alt.hn

3/22/2026 at 8:06:18 AM

Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application

 https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d

by luu

3/23/2026 at 9:05:56 PM

Some other open source 3D CAD tools:

Code-based

- CadQuery - https://github.com/CadQuery/cadquery/

- build123d - https://github.com/gumyr/build123d

- OpenSCAD - https://openscad.cloud/openscad/

GUI (browser-based)

- Cadmium (abandoned, cool idea) - https://mattferraro.dev/posts/cadmium

by Evidlo

3/23/2026 at 9:45:35 PM

FreeCAD: https://freecad.org

by gmueckl

3/24/2026 at 5:09:05 AM

I would not suggest anyone use FreeCAD. The UX is the worst I've seen for any software. Finding any functionality is next to impossible.

by Pay08

3/24/2026 at 9:38:21 AM

It's been improving rapidly. The upcoming (imminently) 1.1 has a large amount of modern UI affordances, such as on-canvas gizmos that at times actually are easier to use than e.g. the Fusion ones. I'm a heavy Fusion user, but for me FreeCAD is nearly there now and the improvement over 1.0.x is massive.

There's a lot more to do, but my feeling is the project is taking UI/UX design much more seriously than it has in the past, with the ramp-up of an internal design-focused team etc. I get that feeling from reading the weekly progress updates and MR discussions.

I'm very optimistic for the future of FreeCAD personally. I think it's a great time to contribute if you are interested in making UI/UX better as well because there's much higher interest in that kind of work now. I think it's close to having its own Blender/KiCAD moment.

by sho_hn

3/24/2026 at 5:25:14 AM

The UI has an awkward learning curve and some tools are weird, but it has become a rather solid CAD. Don't discount it in its current state, despite its warts.

by gmueckl

3/24/2026 at 8:29:40 AM

I disagree. If you switch to the Part Design workbench, it's basically the exact same workflow as SolidWorks. Draw a sketch, add constraints, extrude / revolve / fillet, etc.

Yes they have some unconventional names for certain operations, like "pad" instead of "extrude", and yes there's a confusingly-similarly-named "Part" workbench for doing CSG-style CAD, and yes it takes a bit of practice to get good at it. But it's not next to impossible.

by mitthrowaway2

3/24/2026 at 8:57:40 AM

Yeah I just end up using Fusion 360. But depending on a freebie for hobbyists that could be withdrawn any time it's a bit worrying. I wish there were good visual tools.

I don't like browser based and blender is too focused on animation (I'm more into 3D printing) so I haven't found a good FOSS alternative. FreeCAD isn't it anyway.

by wolvoleo

3/24/2026 at 7:50:16 AM

I'm just a hobbyist with a 3D printer, but after watching a few tutorials it seems quite simple if you're only using the sketcher and part design 90% of the time.

by bardsore

3/24/2026 at 8:43:44 AM

Can't agree, I'm a complete newbie in CAD, and after I opened FreeCAD I didn't know what to do at all. Watched one youtube video covering all the basics and I can design whatever I want with confidence. Besides being free – it's very intuitive and great piece of software in my opinion

by gloosx

3/23/2026 at 10:42:16 PM

libfive - https://libfive.com

guile scheme, bindings in Rust and Python

personally exited to check it out for real constructive-solid modeling, as opposed to emulating that workflow over OpenCascade's (fickle but otherwise lovely) BREP modeling (ie. edges & faces) via build123d (which has been great but is increasingly vibe-coded :/)

discussed previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12319406

a real constructive solid library (as opposed to emulation via modeling), with

by autumn-antlers

3/23/2026 at 9:49:27 PM

JSCAD (formerly OpenJSCAD) https://openjscad.xyz/

Awesome because you can build a model, expose the parameters, and allow web users to generate a model to fit their parameters.

