# Placid API + MCP vs Robolly

> Robolly scores 48.4 (D) to Placid's 43 (E) for design templates. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/placid-vs-robolly
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/placid-vs-robolly.md (~4,050 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Robolly scores 48.4 (D) on agent readiness against Placid API + MCP's 43 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Placid API + MCP leads on reliability and transparency & trust. Both do design templates.

- Placid API + MCP: grade E, 43/100, rank #1262 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/placid.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/placid.json
- Robolly: grade D, 48.4/100, rank #1127 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robolly.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/robolly.json
- Best programmatic image and design asset APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/design-assets/index.md
- All 153 assets comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/design-assets/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Placid API + MCP (E)

Good for: Small teams and no-code builders who want template renders to image, PDF and video at a low monthly price, and agents that should be fenced to a few templates.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 48
- Transparency & trust, 58 against 49

Watch for: No OpenAPI, no llms.txt, and the MCP tool list isn't published

### Robolly (D)

Good for: Template-driven images, PDFs and short videos for marketers and developers who want a hosted editor and simple synchronous calls.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 57 against 34
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 40
- Security & auth, 47 against 34

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found


## Why the edge

### Agent ergonomics: Robolly +35

- Placid API + MCP (40): Image, PDF and video objects are small and the MCP can be limited to chosen templates and creative types (15). We found no pagination or filter parameters on the pages we read (5). Six status codes documented without an error body format (10). No idempotency key, no MCP tool annotations we could see, and DELETE removes an image for good. Polling the polling_url is safe (3). Only template_uuid is required, but the official libraries are PHP and Laravel only, both last tagged v1.0.1 on 2022-07-20 (7).
- Robolly (75): Nine MCP tools (25). The renders list pages with a cursor, and templates are found by name (14 of 20). Errors carry `errorCode` and `developerMessage` with eight documented codes (17 of 20). Identical renders are cached for 45 days, so repeats are free and safe, the MCP server has no delete tool, and annotations couldn't be read on the closed server (12 of 20). Renders return the file synchronously by default, but there's no SDK (7 of 15). 25 + 14 + 17 + 12 + 7 = 75.

### Reliability: Placid API + MCP +27

- Placid API + MCP (75): Hyperping status page at status.placid.app with separate App and API components and 90-day bars (20). No incidents are posted. The page's own figure for the API is 99.963 per cent over 90 days, roughly 48 minutes of recorded downtime with no write-up, so minor rather than clean (20). 60 requests a minute and 10 simultaneous create_now requests, documented (15). X-RateLimit-Limit, -Remaining and -Reset headers and exponential backoff advice on 429, but no idempotency key or safe-retry note for renders, which are writes (10). No SLA found on the pricing page or in the docs (0). REST API 2.0 is GA (10).
- Robolly (48): Hosted lines. The footer links an UptimeRobot status page, but it loads its figures from /api/, which stats.uptimerobot.com's robots.txt disallows, so the page showed no monitors or history (10 of 20 for a page that exists) and no history was read (5). A hard limit of 3 renders a second is published (15). The `rate-limit` error code and advice to send renders one at a time, and identical renders are cached for 45 days at no cost, which makes a retry safe; there's no Retry-After or backoff interval (8 of 15). No SLA found (0). The API isn't labelled beta (10). 10 + 5 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 48.

### Schema & documentation: Robolly +23

- Placid API + MCP (34): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract, and the MCP tool definitions aren't published (0). /llms.txt returns 404 (0). Endpoint pages state purpose and warn that create_now may fail under high load (12). template_uuid is the one required field and status is an enum, but `layers` and `modifications` are open objects keyed by layer name (8). Request and response examples per endpoint, and an error page with six codes but no body format (9). Docs are versioned 2.0, but the changelog on Headway carries no dates and its newest entries predate the MCP server (5).
- Robolly (57): No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract found for the REST API, and the MCP server is closed. The MCP page lists all nine tools and `get_template_modifications` returns each template's keys, constraints and examples at run time (8 of 25, on that partial evidence). llms.txt indexes the docs (10). The MCP page says what each tool does, which tools change templates or spend credits, and that there is no delete tool (14 of 20). Modification keys follow `{element-name}.{modification-key}` with constraints from the template rather than a fixed schema (7 of 15). Request examples throughout and an error code table with eight codes (13 of 15). /v1 paths with no changelog (5 of 15). 8 + 10 + 14 + 7 + 13 + 5 = 57.

