Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to FreeCAD 1.1
Extremely powerful, completely free 3D CAD modeling
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 1 we have checked on their own sites, 1 of them free or with a free tier.
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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 →
- 3CA
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 →
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- 5CP
Dust3D 1.0 is finally released — about 10 years after the first commit in December 2016. I posted a preview version here in April 2018 and a beta in December 2018. Back then I thought 1.0 was just around the corner, but I kept adding new features that I could barely find time to finish as a weekend side project. I finally got it done with GitHub Copilot, using models including Claude Opus 4.6, Raptor mini (Preview), Claude Haiku 4.5, and Claude Sonnet 4.6. It's a cross-platform low-poly 3D modeling app focused on making it fast to create game-ready characters and objects from scratch. Source…
2018 · dust3d.org · its alternatives →
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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.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
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PixyCAD ▲126Fast & precise 3D CAD built natively for iPad and Mac
Jul 2026 · pixycad.com · its alternatives →
- 9
agentcad▲110A CAD design tool for coding agents (free + open source)
Jun 2026 · agentcad.dev · its alternatives →
- 10FP
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 →
- 113O
2021 · 3dasd.com · its alternatives →
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- 13LP
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 →
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Shapr3D▲106Modeling magic for iPad Pro. Shapr3D is the easiest 3D CAD!
2016 · shapr3d.com · its alternatives →
- 15RT
The library to build browser based 3D models with code.
2023 · replicad.xyz · its alternatives →
- 16
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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Threedio▲291Perfect 3D models for your videos, consistent & optimized
2023 · icons8.com · its alternatives →
- 19
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 →
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Hey HN! I’m Zach one of the co-founders of Adam (https://www.adamcad.com). We're building AI-powered tools for CAD and 3D modeling [1]. We’ve recently been exploring a new way to bring GPT-style image editing directly into 3D model generation and are excited to showcase this in our web-app today. We’re calling it creative mode and are intrigued by the fun use cases this could create by making 3D generation more conversational! For example you can put a prompt in such as “an elephant” then follow it up by “have it ride a skateboard” and it preserves the context, identity and…
2025 · adamcad.com · its alternatives →
- 21WA
Dust3D is a free, open source low poly 3D modeling tool for video games and 3D printing. Features sketch-to-mesh, auto-rigging, procedural animation, and single-tool GLB/FBX export.
2018 · dust3d.readthedocs.io · its alternatives →
- 22
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 →
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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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Goxel: Free and Open Source 3D Voxel Editor . Contribute to guillaumechereau/goxel development by creating an account on GitHub.
2015 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →