Meet an alternative to OctoPrint

How does SimplyPrint compare with OctoPrint? What's the best 3D printing cloud platform? Discover why SimplyPrint might be what you and your printer never knew you were missing!

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Looking for OctoPrint alternatives?

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.

Best known for Hobbyist
The bottom line

OctoPrint is free, open-source, and superb at what it was built for: full, hands-on control of a single printer, on your own hardware, extended by a huge ecosystem of community plugins. If you run one printer (or just love tinkering and self-hosting), OctoPrint is genuinely hard to beat, and you can keep it.

SimplyPrint is the layer above that, for when one printer becomes many. Instead of one OctoPrint instance (and one web address) per printer, you get your whole fleet in a single dashboard, reachable from any device, with an auto-assigning print queue and continuous printing (AutoPrint), AI failure detection and bed-check, built-in filament inventory and maintenance, central users, roles and SSO, and a dedicated schools plan. It runs Bambu, Klipper, Prusa, Marlin and Duet machines, and connects through your existing OctoPrint instances too. OctoPrint for one printer; SimplyPrint for a fleet, a classroom, or a farm.

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  1. The bottom line
  2. One printer, one OctoPrint. Ten printers, ten of everything.
  3. Reach every printer from anywhere, safely
  4. Where OctoPrint is the better pick (and how we work together)
  5. Full comparison table
  6. FAQ

One printer, one OctoPrint. Ten printers, ten of everything.

This is the heart of it. Each OctoPrint instance drives exactly one printer, so ten printers means ten OctoPrint instances, each with its own web address to open and bookmark, and core OctoPrint gives you no single view across them. SimplyPrint was built for the opposite: every printer, and every brand, in one place.

Managing the fleet
SimplyPrint
Every printer (Bambu, Klipper, Prusa, Marlin, Duet, and OctoPrint-connected machines) lives in one dashboard - one login, one URL, grouped however you like.
OctoPrint
One OctoPrint per printer, each on its own host/port with its own web address. Ten printers is ten tabs and ten bookmarks. There's no unified dashboard in core; the community tool that tried (OctoFarm) is now effectively unmaintained (no release since 2022).
People & classrooms
SimplyPrint
One account works across the whole fleet, with central roles and permissions, SSO, and a dedicated schools plan (classes, teachers, students, approval queues).
OctoPrint
OctoPrint has solid per-instance user accounts and permission groups, but they're scoped to one instance - you re-create users on every printer, and there's no central organisation, SSO, or education plan.
Keeping it printing
SimplyPrint
A queue auto-assigns and auto-starts each job on the next free, suitable printer, and AutoPrint keeps things running lights-out across the fleet.
OctoPrint
Core OctoPrint has no cross-printer queue or automation - each instance just drives its own printer. A single-printer queue exists only via a community plugin, scoped to that one machine.
For one printer, the single-instance model is perfectly fine. For many, it multiplies: a URL, a login and a screen per printer, with nothing tying them together. That multiplication is the whole reason SimplyPrint exists.

Reach every printer from anywhere, safely

OctoPrint is a local web interface - brilliant on your own network. Getting to it from outside, and reaching today's network-native printers, is where things get more involved.

Remote access
SimplyPrint
Cloud-native: reach every printer from any browser, plus native iOS and Android apps, with nothing to expose and no port-forwarding.
OctoPrint
No built-in remote access - OctoPrint is LAN-only out of the box, and the project itself calls putting it on the public internet "a terrible idea". Remote means adding a plugin/tunnel (OctoEverywhere, Obico) or standing up your own VPN.
Newer printers
SimplyPrint
Connects to Bambu Lab, Klipper/Moonraker, Prusa, Marlin and Duet machines natively, today, and to your OctoPrint instances too.
OctoPrint
OctoPrint's home turf is USB/serial printers (Marlin, Klipper over serial, RepRapFirmware). Network-native printers like Bambu Lab aren't supported by stable OctoPrint; they're coming via a still-pre-release 2.0 "connector" system.
What you maintain
SimplyPrint
Nothing to host: no per-printer box to keep online, patch and secure, and no certificates or tunnels to babysit.
OctoPrint
You run and secure the host (typically a Raspberry Pi per printer), keep each instance updated, and manage whatever remote-access layer you bolt on.
OctoPrint gives you total local control of a printer that's in the room with you. SimplyPrint gives you secure access to all of your printers from wherever you are, with nothing to expose and no VPN to run, and it still speaks OctoPrint.

Where OctoPrint is the better pick (and how we work together)

We mean this sincerely: for a lot of people, OctoPrint is the right answer, and SimplyPrint can't match it on these. Credit where it's very much due.

A single printer & tinkering
SimplyPrint
Designed for one or many printers, but it's a managed cloud platform, not a box you own and hack on.
OctoPrint
For one printer, deep hands-on control plus a huge ecosystem of community plugins (around 400) to bend it to whatever you want. For a single tinkerer's machine, hard to beat.
Fully local, offline & open-source
SimplyPrint
A privacy-first cloud platform, built in the EU (Denmark), GDPR-compliant, with EU or US data residency. On-prem is an enterprise, contact-based option.
OctoPrint
Free and open-source (AGPLv3), running entirely on your own hardware with no cloud at all - the right call for air-gapped, offline, privacy-first or strict-IT setups, and for people who simply want to own their whole stack.
You don't have to choose
SimplyPrint
SimplyPrint connects to your printer through your existing OctoPrint instance via our official SimplyPrint Cloud plugin - so keep OctoPrint on each printer and add SimplyPrint's cloud across all of them.
OctoPrint
OctoPrint keeps doing exactly what it does best on each machine. We're not a fork and share no code with it - we're a plugin on top, and we sponsor the project on GitHub.
If you run a single printer, want to stay fully local/offline, or love the plugin-tinkering world, OctoPrint is genuinely the better tool, and we'll happily point you to it (and ask you to support the project). When one printer becomes a fleet, a classroom or a farm, that's where SimplyPrint takes over, on top of OctoPrint if you like.

