A FreeCAD alternative that runs in your browser: free parametric CAD with editable history, fillets, STEP and cloud projects. Nothing to install.
Like FreeCAD, OwlCAD is free parametric CAD, but it runs in your browser, with one toolset instead of separate workbenches, cloud projects, and a built-in print check for overhangs, thin walls and fit to your printer. (OwlCAD is a hosted web app, not open-source.)
Free to use · No install · Works on any OS
Competitor details last checked: 4 October 2026
If you want open-source and offline, FreeCAD is the better fit. If you want zero-install modeling for 3D printing, with cloud sync, OwlCAD is built for that.
OwlCAD opens in any modern browser on any OS, with no download, no build and no setup. FreeCAD is a desktop application you install per platform.
Place a shape, drag a handle, type a dimension: modeling that’s approachable from the first click, without a workbench to learn first.
Re-open earlier steps and the model rebuilds; round or bevel single edges at a radius you can re-tune later. Full undo / redo throughout.
Work autosaves locally and to the cloud with version history you can roll back, and you can publish a read-only share link, built in rather than bolted on.
Export solid STEP and import STEP assemblies with their parts, names and colours, plus STL, 3MF, OBJ, GLB, SVG and DXF, so you can bring FreeCAD exports in and keep building, units detected on import. Export STL or 3MF for Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, Cura or OrcaSlicer. OpenSCAD .scad and .csg open too, as an editable tree.
Describe a part and get an editable starting point, parametric or mesh. Included with OwlCAD Pro.
OwlCAD runs a hosted MCP server, the standard that lets AI apps such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop or Cursor use outside tools, so your agent can build a part on your account: a real parametric model where every step and dimension stays editable, checked by the CAD kernel and by a render of its own work, handed back as a print-ready file plus a project you can open and edit. Part of Pro, and it spends no AI credits.
No install, no setup. Start modeling in seconds and keep your work in the cloud.
Yes. Like FreeCAD, OwlCAD is free parametric CAD, but it runs entirely in your browser with nothing to install and one toolset instead of separate workbenches, plus cloud projects and optional AI generation.
No. OwlCAD is a free hosted web app, not open-source software like FreeCAD. If a fully open-source, offline desktop tool is a hard requirement, FreeCAD is the better fit; if you want zero-install modeling for 3D printing, with cloud sync, OwlCAD is built for that.
No install. OwlCAD opens in any modern browser on any operating system, and your work autosaves locally and to the cloud, with no setup and no platform-specific build.
Export a STEP, STL, or OBJ from FreeCAD and import it into OwlCAD, with units detected on import, and a STEP arrives as meshes you can measure, cut and print, an assembly keeping its parts, names and colours.