Compare the Top Free 3D Printing Software as of April 2026

What is Free 3D Printing Software?

3D printing software is software that prepares and optimizes 3D models for printing on 3D printers. These tools typically include features such as file conversion (e.g., STL, OBJ), model slicing (dividing the model into layers), material selection, and print job management. The software ensures that the digital model is ready for physical production by adjusting settings like print speed, temperature, and support structures. It also helps users preview the final print, simulate printing paths, and monitor print progress. 3D printing software is essential for industries like manufacturing, product design, healthcare, and prototyping, enabling users to bring digital concepts to life through additive manufacturing. Compare and read user reviews of the best Free 3D Printing software currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    Blender

    Blender

    Blender Foundation

    Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Cycles is Blender’s built-in powerful unbiased path-tracer engine that offers stunning ultra-realistic rendering. Blender’s comprehensive array of modeling tools make creating, transforming and editing your models a breeze. VFX professionals say: “Probably the best tracker in the market”. Blender includes production ready camera and object tracking. Allowing you to import raw footage, track the footage, mask areas and see the camera movements live in your 3D scene. Eliminating the need to switch between programs. Thanks to the high quality rigging and animation tools, Blender is being used for numerous short films, advertisements, TV series and feature films now.
  • 2
    AstroPrint

    AstroPrint

    AstroPrint

    Keep your 3D models stored neatly in the cloud so you can access them anywhere. Simply upload your own .stl files for cloud based slicing or upload pre-sliced .gcode files. Add and edit your designs with our online STL viewer and print wirelessly through a beautifully simple, intuitive interface. Slice with confidence with manufacturer suggested settings. Everything is accessible from your browser so there is no software to install or keep up to date. Using the AstroPrint mobile app, you can print by enabling WIFI 3D Printer so you can print from any device, remotely controling your 3D printer, and even get push notifications when your prints are finished. Neat! View real-time progress of your prints. Add a camera to stream live video, take snapshots, and timelapses. Whether you are with a 3D Print Farm Business, a major University with 100+ printers, or an Enterprise like Stanley Black and Decker, we have you covered.
    Starting Price: $9.90 per month
  • 3
    Ultimaker Cura
    Trusted by millions of users, Ultimaker Cura is the world’s most popular 3D printing software. Prepare prints with a few clicks, integrate with CAD software for an easier workflow, or dive into custom settings for in-depth control. At the heart of Ultimaker Cura is its powerful, open-source slicing engine, built through years of expert in-house development and user contributions. Intent profiles print specific applications at the click of a button. Recommended profiles tested for thousands of hours ensure reliable results. ‘Custom mode’ gives over 400 settings for granular control. Regular updates constantly improve features and printing experience​. If you own a 3D printer, software matters. Get the most from your printer with software designed to suit your workflow. Manufacturing doesn’t need to be complicated. We design our software so anyone can use it – both experienced or rookie 3D printer users.
  • 4
    Meshmixer

    Meshmixer

    Autodesk

    Meshmixer is state-of-the-art software for working with triangle meshes. Do you need to clean up a 3D scan, do some 3D printing, or design an object that fits something else? Meshmixer can help. Think of it as a sort of "Swiss Army Knife" for 3D meshes. Drag-and-Drop Mesh Mixing. 3D Sculpting and Surface Stamping. Robust Convert-to-Solid for 3D printing. 3D Patterns & Lattices. Hollowing (with escape holes!). Branching Support Structures for 3D printing. Automatic Print Bed Orientation Optimization, Layout & Packing. Advanced selection tools including brushing, surface-lasso, and constraints. Remeshing and Mesh Simplification/Reducing. Mesh Smoothing and Free-Form Deformations. Hole Filling, Bridging, Boundary Zippering, and Auto-Repair. Plane Cuts, Mirroring, and Booleans. Extrusions, Offset Surfaces, and Project-to-Target-Surface. Interior Tubes & Channels. Precise 3D Positioning with Pivots. Automatic Alignment of Surfaces. 3D Measurements. Stability & Thickness Analysis.
  • 5
    Slic3r

