# SimplyPrint vs OctoPrint

## About OctoPrint

- **Website:** [OctoPrint](https://octoprint.org/)

## Overview

OctoPrint is the open-source project that, more than anything, made hobbyist 3D-printer monitoring and remote control a thing. We have enormous respect for it, and a bit of history with it: for a long time, the first (and for a while the only) way to connect a printer to SimplyPrint was by installing our OctoPrint plugin. OctoPrint was our gateway.**
So let's clear one thing up first: SimplyPrint is not** a fork of OctoPrint, and we don't share a single line of code with it. We're a separate platform that talks to OctoPrint through an official plugin, and we've sponsored OctoPrint on GitHub for years. This isn't really an "us vs them". It's a simple, honest distinction: OctoPrint is built to run **one printer** beautifully. The moment you're running several printers, a classroom, or a farm, the one-OctoPrint-per-printer model starts to hurt, and closing that gap is exactly why SimplyPrint exists.

## Pros of OctoPrint

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

- Free & open-source:** licensed AGPLv3, self-hosted on your own hardware - you own the whole stack, with no subscription and no cloud required.
- **Single-printer control:** mature, rock-solid control of one printer, with built-in webcam streaming and timelapse.
- **Huge plugin ecosystem:** around 400 community plugins in the official repository, covering remote access, notifications, slicing, hardware add-ons and more - its biggest differentiator.
- **Per-instance multi-user:** multiple accounts with granular permission groups (Guest, Read-only, Operator, Admin) on each instance.
- **Fully local & private:** runs entirely on your network with no cloud, ideal for air-gapped, offline or strict-IT environments.

## Cons of OctoPrint

Where OctoPrint runs into a ceiling once you're past a single printer:**

- One printer per instance:** every printer needs its own OctoPrint instance and its own web address - ten printers is ten of everything, with no unified dashboard in core (and OctoFarm, the community tool that aggregated instances, is now effectively unmaintained).
- **No built-in remote access:** OctoPrint is LAN-only by default and the project warns against exposing it to the internet, so remote use means a plugin/tunnel or your own VPN.
- **No fleet features in core:** no cross-printer queue or continuous printing, no filament inventory, no maintenance system, no SSO and no schools/education plan.
- **Add-ons for the rest:** AI failure detection, notifications and modern slicing all rely on third-party plugins or external services; the built-in slicer is a frozen 2015-era CuraEngine plugin.
- **Newer printers need a pre-release connector:** network-native machines like Bambu Lab aren't supported by stable OctoPrint yet (they're coming in the in-development 2.0 connector system).
- **No official mobile app:** every iOS/Android app for OctoPrint is built by independent third-party developers.

## Feature Comparison: SimplyPrint vs OctoPrint

### General

| Feature | OctoPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| Has free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Max cost | Free (self-hosted) | Free, or from $4/printer/mo |
| Free cloud storage | ✗ | 1GB |
| Usage based cost | ✗ | ✗ |
| Unlimited printing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supports all printers | USB/serial printers | ✓ |

### Features

| Feature | OctoPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| Remote access | LAN only (plugin/VPN to go remote) | ✓ |
| Filament management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Knows your printer | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cloud files | ✗ | ✓ |
| Print queue | Single printer (plugin) | ✓ |
| Livestream | LAN webcam | ✓ |
| Gcode analysis | ✓ | ✓ |
| A.I failure detection | ✗ | ✓ |
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom fields | ✗ | ✓ |
| Staggered Start (for power draw) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Print job history | Via plugin | ✓ |
| Print remotely | ✗ | ✓ |
| Built-in slicer | Legacy Cura plugin | ✓ |
| Multi-printer friendly | One printer per instance | ✓ |
| Multi-print | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-stream | ✗ | ✓ |
| Statistics | Via plugin | ✓ |
| API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Slicer smart-rotation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smart filament change | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bed level helper | ✗ | ✓ |

### Organizations

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

### Notifications

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

### Apps

| Feature | OctoPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| Android app | Third-party apps | ✓ |
| iOS app | Third-party apps | ✓ |
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ✗ | ✓ |

### Security & Privacy

| Feature | OctoPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| Account 2-factor authentication | Via plugin | ✓ |
| EU servers | Self-hosted (local) | ✓ |
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering | ✗ | ✓ |

### Support

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

### Firmware & Gateway Support

| Feature | OctoPrint | SimplyPrint |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| OctoPrint install | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native Moonraker support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mainsail install | ✗ | ✓ |
| Fluidd install | ✗ | ✓ |
| Klipper support | Via USB/serial | ✓ |
| Duet3D integration | Via USB/serial | ✓ |
| Direct Prusa support (MK4, XL and up / new main boards) | Via USB/serial | ✓ |
| Direct Bambu Lab printer integration | 2.0 connector (pre-release) | ✓ |
| Support for custom integrations | ✗ | ✓ |

### Enterprise & Partners

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