# Fabric vs Medusa API + MCP

> Medusa scores 63.5 (B) to Fabric's 43.7 (E) for commerce orders. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fabric-vs-medusa
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fabric-vs-medusa.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fabric-vs-medusa.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fabric-vs-medusa.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: 2026-10-14

Medusa API + MCP scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against Fabric's 43.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Fabric leads on security & auth. Both do commerce orders.

- Fabric: grade E, 43.7/100, rank #949 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fabric.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fabric.json
- Medusa API + MCP: grade B, 63.5/100, rank #413 of 1076. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/medusa.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/medusa.json
- Best commerce platforms and checkout APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/commerce/index.md
- All 171 commerce comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/commerce/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Fabric (E)

Good for: A merchant-side API for retailers already on Fabric's order management, catalogue or dropship products.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 62 against 40

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: No public price, free tier or self-serve signup. A trial account is arranged with Fabric

### Medusa API + MCP (B)

Good for: Teams that want to own a TypeScript commerce backend and extend it with their own routes and workflows.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 55 against 23
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 57
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 0
- Maintenance & community, 93 against 15
- Transparency & trust, 71 against 55

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: The official MCP server is docs-only and limited to Cloud accounts


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Fabric | Medusa API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 23 | 55 | Medusa API + MCP +32 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 81 | Medusa API + MCP +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 57 | 72 | Medusa API + MCP +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 40 | Fabric +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 50 | Medusa API + MCP +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 15 | 93 | Medusa API + MCP +78 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 71 | Medusa API + MCP +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **43.7 · E** | **63.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Fabric | Medusa API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Commerce Fabric, Inc. | Medusa |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.fabric.inc/v3` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary SaaS under Fabric's Terms and Conditions (last updated 1 January 2026) and an order form | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `com.medusajs/medusa-mcp` |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-28 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-01-01 | 2026-09-21 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2021-01-14 | 2026-09-07 |
| 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 | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 37k stars, 203k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Fabric.** Public OpenAPI files for about 980 operations, llms.txt, client credentials with role-limited system apps, and a published 99.9 per cent SLA. Access needs a sales contract, with no public price or self-serve trial. The commerce docs are labelled legacy, the newest release notes date from July 2025, and no status page was found.

**Medusa API + MCP.** MIT core you can self-host, with Medusa Cloud running the same APIs and no GMV fee. The official MCP server is docs-only and limited to Cloud accounts.

## Before you call either

### Fabric

1. Get the tenant ID and a System App client ID and secret from the merchant's Copilot admin, with the narrowest role the task needs
2. Request a new system token from {authURL}/v1/token every 10 minutes, since system apps receive no refresh token
3. Send x-fabric-tenant-id on every call, and x-fabric-channel-id where the merchant sells in more than one channel
4. Page order searches with offset and limit, because the default response returns 10 orders
5. Read errorCode and context.endpoint in Orders and Inventory errors, and check for duplicates before retrying a write

### Medusa API + MCP

1. Send x-publishable-api-key on every /store call. It decides which sales channels and products the agent sees
2. Ask for only the fields you need with `fields`. Store routes reject relations nested more than three deep since 2.20.0
3. Read the store's regions before creating a cart, since prices and shipping options depend on region
4. Place the order with POST /store/carts/{id}/complete after shipping and payment sessions are set
5. Read the release notes before upgrading a minor version. Breaking changes land there

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Fabric or Medusa API + MCP?

Medusa API + MCP scores 63.5 (B) on agent readiness against Fabric's 43.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Fabric leads on security & auth.

### Do Fabric and Medusa API + MCP need an API key?

Fabric uses an OAuth sign-in. Medusa API + MCP takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Fabric and Medusa API + MCP without installing anything?

Fabric has a hosted endpoint at https://api.fabric.inc/v3. No hosted endpoint is listed for Medusa API + MCP.

### Are Fabric and Medusa API + MCP open source?

No open-source release is listed for Fabric. Medusa API + MCP is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Fabric or Medusa API + MCP

- [Adobe Commerce (Magento) vs Fabric](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-commerce-vs-fabric.md)
- [Adobe Commerce (Magento) vs Medusa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/adobe-commerce-vs-medusa.md)
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- [Commerce Layer API + MCP vs Fabric](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/commerce-layer-vs-fabric.md)
- [Commerce Layer API + MCP vs Medusa API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/commerce-layer-vs-medusa.md)
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