The ANSI standard for the MWAPI defines fifteen different types of gadgets. Additional gadgets can be defined by the vendor of an implementation, but they are not guaranteed the level of portability of standard ones. Gadget types beginning with the letter "Z" are reserved for implementation-defined gadgets, are not standard, and may not be portable. Table 5.1 lists the MWAPI gadgets along with a brief description of each.

Gadgets can be grouped by the function they perform. Text gadgets are used to display and accept text. Choice gadgets are used to display a list of selectable choices. Table 5.2 shows the different gadgets categorized by function.