UltiMaker Cura alternatives: 11 3D printing slicer tools compared
People weigh other slicers when Cura's setup no longer matches their printers: the maker is UltiMaker, which sells hardware, the business edition is a separate product, and the free download is steered towards its own machines. The alternatives range from company-backed free slicers to calibration-heavy community builds, a resin-ready app and one paid licence.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to UltiMaker Cura in our 3D printing slicer software ranking are PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer and Lychee Slicer. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Choose PrusaSlicer if you want a funded, company-run slicer under AGPL-3.0 whose maintainers are reachable, and your printers are not locked to one brand. Every one of the 11 products below comes from Best 3D Printing Slicer Software in 2026, with a note on how it departs from UltiMaker Cura.
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Pricing: Free to download; LGPL-3.0 licence, Enterprise edition separate
Established in: Netherlands
Built for: Schools and offices with mixed printers wanting a familiar, stable slicer.
Not for: Tuners who want calibration wizards built into the slicer.
01
Why buyers look past UltiMaker Cura
01
The company behind Cura sells printers
UltiMaker's Cura page says it integrates with all UltiMaker products and singles out the S series and Method series for materials. That suits an owner of those machines. Anyone printing on other hardware relies on the Marketplace and community profiles, and the page gives no full printer compatibility list.
02
Business use means a different edition
Free Cura is described as free and open source, with a repository under LGPL-3.0. UltiMaker's business guide describes Cura Enterprise as a separate offer: two independently assessed updates a year, each supported for 12 months, and packaged for deployment. The page gives no price, so a company has to ask before comparing.
03
Over 400 settings put the burden on you
The Cura page offers a recommended mode and a custom mode with over 400 settings. Teams that want calibration prints, per-feature overrides or a resin workflow in the same program will find that the Cura page lists none of those, which is why some look at slicers built around them.
you script slicing in a pipeline or embed the engine, and a current graphical interface matters less
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03
What each one does differently
1
PrusaSlicer
Czechia · Published
Prusa Research a.s. in Czechia states that the slicer, its profiles and updates cost nothing, with the bill covered by printer and filament sales. Slicing happens on your own machine, which the vendor presents as suitable for air-gapped sites. It descends from Slic3r, adds organic supports and a Printables model browser, and the download offered when we looked was an alpha of version 3.0.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you want a funded, company-run slicer under AGPL-3.0 whose maintainers are reachable, and your printers are not locked to one brand.
OrcaSlicer is run by SoftFever and contributors, and the site names no company. Flow, pressure advance and temperature tests sit inside the program, so calibration needs no separate model files. Speed and layer height can be overridden per feature, and jobs go straight to Klipper, PrusaLink or OctoPrint. Help comes from GitHub issues and Discord. It slices filament printers only.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you tune filament prints often and want calibration tests and network printing in the slicer itself.
Lychee comes from France, according to the governing law in its terms, and handles resin and filament printers inside one app. The Lite edition is free but puts ads on export and limits Multi-Plate; Plus removes both, and the Library plan adds pre-supported models for personal use. Plans are published monthly or yearly, so a workshop with an SLA machine can keep one tool.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if a resin printer has joined your filament machines and you would rather learn a single slicer.
Raise3D Technologies, Inc. offers ideaMaker for Windows 10, macOS 10.15 and later, and Ubuntu 18.04 and later at no listed cost. It opens STEP, IGES, 3MF, OBJ and STL, lets you change parameters for a group of layers or a single one, and carries DLP templates for Raise3D's resin machines. The page names four offices but no headquarters.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if your fleet includes Raise3D machines and you want parameter changes on chosen layers.
Craftware, published through Craftbot, has a Standard tier with full slicing at no charge and Premium plans billed per month or per year; a higher Premium Enterprise plan applies to companies above a stated revenue. Smart, Easy and Expert modes set the depth of control, and it covers modifier meshes, multilayer contraction and mixed-nozzle IDEX printing. Its newest Linux and macOS builds date from February 2023.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if a dual-extruder printer needs mixed-nozzle slicing and you accept older Linux and macOS builds.
Simplify3D is the one paid licence here: a published one-off price per user, a two-week refund window, volume discounts on request and an education programme. The vendor ships tuned profiles for hundreds of printers and keeps support staffed full-time. Version 4 is heading for end of support, and moving up from it costs extra, so check which release your licence covers.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you would pay once for vendor-tuned profiles and a support desk instead of relying on volunteers.
MatterHackers Inc., in Lake Forest, California, lists MatterControl 2.0 for Windows 10 and macOS at zero cost. The package includes the MatterCAD design tool and cloud sync, and it handles printers on G-code or X3G. The product page calls it open source but names no licence, and it offers no Linux download, which rules out some shared workshop machines.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you want to draw simple parts and slice them in one Windows or Mac application.
Bambu Studio is published by Bambu Lab on GitHub under AGPL-3.0 and descends from PrusaSlicer, with releases for Windows, macOS and Linux. Cloud printing relies on a separate networking plugin that the README describes as based on non-free libraries; copying files by SD card still works. The vendor site refused our requests, so we only vouch for the repository page.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if a Bambu Lab printer is on the desk and you can live with a plugin for cloud printing.