by kennywinker

3/23/2026 at 9:50:00 PM

vcad was started in 2026 and has great ambitions: https://docs.vcad.io

by dr_win

3/23/2026 at 11:02:09 PM

I've been "vibe coding" with OpenSCAD with good results! OpenSCAD will automatically detect changes in the current open file and reload it, so I can use VS Code (with the OpenSCAD extension) to vibe code with Claude, and watch the changes appear on the OpenSCAD screen

by fortran77

3/24/2026 at 12:58:29 AM

Got any example results/chat sessions? I've had little luck with LLMs for 3d modeling

by alanbernstein

3/24/2026 at 2:22:25 AM

I've had better luck telling it to use CadQuery. Here's an example where I stumbled around a bit, but was successful in creating a cat food container (Sheba Perfect Portions) dispenser

https://claude.ai/share/ebce7c8e-4e5a-42ec-8ee9-cf066f68858f

by bdcravens

3/24/2026 at 7:18:23 AM

You might have an easier time doing that with claude code.

by operatingthetan

3/23/2026 at 10:45:14 PM

KiCad - https://www.kicad.org/

by tosti

3/24/2026 at 6:04:14 AM

that's for PCB design, it's not a 3D CAD tool

by big_man_ting

3/24/2026 at 8:35:50 AM

;-;

by tosti

3/23/2026 at 10:00:40 PM

Without context, it sounds like an FPS adaptation of a Dune game.

by reconnecting

3/24/2026 at 1:31:35 AM

Yep, or a 3D adaptation of an RTS game.

by tosti

3/24/2026 at 12:35:37 AM

Dune3d comes off like a reskin of SolveSpace. SolveSpace is pretty awesome, so that's not a knock, per se. I'll leave it to somebody with more experience to fill in what value Dune3D adds beyond SolveSpace.

by freeopinion

3/24/2026 at 1:04:10 AM

I found the UI far more approachable in Dune 3D than any other 3D CAD program I've tried and as the readme notes, Dune 3D imports STEP files and does fillets/chamfers which SolveSpace does not (in the current version)

There was a recent video on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4

If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts, I'd be very interested --- I've done the tutorial for Dune 3D twice now (which is farther than I've gotten in any other 3D CAD tool), but keep getting hung up on subtleties/specifics which I have trouble describing for want of the correct terminology/understanding:

https://github.com/dune3d/dune3d/discussions/118

When I tried to write up the usage of a far simpler program, one of the things which I tried to do was define all terminology as it was brought up:

https://willadams.gitbook.io/design-into-3d/2d-drawing

are there any tutorials for 3D CAD which attempt definitions along the way in this fashion?

by WillAdams

3/24/2026 at 9:00:36 AM

I've had far more success following along video tutorials than written ones. Most written tutorials (as you've pointed out) miss far too much detail. Watching someone do it and copying along teaches all the menu navigation stuff implicitly.

I've successfully learned quite a few EDA and 3D CAD tools that way. It's also effectively the way it's taught in a classroom - the teacher shows you and you copy.

by leoedin

3/24/2026 at 9:53:33 AM

Usability?

SolveSpace is a PITA in that regard. You also need to re-learn most terms that are common in other CAD software. It's a typical OSS thing.

Why care about professional users that have years of learning invested into an ecosystem of professional CAD software (including terminology)? Because these people will get you the most valuable feedback if you can get them to even play with your OSS CAD thingy.

AI has now balanced the scores here. Someone with decent CAD experience can now instruct a model to build something useful.

Based on lots of good libs out there that solve the basics. I.e. concentrate on UI/UX to build something better.

It's like Lego, hands-free. You have all the blocks and you have someone who knows how/helps you combine them.

If you have good taste, you can get nice results without understanding how the Legos where made or how to even combine them.

by virtualritz

3/24/2026 at 2:24:32 AM

Would love to see a quick video demo showcasing the features, look and feel of the software. The same team made horizon eda, and I wasn't able to find videos on youtube about it that were newer than 2022, so I never gave it a shot either.

by raziel2701

3/23/2026 at 9:00:35 PM

Also check out modelrift.com which is based on openscad foundation. See the dynamic customizer which allows to edit any model parameter, re-render and get .stl: https://modelrift.com/models/customizable-liquid-funnel - it works _completely_ in your browser by using WASM

by jetter

3/23/2026 at 11:25:55 PM

I have used this for throwing together some models for 3D printing. I've found it very intuitive, though I'm not sure how ergonomic it would be for complex assemblies.

I really like the space-key based command access and default shortcuts for all the commands.

by nathanmcrae

3/24/2026 at 1:53:37 AM

So this is a smudge of like 4 projects? Huh. Definitely interested, but I wonder about the longevity of the system. That's one thing about the code cad systems I like: it's pretty easy to port code from one to another.

by fallat

3/24/2026 at 6:51:45 AM

Okay, but unless you choose to download the Windows executable, compiling from source is very difficult. Many people won't accept the Snap option on an otherwise open-source platform.

This project improves on SolveSpace, but it does this by requiring dozens of mutually conflicting libraries. I create CAD videos, but for my students I decided against this project after seeing how difficult it was to compile.

A FlatPak installer might help with this installation issue.

Again, the Windows executable gets around these issues, for people still willing to put up with Windows.

by lutusp

3/24/2026 at 7:14:11 AM

Even an AppImage would be great.

by snoopen

3/24/2026 at 8:27:44 AM

took me two commands to get binary on osx. (i had brew already)

brew install ... and ./scripts/build_macos.sh

For windows instructions look equally trivial.

by vincnetas

3/23/2026 at 11:28:30 PM

Another simple GTK4 app for the ecosystem, nice.

In case anyone is wondering, Dune3D as a flatpak is about 33mb. FreeCAD is 354mb. I enjoy having simple solutions that get simple things done. Will definitely give Dune3D a try.

by Levitating

3/24/2026 at 6:12:14 AM

How much vibe coding is involved in this?

by Surac

3/24/2026 at 8:32:47 AM

It's by the team that did Horizon EDA, which is very much a "craftsmanship-first" effort. and they've been working on this for some time now. My guess is hardly any.

by mitthrowaway2

3/24/2026 at 8:57:09 AM

Is it a team really? Most commits seem to come from one user "carrotindustries". I am really interested in an Open Source CAD application with good UX, this one looks great. But I don't want to spend too much time on an application maintained mostly by a single developer. The risk of it being abandoned is too high.

by BozeWolf

3/23/2026 at 8:48:49 PM

FreeCAD is the worst. Thanks for building this!

by mountainriver

3/23/2026 at 9:12:32 PM

(I seem to be cast in the role of FreeCAD advocate on HN these days, but here goes!)

For years I agreed with you - I tried FreeCAD multiple times, different versions, always sucked.

Then I watched this video [0] and discovered that v1.1 is different - and that it's good enough for solid reliable hobby usage. It's still a touch frustrating in a few areas (text, for example) but I've now switched over to it completely.

[0] https://youtu.be/VEfNRST_3x8

by mft_

3/24/2026 at 3:29:42 AM

I've forced myself to git gud with FreeCAD. It's better. Way better than it used to be. It's also still a very complex and user unfriendly application with a long road ahead of it.

You can make it work. You can also save yourself a lot of headache by using other CAD tools. Personally I value "Freedom" so I will continue to use it despite the difficulties but that may not be the right path for others.

by bmurphy1976

3/23/2026 at 11:23:58 PM

I really, really want that to be true, but my experience trying to adopt it has been really painful.

Even selecting things in the UI has sucked. I went in and increased the selection radius or whatever, that helped. But really, should I need to do this as a new user?

Getting the constraints to behave is like pulling teeth.