    Slic3r

    Slic3r

    The Slic3r project has been under active and massive development. Make sure you get 1.3.0 now or try the development builds! Slic3r is free software, developed by Alessandro Ranellucci with the help of several contributors and a wonderful community. Turn your 3D models into G-code. Visual preview of toolpaths. Advanced configuration management. Custom G-code with conditional logic. Print spool queue (print on multiple machines simultaneously) or send to OctoPrint. FDM/FFF and SLA/DLP. Modifiers (distinct settings on custom regions). Most features are exposed from command line, thus providing a handy tool for batch operations and custom integrations. A C++ library for building custom applications on top of the Slic3r internal algorithms. Handle 3D models (open, repair, transform, convert). Generate G-code in many flavors. Generate infill patterns. Send G-code over serial port. Estimate G-code printing time.
  • 6
    SelfCAD

    SelfCAD

    SelfCAD

    SelfCAD is a 3D modeling for users of all levels. There is an online as well as downloadable versions for Windows and Mac. Most of the CAD programs available are either expensive or don’t generally provide all the necessary 3D modeling and printing tools. Some take months or years to learn and are meant for specific industries. SelfCAD has bridged this gap as it’s affordable, easy to learn and it targets all the industries. It has a simplified user interface too making it a perfect tool for novice users. SelfCAD is fully-featured including modeling, Sculpting, rendering, simple animations, and 3d print slicer, but the aggregate amount of tools is much less than any compatible software package because of its brilliant UX. The in-built slicer of SelfCAD is handy as it helps prepare the designs for printing without having to switch to another program. SelfCAD is very affordable. There are interactive tutorials available that helps one learn 3D modeling with much ease.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 7
    Onshape

    Onshape

    Onshape

    Onshape by PTC is the leading cloud-native CAD & PDM platform that runs on any device, anywhere-requiring zero IT. Onshape is for product design companies who are fed up with the errors, time waste, and hidden costs of outdated file-based CAD & PDM.
    Starting Price: $125.00/month/user
  • 8
    JSCAD

    JSCAD

    JSCAD

    JSCAD is an open-source set of modular, browser, and command line tools for creating parametric 2D and 3D designs with Javascript code. It provides a quick, precise and reproducible method for generating 3D models, and is especially useful for 3D printing applications. There are different 'flavors' of JSCAD that you can use based on your needs. JSCAD is a solids modeling system. It is fundamentally unitless, however, when you export files, typically 1 unit in JSCAD corresponds to 1 millimeter in your model file. Modeling in JSCAD is often a case of building the shape you want out of primitives, but there are often many different options to get the same shape. Check out the examples on the JSCAD app's info menu to learn about the different capabilities. Booleans are one of the most important tools in the solid modeling toolkit. Many of the shapes that you will need to create on your journey can be created by joining, subtracting and intersecting simple shapes.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 9
    MatterControl

    MatterControl

    MatterHackers

    MatterControl is a free, open-source software package that lets you design, prepare, and manage your 3D prints. It includes powerful design and print preparation capabilities, as well as potent templates in the Design Apps that will kickstart your creations. Design, prepare, and manage 3D prints in one program. Personalize and customize each design. Powerful design and print preparation capabilities. MatterControl is the first 3D printing software to make it possible to integrate design, preparation, and printing in one end-use program. MatterControl helps you to succeed at personalizing each design making every 3D print truly your own. MatterControl gives you powerful design and print preparation capabilities, as well as potent templates in the design apps that will kickstart your creations. Personalize and customize 3D prints, whether they are your own, or a shared, online file.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 10
    OSSA 3D

    OSSA 3D

    Conceptualiz

    OSSA 3D is a mobile iPad application designed to convert CT scans into accurate virtual 3D printable models. This easy-to-use medical 3D printing software solution enables healthcare professionals to create precise anatomical models for surgical planning and patient education. The OSSA3D iPad app allows healthcare providers, with no prior experience in 3D modeling, to easily create accurate 3D digital models quickly and automatically from medical imaging data with the touch of a finger. Our mobile iPad app virtual surgical planning and 3D printing software platform allows orthopedic surgeons to plan the steps of an operation on their patient; such as osteotomy, fracture reduction, screw placement, and plate templating. Automatic plate contouring makes templating easy and enables the development of custom plate designs. Various 3D implants, such as hip and knee replacements, can be imported and templated to fit the patient.
    Starting Price: $10,000 per year
  • 11
    Repetier-Host
    Import one or more 3D models and place, scale, rotate or duplicate them on your virtual bed. Slice your plate with different slicers and optimal settings for perfect results. Check the result completely, in regions or layer for layer. Print directly from the host via USB or TCP/IP connection, via SD card or via Repetier-Server. Repetier-Host works with almost all popular 3D FDM printers! Repetier-Host is your ALL-IN-ONE software solution, which gives you countless benefits. Repetier-Host can handle up to 16 extruders with different filament types and colors simultaneously and visualize the result with individual filament colors, so you can see your result before printing. Repetier-Host includes directly 4 different slicers: Slic3r, Slic3r Prusa Edition, CuraEngine and Skeinforge. If that is not enough, you can use any other slicer you want with Repetier-Host.
  • 12
    Qlone