### Security & auth: Robolly +13

- Placid API + MCP (34): One bearer token per project, no scopes, and the docs say nothing on revoking or rotating it (15). The MCP setup guide documents ?api_token= in the server URL for clients that can't set headers, less 10 (5). MCP settings restrict which templates and which output types (image, PDF, video, docs only) the server can use (14). Returns renders from your own templates (10). A dashboard activity log is mentioned in the changelog, nothing per call documented (5). No security.txt (404), no certification in the privacy policy and no disclosure policy found (0).
- Robolly (47): Bearer API key, signed render links, and MCP OAuth with one `robolly:mcp` scope limited to the organisation the user approves. Connections are listed and revoked under Connected AI Tools, and the API key is never shared with an OAuth client. No key scopes or rotation documented (22 of 30). The MCP server can create and update templates but not delete them; there's no read-only mode (10 of 20). Tools return the user's templates and public gallery designs (10 of 15). A renders list and the connected-tools view give some visibility, with no audit log documented (5 of 15). No security.txt (the path returns the site's HTML shell), disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification (0). 22 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 0 = 47.

### Transparency & trust: Placid API + MCP +9

- Placid API + MCP (58): Closed service under published terms, per the 30 September check (15). Privacy policy updated 18 November 2024, a DPA on request, and raw request data kept 'for a limited amount of time' with no period stated (12). No deprecation policy or dated notices. The old changelog says v1 remains functional (3). Subprocessor categories only, with 'We don't publish further details of our data processors', and no hosting location (3).
- Robolly (49): Closed service under terms effective 8 April 2026 from Avantis Innovations LLC in Wyoming. The terms can change without notice (15). The privacy policy of the same date covers Google sign-in and Sheets data, says spreadsheet rows aren't kept beyond a render and account data is deleted with the account, and otherwise names no periods (10 of 30). No deprecation policy or notices (0). Hosting is described only as third-party vendors, with no processors or locations named, while the footer says Made in EU (2 of 20). 15 + 10 + 0 + 2 = 27.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Placid API + MCP | Robolly | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 48 | Placid API + MCP +27 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 34 | 57 | Robolly +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 75 | Robolly +35 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 34 | 47 | Robolly +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 35 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 7 | 5 | Placid API + MCP +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 49 | Placid API + MCP +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **43 · E** | **48.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Placid API + MCP | Robolly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Placid | Avantis Innovations LLC (Robolly) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.placid.app/api/rest` | `https://api.robolly.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Closed service under the Robolly terms of use (effective 8 April 2026) |
| Tools exposed | none | 9 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Terms last updated | 2024-11-25 | 2026-04-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-11-18 | 2026-04-08 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Placid API + MCP

- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist
- -0.3 on 8 October 2026: checklist

### Robolly

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Placid API + MCP.** Hyperping status page with separate App and API components and 90-day history. No OpenAPI, no llms.txt, and the MCP tool list isn't published.

**Robolly.** Robolly's nine MCP tools, synchronous renders, typed error codes and free cached re-renders keep template rendering cheap and predictable for an agent, and OAuth connections can be revoked per client. There is no OpenAPI file, changelog or dated release, and API access starts at $39 a month after a 7-day trial.

## Before you call either

### Placid API + MCP

1. Send the token in the `Authorization` header, not as ?api_token=, wherever the client allows it
2. Read X-RateLimit-Remaining and wait for X-RateLimit-Reset after a 429
3. Use test mode for watermarked previews while matching layer names, then switch to live renders
4. Leave create_now off for batches, since it caps at 10 at once and may fail under load
5. Poll the returned polling_url or pass webhook_success, since images start as queued

### Robolly

1. Call `get_template_modifications` before `render` to learn the keys a template accepts
2. Send renders one at a time; the API refuses more than 3 a second with `rate-limit`
3. Repeat an identical render freely; it is cached for 45 days and costs nothing
4. Poll `get_render` after `render_video`, since video renders are queued
5. Stop on `render-limit-exhausted` and tell the user the monthly credits are spent

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Placid API + MCP or Robolly?

Robolly scores 48.4 (D) on agent readiness against Placid API + MCP's 43 (E), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Placid API + MCP leads on reliability and transparency & trust.

### Do Placid API + MCP and Robolly need an API key?

Placid API + MCP needs an API key. Robolly takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Placid API + MCP and Robolly without installing anything?

Yes. Placid API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.placid.app/api/rest and Robolly at https://api.robolly.com/v1.


## For agents

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

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp