# SimplyPrint vs SpoolEase

## About SpoolEase

- **Website:** [SpoolEase](https://www.spoolease.io/)

## Overview

SpoolEase is a free, source-available, fully local filament manager for Bambu Lab printers. It's a genuinely clever project: build a little ESP32 NFC console (and, optionally, a load-cell scale), and it reads your AMS, tracks each spool's weight and keeps everything offline, on your own hardware, with no account and no cloud. If you own a Bambu printer, like soldering and want everything local, it's a neat build.

But SpoolEase only works with Bambu Lab, and getting it running means sourcing parts and assembling a DIY device. SimplyPrint's filament manager takes the opposite approach: it's brand-agnostic and needs no hardware at all. It reads the G-code of every print and deducts filament automatically, on any printer you already own, with NFC, AMS auto-import and an open database, free on every plan. Here's a fair, side-by-side look, first purely as a filament manager, then as the whole platform.

## Pros of SpoolEase

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

- Fully local and offline by design:** runs on your own ESP32 hardware with no account, login, subscription or cloud, a real plus if you want everything off the internet.
- **Real measured weight:** the optional load-cell scale physically weighs each spool, which is more accurate than any pure-software estimate.
- **Deep Bambu Lab integration:** AMS slot auto-config (material, colour, K-factor), Bambu factory RFID reading, live AMS weight, even a Bambu Studio fork that surfaces spool ID and net weight in the slicer.
- **Free and source-available:** the whole project (Apache 2.0 + Commons Clause) costs only the price of the DIY parts if you can solder, and you can use it in a commercial setting.
- **Genuine NFC, on built hardware:** the console reads and writes NTAG and Mifare tags and imports Bambu factory RFID, with a real nested storage-location system.
- **Actively maintained:** a solo developer shipping in a hard stack (Rust, Slint, embedded ESP32), not abandonware.

## Cons of SpoolEase

Where SpoolEase falls short if you want tracking that just happens:**

- Bambu Lab only:** it works with Bambu printers and AMS exclusively. There's no support for Creality, Anycubic, Prusa, Klipper or any other brand.
- **You build the hardware:** getting started means sourcing parts, 3D-printing a case and soldering a DIY ESP32 NFC console (the load-cell scale is a second optional build). No assembled kit is sold.
- **Tracking depends on the hardware running:** usage is read by live-monitoring Bambu jobs, so the console has to be on and watching, and prints from the printer's internal memory or "Print Again" can be missed.
- **NFC is console-only, and there's no shared database:** NFC works through the built console reader, not from a phone, browser or USB, and there's no shared, browsable filament database, no documented label printing and no documented camera or barcode scanning.
- **A very new, single-developer project:** it started in 2025 and is maintained by one person, where SimplyPrint is a company-backed platform running print operations since 2020.

## Feature Comparison: SimplyPrint vs SpoolEase

### General

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

### Features

| Feature | SpoolEase | 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 | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self-hosting option | ✓ | Contact us |

### Organizations

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

### Apps

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

### Security & Privacy

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

### Support

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

### Firmware & Gateway Support

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

### Enterprise & Partners

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