Life & fun · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to DSLCad – a programming language and interpreter for building 3D models
Hey HN. Over the last half a year I have been working on a 3D CAD programming language called DSLCAD. Today I am here to show my first release! It is heavily inspired by OpenSCAD which got me hooked on the idea of a CAD programming language and what it can do. Please let me know what you think. Ill be in the thread to answer any questions you may have.
DSLCad is a programming language and interpreter for creating 3D models through code. Inspired by OpenSCAD, it allows users to define three-dimensional designs using a domain-specific language rather than traditional… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. DSLCad – a programming language and interpreter for building 3D models launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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Hey HN! I'm Zach from Adam (https://adam.new/). We’re building an AI co-pilot for mechanical CAD software. As part of our broader research, we built a browser-based Text-to-CAD app (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44182206) and are now open sourcing it. This is a React SPA with a Supabase backend. What it does: * Generates parametric 3D models from natural language descriptions, with support for both text prompts and image references * Outputs OpenSCAD code with automatically extracted parameters that surface as interactive sliders for instant dimension…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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FreeCAD 1.1▲218Extremely powerful, completely free 3D CAD modeling
Mar 2026 · wiki.freecad.org · its alternatives →
- 3LP
LuaCAD models solids in Lua rather than the OpenSCAD language, with operator overloading for CSG (`a + b`, `a - b`, `a * b`). It ships with a CLI and a desktop app, including a preview area and a text editor. I've always been a big fan of OpenSCAD, but the SCAD language itself is unfortunately quite cobbled-together and is a very poorly designed programming language. LuaCAD takes all the good parts of OpenSCAD and combines them with one of the best scripting languages. It has now completely replaced OpenSCAD for me, and I think it provides a better experience than OpenSCAD for all use cases.…
Aug 2026 · luacad.ad-si.com · its alternatives →
- 4FP
Hello HN users, This is a CAD by code project I have been working on on my free time for more than year now. I built it with 3 goals in mind: - It should be familiar to CAD designers who have used other programs. Same workflow, same terminology. - Reduce the mental effort required to create models as much as possible. This is achieved by: - Provide live rendering and visual guidance as you type. - Allow the user to reference existing edges/faces on the scene instead of having to calculate everything. - Provide interactive mouse helpers for features that are hard to write by code: Only 3…
Apr 2026 · fluidcad.io · its alternatives →
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agentcad▲110A CAD design tool for coding agents (free + open source)
Jun 2026 · agentcad.dev · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, I’m the creator of SynapsCAD, an open-source desktop application I've been building that combines an OpenSCAD code editor, a real-time 3D viewport, and an AI assistant. You can write OpenSCAD code, compile it directly to a 3D mesh, and use an LLM (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, ...) to modify the code through natural language. Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8a5UozS5Q A bit about the architecture: - It’s built entirely in Rust. - The UI and 3D viewport are powered by Bevy 0.15 and egui. - It uses a pure-Rust compilation pipeline (openscad-rs for parsing and csgrs…
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 7CA
I'm currently developing Chili3D, an open-source, browser-based 3D CAD application. By compiling OpenCascade to WebAssembly and integrating Three.js, Chili3D delivers near-native performance for powerful online modeling, editing, and rendering—all without local installation. Access it here: https://github.com/xiangechen/chili3d Features: Modeling Tools: Create basic shapes (boxes, cylinders, cones, etc.), 2D sketches (lines, arcs, circles, etc.), and perform advanced operations (boolean operations, extrusion, revolution, etc.). Snapping and Tracking: Precisely snap to…
2025 · its alternatives →
- 8RT
The library to build browser based 3D models with code.
2023 · replicad.xyz · its alternatives →
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PixyCAD ▲126Fast & precise 3D CAD built natively for iPad and Mac
Jul 2026 · pixycad.com · its alternatives →
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I'd like to share a new workbench I've been working on called DiffCAD. Coming from a software engineering background, not having the ability to properly diff my CAD model changes was driving me crazy. This project scratches my own itch, and maybe someone elses', too! I'm open to feedback, ideas, and contributions. Cheers!
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Contribute to itta611/ChokokuCAD development by creating an account on GitHub.
2021 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, I'm a beginner at CAD so I built an app that does it for me ;) Describe a part and ChatToSTL writes the OpenSCAD code, shows a live render with size sliders, then exports the STL/3MF file. Because the output is parametric, it's easy to modify (unlike mesh models like Shap-E or DreamFusion). Try it (needs your own OpenAI key): https://huggingface.co/spaces/flowfulai/ChatToSTL How it works: Text prompt → o4-mini generates OpenSCAD code → live render + sliders → refine in chat → export. Examples & Code: * Walkthrough + real prints (bowl, hook, box, door…
2025 · huggingface.co · its alternatives →
- 13AIAI in SolidWorks▲191
Hey HN! We’re Will and Jorge, and we’ve built LAD (Language-Aided Design), a SolidWorks add-in that uses LLMs to create sketches, features, assemblies, and macros from conversational inputs (https://www.trylad.com/). We come from software engineering backgrounds where tools like Claude Code and Cursor have come to dominate, but when poking around CAD systems a few months back we realized there's no way to go from a text prompt input to a modeling output in any of the major CAD systems. In our testing, the LLMs aren't as good at making 3D objects as they are are writing code,…
Jan 2026 · trylad.com · its alternatives →
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Whisker▲94Create and edit CAD models into production-ready prototypes
Mar 2026 · whisker.spatialkittens.com · its alternatives →
- 17
My friend and I have been working on Arcad for some months now. It's a free browser-based parametric CAD tool aimed at hobbyists and makers. It has editable feature history, solid modeling powered by OpenCascade, STEP export and touch controls for tablets, although it's primarily made for PC use. Everything runs in the browser and you can try it without creating an account or installing anything. Currently in beta although we feel like it's ready for a full launch. Any feedback is appreciated! Link: https://app.arcad.studio Docs: https://www.arcad.studio/docs
Aug 2026 · app.arcad.studio · its alternatives →
- 18HA
2020 · heavyfishdesign.com · its alternatives →
- 19OS
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I created a highly configurable calendar 3D model using OpenSCAD. This project uses Zeller’s Congruence to automatically adjust the calendar layout for any year. Just change the year in the configurator, and the model updates accordingly. The link contains a little more of the backstory and the downloadable model from a 3rd-party site, additionally the full source code is included in the post. Some highlights: - Implemented date calculations entirely in OpenSCAD (with no built-in date support, which was challenging but fun). - Customizable layout, multi-material printing support, and…
2025 · chrastecky.dev · its alternatives →
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Hi everyone started this project a year ago to generate the CAD for a Jet Engine Axial Compressor. I am now open sourcing this tool that can take in a JSON file with specs and generate the CAD assembly. Still has a lot of work to improve designs but there isn't anything the Open Source community can't accomplish!
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Mobile-first 3D mapping engine with emphasis on user experience - felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js
2020 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24
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