SuperSlicer belongs to the GitHub user supermerill rather than an organisation, and extends PrusaSlicer with additional calibration and tuning options. It reads STL, OBJ and AMF and writes G-code for filament printers or PNG layers for mSLA machines, with prebuilt 64-bit builds for Windows, Linux and macOS. One person maintains it, and no support contract stands behind it.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you like deep tuning controls and accept that a single maintainer decides the roadmap.
Kiri:Moto reaches beyond printing into CNC and laser work, including lathe, drill, contour and pocket operations, and exports G-code, SVG, DXF and OBJ. Its site reports fourteen years of development and asks for support through Patreon, GitHub Sponsors or PayPal. It names no company, country or licence, and it links to OctoPrint for sending jobs.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if one workshop tool should prepare prints and also cut or engrave on a CNC or laser.
Slic3r by Alessandro Ranellucci started the family that PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer later split from. It runs from a command line for batch jobs and ships a C++ library, libslic3r, under AGPL-3.0, with donations requested. The site still leads with release 1.3.0 in its news, so newer features and printer profiles tend to live in the forks.
Switch from UltiMaker Cura if you script slicing in a pipeline or embed the engine, and a current graphical interface matters less.
You print on a Prusa machine or want a company-funded slicer
PrusaSlicer: Prusa Research states the slicer and its updates cost nothing, and slicing runs locally.
02
You calibrate filament printers often
OrcaSlicer: Flow, pressure advance and temperature tests are built in, and jobs can go to Klipper, PrusaLink or OctoPrint.
03
You run resin and filament printers side by side
Lychee Slicer: One app covers both, with a free Lite edition that shows ads on export.
04
You run a dual-extruder machine
Craftware: It supports mixed-nozzle IDEX printing and modifier meshes, with a free Standard tier.
05
You want a support desk behind the software
Simplify3D: It is sold as a one-off licence with a two-week refund window and full-time vendor support.
04
When UltiMaker Cura is still the right choice
Cura remains a sound pick when the printers are UltiMaker machines, when you want to stay with a Dutch maker and when free plus open source matters. The Cura page lists builds for Mac on Intel and Apple Silicon, Windows on x64 and ARM64 with an .msi installer, and Linux as an AppImage, plus STEP and IGES import, intent profiles and a Marketplace of material profiles and community-rated plugins. A shop that already depends on the Enterprise update cycle should weigh what it would lose.
05
What moving off UltiMaker Cura involves
01
Export your printer and material profiles first
Cura stores machine, material and quality profiles that took time to tune. Write down layer height, speeds, retraction and temperatures for each material you use, because most other slicers read these as fresh values and not as imported files.
02
Check plugin dependence before leaving
Plugins from the Cura Marketplace will not follow you. List the ones you rely on, and look for an equivalent setting or post-processing step in the new slicer.
03
Print a test part on each printer
Slice one familiar model in the new tool, compare it with the old print, and only then retire Cura. Keep Cura installed alongside for a few weeks if several people share the printers.
06
Questions about replacing UltiMaker Cura
7 answers
Which slicer is the closest alternative to Cura?
PrusaSlicer comes first in our list: Prusa Research a.s. in Czechia funds it from printer and filament sales and states that it costs nothing. OrcaSlicer, a community project with built-in calibration tests, follows, then Lychee Slicer for resin printers.
Is there a slicer with built-in calibration tests?
OrcaSlicer bundles flow, pressure advance and temperature tests in the program and can override speed and layer height per feature. SuperSlicer adds calibration and tuning options too, although a single maintainer looks after it.
What can I use if I also have a resin printer?
Lychee Slicer is aimed at resin and filament printers in one app. Its Lite edition is free with ads on export, Plus removes them, and Library adds pre-supported models.
SuperSlicer can write PNG layers for mSLA machines, and ideaMaker has DLP templates for Raise3D resin machines.
Is any Cura alternative a paid product?
Simplify3D is sold as a one-off licence per user with a two-week refund window and full-time vendor support. Lychee and Craftware sell optional plans on top of free tiers. The rest listed here are free to download.
Does a Cura alternative handle STEP files?
Cura's own page lists STEP and IGES import. ideaMaker reads STEP, IGES, 3MF, OBJ and STL, so that does not set it apart from Cura on format support alone, though it adds parameter changes on single layers.
Which alternative is best for a Bambu Lab printer?
Bambu Studio is published by Bambu Lab on GitHub under AGPL-3.0. Cloud printing needs a separate networking plugin, and copying files by SD card works without it. Because the vendor site refused our requests, check feature details with Bambu Lab.
Can I script slicing instead of using a window?
Slic3r has a command-line mode and the libslic3r C++ library. Its site is quiet about new releases, so newer features and printer profiles usually sit in forks such as PrusaSlicer or OrcaSlicer.
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Sources
Checked 7 November 2026
UltiMaker Cura: Free and open source, version 5.14.0 builds for Mac, Windows (x64, ARM64, .msi) and Linux AppImage, intent profiles, over 400 settings, STEP and IGES import, Marketplace, UltiMaker integration.
Cura on GitHub: LGPL-3.0 licence, wiki links for plugins and adding machine profiles.
UltiMaker business software plans: Cura Enterprise: two updates a year, 12 months support, packaged for deployment, no price stated.
PrusaSlicer: Free, funded by hardware sales, local slicing, organic supports, Printables, 3.0 alpha.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Checked and edited by Sebastiaan Smits, last on 7 November 2026. The editorial process explains the method.