    Qlone

    EyeCue Vision Technologies

    Scanning is super-fast and done in real-time on your device, no waiting time! even in 4K! Includes AR View with ARKit/ARCore, so you can beam your 3D models back into the real world! Scanning is super easy with Qlone, just place your object in the middle of the mat and our AR dome will guide you through the scanning process. Re-texture from your selected pose. You can even merge two different poses of the same object to have a better overall result. Use our set of modifiers to clean and modify your 3D model – Texture, Art, Sculpt, Clean and Resize. Export in a variety of formats for use in other 3D tools/projects – OBJ, STL, USDZ, GLB, PLY, X3D. Share your models with friends through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Line, Email, iCloud and iMessage. Export directly to i.materialise - an amazing online 3D printing service. Use our top flattening option to easily scan objects with a flat top. New one-time purchase option for unlimited exports.
  • 13
    OctoPrint

    OctoPrint

    OctoPrint

    Control and monitor every aspect of your 3D printer and your printing jobs right from within your browser. OctoPrint's powerful plugin system allows extending its functionality with awesome plugins from the community. Free and open source software released under the Affero General Public License (AGPL). Control and monitor every aspect of your 3D printer and your printing jobs right from within your browser: Access the embedded webcam feed and watch remotely how your printer is creating your newest thing, get constant feedback regarding the current progress of your print job, take a look at the integrated GCODE visualizer to see a rendition of the GCODE you are currently printing, keep an eye on the temperatures of your hotends and print bed and adapt them on the fly, move the print head along all axes, extrude, retract or just define your own custom controls, start, stop or just pause your current print job, you are in full control at any time.
  • 14
    UP Studio

    UP Studio

    Tiertime Corporation

    UP Studio’s rich feature set and ease of use have gained a loyal following over the years. Many customers purchase Tiertime printers specifically because they love the software. With the support of the latest Task format (.TSK), users can set print parameters according to parts properties and print parts with variable parameters in a single printing process. This gives users unmatched versatility in planning production. Complete set of layout and adjustment tools. Simple to use, plug, and play with optimized print parameters. Trace support intuitively by hovering on the target support, the corresponding support will be selected in the support editor. Detailed tool path preview and pause print at specific layer. Save the current project into TSK file format for later use of sharing. Comphresive print preview with material usage and time estimates, allows you to cost prototypes before printing.
  • 15
    Creo

    Creo

    PTC

    Imagine, design, create, and innovate your products better with Creo, 3D CAD/CAM/CAE software, and solutions for product design and development. Now, more than ever, product design and manufacturing teams are expected to create products more efficiently and cost effectively, without sacrificing innovation or quality. Fortunately, Creo delivers the most scalable range of 3D CAD product development packages and tools in today’s market. Creo 7.0 has breakthrough innovations in the areas of generative design, real-time simulation, multibody design, additive manufacturing, and others! Take your products from concept to digital prototype efficiently, precisely, and intuitively with Creo—on the cutting edge of CAD for more than 30 years. With Creo 7.0, PTC amply demonstrates its skill at adding compelling new features to an already robust tool-set using smart partnerships to extend its capabilities even further.
  • 16
    ideaMaker

    ideaMaker

    Raise3D

    IdeaMaker prepares Gcode for 3D printing and support STL, OBJ, OLTP and 3MF files. It features user-friendly interface and limitless customization for advanced users. For example, ideaMaker allows adaptive layer heights to automatically adjust the layer height depending on detail level required for printed area, further improving quality and reducing print time. Furthermore, user can differentiate the settings for single or multiple models by Modifier, Per-Group Setting, and Per-Layer Setting. In additional, ideaMaker provides customized support, free cut and model repair. ideaMaker is seamlessly linked to Raise3D’s other resources and tools. RaiseCloud is a cloud-based printer management platform enabling automate small batch manufacturing and print remotely. ideaMaker Library is an open library for user to get and share slicing profiles, model files and printing files. ideaMaker enables user to upload Gcode to Octoprint, thus its connected any 3rd party open-source 3D printer.
  • Previous
  • You're on page 1
  • Next
MongoDB Logo MongoDB