OctoPrint and SimplyPrint comparison

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 OctoPrint as well!

Pros of using 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 using 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.

OctoPrint vs. SimplyPrint

Side-by-side list comparison of details and features in OctoPrint and SimplyPrint

OctoPrint logo SimplyPrint logo
General
Has free plan
Free printers Unlimited 2
Max cost Free (self-hosted) Free, or from $9.99/mo (Pro)
Free cloud storage 1GB
Usage based cost
Unlimited printing
Supports all printers USB/serial printers
Features
Remote access LAN only (plugin/VPN to go remote)
Filament management
Filament NFC tags (read & write)
Filament label printing (Dymo / Zebra)
Knows your printer
Cloud files
Print queue Single printer (plugin)
Livestream LAN webcam
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 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
Organization
Multiple users
User groups / ranks
User permissions
School plan
Shared files & folders
Shared slicer profiles
Hub
Custom domains
SSO (single sign-on)
Notifications
Email notifications Via plugin
Push (mobile / app) notifications Via plugin
SMS / text message notifications
Apps
Android app Third-party apps
iOS app Third-party apps
"PWA" (installable web-application)
Security & privacy
Account 2-factor authentication Via plugin
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 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
OEM
Partner program (reseller / distributor)
Affiliate program
On-prem / self-hosting ? Yes, open-source & local Contact us
Compare See pricing See pricing

Contact us if you think we made a mistake in our comparison!

OctoPrint vs. SimplyPrint: frequently asked questions

Is SimplyPrint a fork of OctoPrint, or did you copy it?

No. SimplyPrint is not a fork of OctoPrint and shares no code with it - it's a separate platform that connects to your printer through OctoPrint via our official SimplyPrint Cloud plugin. In fact OctoPrint was our original gateway: for a long time, the first way to connect a printer to SimplyPrint was to install that plugin. We didn't take OctoPrint and monetise it; we built something different on top, and we sponsor the OctoPrint project on GitHub.

Can I use OctoPrint and SimplyPrint together?

Yes. If you already run OctoPrint, you can add SimplyPrint on top by installing the official SimplyPrint Cloud plugin - your OctoPrint instance keeps doing its thing locally, and SimplyPrint gives you cloud access, a queue, AI detection and fleet management across all of your printers. You can also connect Bambu, Klipper, Prusa, Marlin and Duet printers to SimplyPrint directly, without OctoPrint.

Is OctoPrint or SimplyPrint better for multiple printers or a print farm?

For a single printer, OctoPrint is excellent. For multiple printers it gets unwieldy: each printer needs its own OctoPrint instance and its own web address, and core OctoPrint has no unified dashboard, cross-printer queue or automation (the community tool that aggregated instances, OctoFarm, is now effectively unmaintained). SimplyPrint is built for fleets: every printer in one dashboard, an auto-assigning queue, continuous printing with AutoPrint, AI failure detection, and filament and maintenance tracking across the whole farm.

Does OctoPrint have remote access like SimplyPrint?

Not built in. OctoPrint is a local web interface, and the project itself warns against exposing it directly to the internet, so remote access means installing a plugin/tunnel (such as OctoEverywhere or Obico) or running your own VPN. SimplyPrint is cloud-native: you reach every printer securely from any browser, plus native iOS and Android apps, with nothing to expose and no port-forwarding.

Does OctoPrint support Bambu Lab printers?

Not in the stable release. OctoPrint's native connection is USB/serial (Marlin, Klipper over serial, RepRapFirmware), and Bambu Lab printers use a proprietary network API. Bambu support is coming through OctoPrint's new pluggable "connector" system in the in-development 2.0 release (in release-candidate as of mid-2026), not a shipping stable feature. SimplyPrint connects to Bambu Lab printers natively today, alongside Klipper, Prusa, Marlin, Duet and OctoPrint-connected machines.

Is OctoPrint free, and does SimplyPrint support it?

OctoPrint is free and open-source (AGPLv3), created in 2012 by Gina Häußge, who develops it full-time funded by community donations. SimplyPrint has a free tier too (2 printers, every feature) and paid plans as you scale. We're long-time fans: we sponsor OctoPrint on GitHub, we've done so for years, and we'd encourage anyone who relies on OctoPrint to support the project as well.

Should a school use OctoPrint or SimplyPrint?

OctoPrint has per-instance user accounts and permissions, but they're scoped to one printer at a time - there's no central organisation, SSO, or education plan. For a classroom or a lab with several printers and many students, SimplyPrint offers a dedicated schools plan: central users and roles, classes, teachers, an approval queue, SSO, and every printer in one place. SimplyPrint is free for 2 printers to try it out.

Does OctoPrint have an official mobile app like SimplyPrint?

No. Every iOS and Android app for OctoPrint (OctoApp, Printoid, OctoPod and others) is built by an independent third-party developer, not by the OctoPrint project. SimplyPrint ships its own native iOS and Android apps plus an installable web app (PWA), so you reach every printer in your account from your phone with nothing extra to set up.

Conclusion
Why SimplyPrint is the Top OctoPrint Alternative

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 OctoPrint alternative!

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