# SimplyPrint vs AstroPrint

## About AstroPrint

- **Website:** [AstroPrint](https://astroprint.com/)
- **Pricing:** [AstroPrint Pricing](https://www.astroprint.com/plans-and-pricing)

## Overview

AstroPrint was one of the very first 3D-printing clouds, the simple, OctoPrint-friendly way to slice in the browser and watch a desktop printer from anywhere. We mean that as a compliment: for a lot of makers it was the easy on-ramp to cloud printing. But it went quiet, changed hands twice (BCN3D in 2021, then Spain's Print&Go in September 2024), and its own "we're back" relaunch leans on renewed support and bug fixes rather than a stack of new features.

SimplyPrint picks up where that era left off. It runs today's printers (Bambu Lab, Klipper/Moonraker, Prusa direct, Marlin, Duet, Creality and Anycubic), catches failures with AI, manages real filament with NFC and label printing, and has been actively developed, and running print farms, since 2020. SimplyPrint is a serious, full platform, not a hobby toy, but it still does the simple things simply. Here's a fair, side-by-side look for hobbyists and schools alike.

## Pros of AstroPrint

AstroPrint has real strengths, and they're worth being honest about:**

- Early cloud-slicer pioneer:** one of the first to put a Cura-based slicer in the browser, so you can slice and monitor from any device with nothing to install.
- **Simple and approachable:** a clean, lightweight platform that's easy to pick up, with a genuine free tier and native iOS and Android apps.
- **A real multi-user / education tier:** user groups, shared folders, group print queues, teacher-vs-student roles and 50+ permissions.
- **OEM / white-label:** a long-standing enterprise white-label option for hardware makers and integrators.

## Cons of AstroPrint

Where AstroPrint tends to fall short for a modern bench or classroom:**

- Marlin-era printer support:** it connects Marlin, Sailfish, Repetier and Smoothieware via an AstroBox or its OctoPrint plugin; **Klipper is slicing-only** (its own staff confirm it can't communicate with a Klipper printer), and there's no native Bambu Lab, direct-Prusa or Duet support.
- **No AI failure detection:** no AI/computer-vision failure detection; its forum points users to running OctoPrint with a plugin instead.
- **No filament inventory, NFC, labels or maintenance:** it stops at slicing and monitoring.
- **Mid-relaunch:** dormant for a stretch, acquired by BCN3D (2021) then Print&Go (2024); modernization is promised under new ownership but lightly shipped so far.
- **Quote-only education,** and no published data-residency region or FERPA/COPPA/GDPR student-data statement.

## Feature Comparison: SimplyPrint vs AstroPrint

### General

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Has free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Max cost | $9.90+ (Education on quote) | Free, or from $4/printer/mo |
| Free cloud storage | 1GB | 1GB |
| Usage based cost | ✗ | ✗ |
| Unlimited printing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supports all printers | Marlin-era via AstroBox/OctoPrint | ✓ |

### Features

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Remote access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Filament management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Knows your printer | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cloud files | ✓ | ✓ |
| Print queue | ✓ | ✓ |
| Livestream | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gcode analysis | ✗ | ✓ |
| A.I failure detection | ✗ | ✓ |
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom fields | ✗ | ✓ |
| Staggered Start (for power draw) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Print job history | ✓ | ✓ |
| Print remotely | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built-in slicer | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-printer friendly | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-print | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-stream | ✗ | ✓ |
| Statistics | ✓ | ✓ |
| API | ✗ | ✓ |
| Slicer smart-rotation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smart filament change | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bed level helper | ✗ | ✓ |

### Organizations

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Multiple users | ✓ | ✓ |
| User groups / ranks | ✓ | ✓ |
| User permissions | ✓ | ✓ |
| School plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shared files & folders | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shared slicer profiles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Hub | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom domains | ✗ | ✓ |
| SSO (single sign-on) | SSO compatible | ✓ |

### Notifications

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Email notifications | ✓ | ✓ |
| Push (mobile / app) notifications | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS / text message notifications | ✗ | ✓ |

### Apps

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Android app | ✓ | ✓ |
| iOS app | ✓ | ✓ |
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ✗ | ✓ |

### Security & Privacy

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Account 2-factor authentication | ✗ | ✓ |
| EU servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering | ✗ | ✓ |

### Support

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Email support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live-chat support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Phone support | ✗ | ✓ |

### Firmware & Gateway Support

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| OctoPrint install | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native Moonraker support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mainsail install | ✗ | ✓ |
| Fluidd install | ✗ | ✓ |
| Klipper support | Slicing only | ✓ |
| Duet3D integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Direct Prusa support (MK4, XL and up / new main boards) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Direct Bambu Lab printer integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Support for custom integrations | ✓ | ✓ |

### Enterprise & Partners

| Feature | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| OEM | ✓ | ✓ |
| Partner program (reseller / distributor) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Affiliate program | ✗ | ✓ |