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.
Compare AstroPrint vs SimplyPrint for:
For a hobbyist, AstroPrint is the simple, free, OctoPrint-friendly cloud, fine if you're on an older Marlin-era printer and just want browser slicing and monitoring.
SimplyPrint is free for 2 printers too, but runs today's printers (Bambu, Klipper, Prusa) natively, catches failures with AI, and gives you a full interactive slicer and filament tools, on a platform that's actively developed.
For hobbyists: a free, actively-developed platform that runs today's printers vs a simple OctoPrint-era cloud.
Flat, transparent pricing, published on the page, no quote required. Estimate your exact cost with the price calculator.
AstroPrint figures from its own plans page, June 2026; check each provider's pricing page for exact numbers.
AstroPrint was one of the first 3D-printing clouds, and it shows. It went dormant, changed hands twice (BCN3D, then Print&Go in 2024), and its own relaunch is about renewed support and fixes more than new capability. SimplyPrint has been shipping continuously, and running print farms, since 2020.
Slicing and monitoring are only half the job. A classroom or a maker with a shelf of spools also needs to know what filament they have, what a print will use, and when a printer needs servicing. AstroPrint stops at slicing and monitoring; SimplyPrint manages the whole loop.
For a school, SimplyPrint brings a publicly-priced Education plan with classes and teachers, an Academy for courses and assignments, per-student quotas, a print-approval workflow and SSO, plus native modern printers, AI failure detection and the choice of EU or US data residency.
AstroPrint has a real, simpler education tier, user groups, shared folders, group queues and 50+ permissions, but it's quote-only and lacks quotas, approval and a classroom-native teaching layer. For most schools, SimplyPrint is the deeper, more transparent fit.
For schools: deeper classroom governance and transparent pricing vs a quote-only, simpler education tier.
| With pricing, you get… | AstroPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing published on the page | Quote-only | Flat & transparent |
| Sign up yourself, no sales call | Contact sales | Self-serve |
| Full price calculator, know the cost up front | Not available | No surprises |
Flat, transparent pricing, published on the page, no quote required. Estimate your exact cost with the price calculator.
AstroPrint Business & Education is quote-only; SimplyPrint Education pricing is public. Figures indicative, June 2026.
AstroPrint has a genuine education tier: user groups, shared folders, group print queues, teacher-vs-student roles, SSO and 50+ permissions. That's real, and we'll say so. SimplyPrint was built for the same job and goes further, with the per-student controls and identity depth a school or district actually runs on.
AstroPrint was one of the first 3D-printing clouds, and it shows. It went dormant, changed hands twice (BCN3D, then Print&Go in 2024), and its own relaunch is about renewed support and fixes more than new capability. SimplyPrint has been shipping continuously, and running print farms, since 2020.
Slicing and monitoring are only half the job. A classroom or a maker with a shelf of spools also needs to know what filament they have, what a print will use, and when a printer needs servicing. AstroPrint stops at slicing and monitoring; SimplyPrint manages the whole loop.
Nothing is black-and-white, and there are always pros and cons to consider when choosing a 3D printing cloud solution!
And we're not here to simply tell you, that SimplyPrint is the best - we want you to make an informed decision, and of course there are pros of using AstroPrint as well!
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|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Has free plan | ||
| Free printers | 2 | 2 |
| Free cloud storage | 1GB | 1GB |
| Usage based cost | ||
| Unlimited printing | ||
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Free, then $9.90/mo Premium | Free or low flat plans |
| Price per printer | $5/extra printer (Premium) | 2 printers free (flat) |
| Fair Billing (only pay for printers & seats you use) ? | ||
| Volume pricing (per-printer cost drops at scale) ? | ||
| Supports all printers | Marlin-era via AstroBox/OctoPrint | |
| Features | ||
| Remote access | ||
| Filament management | ||
| Filament NFC tags (read & write) | ||
| Filament label printing (Dymo / Zebra) | ||
| Knows your printer | ||
| Cloud files | ||
| Print queue | ||
| Livestream | ||
| Gcode analysis | ||
| A.I failure detection | ||
| AI Bed Check (is the bed clear?) | ||
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ||
| Maintenance & servicing system | ||
| 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 | ||
| Organization | ||
| Multiple users | ||
| User groups / ranks | ||
| User permissions | ||
| School plan | Education plan | |
| Shared files & folders | ||
| Shared slicer profiles | ||
| Hub | ||
| Custom domains | Paid plans | |
| SSO (single sign-on) | SSO compatible | |
| Notifications | ||
| Email notifications | ||
| Push (mobile / app) notifications | ||
| SMS / text message notifications | ||
| Apps | ||
| Android app | ||
| iOS app | ||
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ||
| Security & privacy | ||
| Account 2-factor authentication | ||
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering ? | ||
| Support | ||
| Live-chat support | ||
| Phone support | ||
| Email support | ||
| Firmware & gateway support | ||
| 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 | ||
| OEM | Paid plans | |
| Partner program (reseller / distributor) | Paid plans | |
| Affiliate program | ||
| On-prem / self-hosting ? | ||
| Compare | See pricing | See pricing |
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|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Has free plan | ||
| Free printers | 2 | 2 |
| Free cloud storage | 1GB | 1GB |
| Usage based cost | ||
| Unlimited printing | ||
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Quote-only Business & Education | Flat Education plan + per-printer |
| Price per printer | Quote-only | ~$240 to $132/printer/yr ($20-11/mo) |
| Fair Billing (only pay for printers & seats you use) ? | ||
| Volume pricing (per-printer cost drops at scale) ? | ||
| Supports all printers | Marlin-era via AstroBox/OctoPrint | |
| Features | ||
| Remote access | ||
| Filament management | ||
| Filament NFC tags (read & write) | ||
| Filament label printing (Dymo / Zebra) | ||
| Knows your printer | ||
| Cloud files | ||
| Print queue | ||
| Livestream | ||
| Gcode analysis | ||
| A.I failure detection | ||
| AI Bed Check (is the bed clear?) | ||
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ||
| Maintenance & servicing system | ||
| 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 | ||
| Organization | ||
| 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 | ||
| Email notifications | ||
| Push (mobile / app) notifications | ||
| SMS / text message notifications | ||
| Apps | ||
| Android app | ||
| iOS app | ||
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ||
| Security & privacy | ||
| Account 2-factor authentication | ||
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering ? | ||
| Support | ||
| Live-chat support | ||
| Phone support | ||
| Email support | ||
| Firmware & gateway support | ||
| 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 | ||
| OEM | ||
| Partner program (reseller / distributor) | ||
| Affiliate program | ||
| On-prem / self-hosting ? | Contact us | |
| Compare | See pricing | See pricing |
Contact us if you think we made a mistake in our comparison!
We made SimplyPrint due to the fact, that nothing else on the market quite fit our needs. We wanted a platform that was easy to use, but still had all the features we needed. We wanted a feature-rich platform, intuitive and easy to use, with a great user experience and actual innovation within the 3D print management software space.
In summary, we - humble and unbiased as we are 😉 - believe that the SimplyPrint platform is a great AstroPrint alternative!
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