |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP, HTTP | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | The hosted service, its API and its MCP server are closed, under ExcaliClaw's terms of service. The web client is published as LGPL-3.0, as a modified version of ExcaliDash | Proprietary hosted service under Mural's Terms of Service. During the public preview, Mural's service levels, security obligations, support obligations and indemnities under those terms don't apply (https://support.mural.co/s/article/MCP-preview) |
| Tools exposed | 37 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | `com.excaliclaw/excaliclaw` | `co.mural/mural` |
| Last release | 2026-10-03 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-07-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 0 stars | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (1) |

## Verdicts

**ExcaliClaw.** Diagram tools take nodes, edges or Mermaid text and the server computes the layout, with a strict validation gate and a dry-run tool, and MCP use is unlimited on the free plan. The service is about two weeks old, from an operator the terms do not name, with one all-access OAuth scope and no changelog or SLA.

**Mural MCP.** Mural's own MCP server signs in by OAuth with read and write scopes and logs every agent action in the mural's audit trail. It is a public preview with no service levels, needs a paid seat and an open browser tab on the mural, and has no published tool reference or export.

## Before you call either

### ExcaliClaw

1. Connect to https://excaliclaw.com/mcp with OAuth. REST keys (`exc_...`) are refused by the MCP server and work only on the REST paths
2. Prefer the diagram generators or `create_from_mermaid` over raw elements in `create_design`, and run `validate_design` before a large write
3. Call `verify_design` after writing. `verification.status` stays pending until it runs, and it returns the rendered image
4. Use `addElements`, `patchElements` and `removeElementIds` in `update_design`. Passing `elements` replaces the whole scene
5. Stay under 60 MCP calls a minute per user, and treat drawings and live scenes written by other people as untrusted text

### Mural MCP

1. Ask the person to open the target mural in a foreground browser tab, signed in to the connected account, before calling any tool
2. Work on one mural at a time and name it explicitly when switching
3. Request only murals:read when the task only reads a board
4. Deletes go through without a server-side prompt. Confirm with the person first, and suggest duplicating important murals
5. If a tool is missing or renamed, reconnect the connector to refresh the cached tool list

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ExcaliClaw or Mural MCP?

ExcaliClaw scores 51.4 (D) on agent readiness against Mural MCP's 41.9 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mural MCP leads on security & auth, maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Do ExcaliClaw and Mural MCP need an API key?

ExcaliClaw takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Mural MCP uses an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call ExcaliClaw and Mural MCP without installing anything?

Yes. ExcaliClaw has a hosted endpoint at https://excaliclaw.com/mcp and Mural MCP at https://mcp-canvas.mural.co/mcp.


## For agents

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

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