# Figma API + MCP vs Melius

> Figma API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Melius's 54.1 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Melius leads on reliability. Both do design files. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-melius
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-melius.md (~1,850 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-melius.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-melius.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: 2026-10-08

Figma API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Melius's 54.1 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Melius leads on reliability. Both do design files.

- Figma API + MCP: grade B, 66/100, rank #246 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/figma-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/figma-mcp.json
- Melius: grade C, 54.1/100, rank #536 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/melius.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/melius.json

## Which one, for what

### Figma API + MCP (B)

Good for: Design-to-code agents and teams already paying for Dev or Full seats.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 86 against 70
- Agent ergonomics, 60 against 51
- Security & auth, 74 against 43
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 84 against 66
- Transparency & trust, 73 against 55

Watch for: View and Collab seats get 6 MCP calls a month on paid plans

### Melius (C)

Good for: An agent producing batches of ad creative, product images or short videos on a shared canvas that people then review, with many models behind one key.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 69 against 59

Watch for: API keys have no scopes. A key works with its creator's role in every team the creator belongs to


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Figma API + MCP | Melius | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 59 | 69 | Melius +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 70 | Figma API + MCP +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 51 | Figma API + MCP +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 43 | Figma API + MCP +31 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | Figma API + MCP +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 66 | Figma API + MCP +18 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 55 | Figma API + MCP +18 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66 · B** | **54.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Figma API + MCP | Melius |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Figma | Melius AI, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.figma.com/v1` | `https://api.melius.com/api/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | proprietary | Proprietary service under Melius's terms of service. The mel CLI on npm is MIT, with no public source repository found |
| Tools exposed | 35 | 75 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `com.figma.mcp/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-10 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-03-11 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 456k npm/wk | 9 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**Figma API + MCP.** OpenAPI spec, TypeScript types and an llms.txt index for the REST API. View and Collab seats get 6 MCP calls a month on paid plans.

**Melius.** One backend serves a 59-operation REST API with a public OpenAPI spec, a hosted MCP server with OAuth sign-in and a JSON-only CLI, and the status page shows no incidents since July 2026. API keys carry no scopes and work with their creator's role, and no rate-limit numbers, changelog or per-model credit prices are published.

## Before you call either

### Figma API + MCP

1. Pass `ids=` and `depth=` to `GET /v1/files/:key`. A whole file is large
2. `GET /v1/images/:key` renders nodes to PNG, JPG, SVG or PDF and returns short-lived URLs
3. On 429 read `Retry-After`. Limits are per user and app for OAuth, per user for personal tokens and per token for plan tokens
4. Use the v2 folders endpoints. The v1 projects endpoints were deprecated on 10 August 2026
5. Confirm the credit cost with the user when `weave_run_tool` returns `cost_confirmation_required`

### Melius

1. Generate by creating a node on a canvas, starting a run with POST /nodes/{nodeId}/runs, then polling GET /node-runs/{nodeRunId} until `status` is finished or failed
2. Over MCP, call `get_guide` first, `show_presence` before node changes and `canvas_plan_layout` before `bulk_create_nodes`
3. On 429 wait `Retry-After` seconds. After a timeout or 5xx on a write, read the canvas or run state before resubmitting, because there are no idempotency keys
4. Read credit costs from GET /generation/models?category=image before a bulk run. A 400 can mean the team is out of credits
5. Downloads arrive as a ZIP from a signed URL. Fetch that URL without the `Authorization` header

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Figma API + MCP or Melius?

Figma API + MCP scores 66 (B) on agent readiness against Melius's 54.1 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Melius leads on reliability.

### Do Figma API + MCP and Melius need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Figma API + MCP and Melius without installing anything?

Yes. Figma API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.figma.com/v1 and Melius at https://api.melius.com/api/v1.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Figma API + MCP or Melius

- [Figma API + MCP vs Framer Server API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-framer.md)
- [Figma API + MCP vs Miro API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-miro.md)
- [Figma API + MCP vs Penpot API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/figma-mcp-vs-penpot.md)
- [Framer Server API vs Melius](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/framer-vs-melius.md)
- [Melius vs Miro API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/melius-vs-miro.md)
- [Melius vs Penpot API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/melius-vs-penpot.md)