AWS Labs Nova Canvas vs excalidrawer
AWS Labs Nova Canvas is an MCP server published by awslabs. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). excalidrawer is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by guohaonan-shy. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-30. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  AWS Labs Nova Canvas |  excalidrawer |
|---|---|---|
| Docker MCP Catalog | Listed Version: sha256:5582496accaa Forks (GitHub): 1 835 Pulls (Docker Hub): 11 496 Stars (Docker Hub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 848 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.0.3 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | AWS Labs Nova Canvas | excalidrawer |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 9 848 (better) | 9 (worse) |
| Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs) | 11 496 | No figure on Docker Hub |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 1 835 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (mcp/nova-canvas-mcp-server) | On your machine (excalidrawer) |
| Transport (differs) | stdio | Not stated |
| Tools it declares (differs) | 2 | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 5, secrets among them: 2 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | Not a bundle | 6 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/awslabs/mcp | github.com/guohaonan-shy/excalidrawer |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
AWS Labs Nova Canvas
AI image generation using Amazon Nova Canvas.
excalidrawer
Code-first Excalidraw diagram generation with SVG and PNG export. Say "draw a flowchart" or "create an architecture diagram" and it just works — no browser required. Supports flowcharts, architecture diagrams, sequence diagrams, and timelines from JSON data. Uses resvg-js for fast native PNG rendering.
How to run each
AWS Labs Nova Canvas As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<YOUR_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY>" --env "AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=<YOUR_AWS_SESSION_TOKEN>" --transport stdio awslabs-nova-canvas -- docker run -i --rm -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY -e AWS_SESSION_TOKEN mcp/nova-canvas-mcp-serverRequires: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY (secret), AWS_SESSION_TOKEN (secret)
excalidrawer As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install excalidrawer@claude-communityCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
The marketplaces of excalidrawer publish no list of tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of excalidrawer publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: AWS Labs Nova Canvas · What it can do: excalidrawer · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.