# SimplyPrint vs Spoolman

## About Spoolman

- **Website:** [Spoolman](https://github.com/Donkie/Spoolman)

## Overview

Spoolman is a free, open-source, self-hosted filament inventory: a tidy database of your spools that you run on your own server. It's genuinely good software, and if you live in Klipper and Moonraker and want to own your data, it's a sensible pick.

But Spoolman is a *database*, not a tracker. It doesn't connect to your printers; it waits for other software to tell it what you used. SimplyPrint's filament manager works the other way around: it's connected to your printers, reads the G-code of every print, and keeps each spool accurate on its own, with no plugins, no scale, and no server for you to run. Here's a fair, side-by-side look, first purely as a filament manager, then as the whole platform.

## Pros of Spoolman

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

- Genuinely free and open-source:** both the app and its SpoolmanDB filament database are MIT-licensed, so you can fork, audit and contribute to them.
- **Self-hosted, your data:** it runs entirely on your own Pi, NAS or VPS with no cloud dependency, a real plus if you want full data ownership or an air-gapped setup.
- **A deep, well-modelled inventory:** per-spool cost, locations and archiving, batch/lot numbers, lifecycle status and custom fields.
- **Built for the Klipper crowd:** a clean documented REST API and WebSocket updates make it a first-class fit for Klipper/Moonraker/Fluidd/Mainsail and OctoPrint, with a healthy plugin ecosystem.
- **Active and well-supported:** a popular, actively maintained project (2,500+ GitHub stars), not abandonware.

## Cons of Spoolman

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

- It isn't connected to your printers:** Spoolman never measures usage itself. Automatic deduction works only if you separately install and configure the Moonraker [spoolman] component or the OctoPrint-Spoolman plugin, and only for Klipper or OctoPrint-hosted printers.
- **No first-party NFC, AMS or hardware:** native NFC read/write, Bambu and Creality AMS auto-import and direct thermal label printing aren't built in. NFC/RFID and a Bambu AMS link are open feature requests, met only by third-party community tools.
- **No mobile app and no native drying tracker:** it's a responsive web app only, and there's no built-in mark-as-dried / days-since-dried tracking.
- **You run the server:** hosting, TLS, backups, remote access and updates are all on you, which is exactly what some people want, and a chore for others.

## Feature Comparison: SimplyPrint vs Spoolman

### General

| Feature | Spoolman | 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 | ✗ | ✓ |

### Features

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

### Apps

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

### Security & Privacy

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

### Support

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

### Firmware & Gateway Support

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