It also kind of sucks that you have to have really sparse sketches that only contain one closed figure. I gather you can create a "master sketch" and selectively project geometry into other sketches. But the last few times I've tried the app, I haven't gotten far enough into my sketches before rage quitting to validate the technique.

Right now I am back F360 with their hobby license wanting to escape their regular messing with the terms and conditions.

by daotoad

3/24/2026 at 7:09:33 AM

> Even selecting things in the UI has sucked. I went in and increased the selection radius or whatever, that helped. But really, should I need to do this as a new user?

Agree - selection isn’t broken, but it’s definitely sometimes frustrating and as it’s such a common function, absolutely should be as close to perfect as possible. I think it’s partly that the visual indication of what you’re hovering over and would be selected is too subtle, and also I’ve found (on Mac; I’ve not confirmed on other OSs) that it’s not selecting what’s at the exact tip of the pointer, but is rather selecting a couple of pixels away.

> Getting the constraints to behave is like pulling teeth.

Huh, once I’ve actually selected correctly, I find the constraints are fine - say, 95% as good as Solidworks.

> It also kind of sucks that you have to have really sparse sketches that only contain one closed figure.

Can you explain what you mean by this? Do you mean you can’t have a sketch with (to take a very simple example) a circle inside a circle, or two unrelated circles, or something else?

by mft_

3/23/2026 at 9:41:28 PM

I agree. freeCAD has become a tool that I just use without thinking about it. Earlier versions always made me question my choice and try out other software.

by elaus

3/23/2026 at 9:47:06 PM

Recent freecad is pretty decent. My main complaint these days is the performance of the geometry engine.

by uberduper

3/23/2026 at 11:31:02 PM

I found FreeCAD fine but it takes me a while to remember how to use it each time (since I don't use it frequently...)

by cozzyd

3/23/2026 at 11:41:24 PM

I’ve tried FreeCAD multiple times, but I’m just too used to Rhino 3D. Unfortunately, it’s rather expensive. Anyone need a slightly used, low-mileage, one owner soul?

by drivingmenuts

3/23/2026 at 10:20:44 PM

FreeCAD would benefit from effective

(1) agile Product Management,

(2) Product Design & continuous user-research,

(3) Improvements to test-driven development (TDD),

(4) transparent & open outcome-based roadmap,

(5) a vision to make the application easy to use for newbies in a maker-space, and (this is specific to my use-case),

(6) Improvements to the CAM module to make it easy to use this for CNC routers, and designing objects with sloped/curved surfaces.

- FreeCAD site: https://www.freecad.org/

- FreeCAD code: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD

- FreeCAD forum: https://forum.freecad.org/

To echo others' comments: FreeCAD has improved significantly since v1.0, so I'm hoping this attracts quality & stability-minded develeopers, and a frequent release cadence.

by dv35z

3/23/2026 at 8:42:58 PM

Its not often you see 'fillets and chamfers' are tip-line features in the readme for CAD packages. But good on you for building something.

by idiotsecant

3/23/2026 at 8:56:15 PM

> Its not often you see 'fillets and chamfers' are tip-line features in the readme for CAD packages.

Well the readme states the following:

Solvespace on the other hand gets the workflow part right, but falls short by not importing STEP and the geometry kernel not supporting chamfers and fillets.

So I assume that's where that comes from.

by magicalhippo

3/24/2026 at 9:24:00 AM

This is honestly the first thing I look for with anything new claiming "CAD".

Roughly every other week there is a new "The (programmable) CAD that fixes everything!" post on the front page, just for me to open them up excitedly and noticing that they use a mesh kernel and will thus never be able to provide fillets and chamfers painlessly (for the user). All while they are absolutely essential for a lot of designs, especially in 3D-printing, a well-placed fillet/chamfer can make the difference between an object that breaks upon looking at it funny and one that can bear significant load.

by carpenecopinum

3/23/2026 at 9:27:17 PM

Well, implementing fillets and chamfers is no easy task, so it's well deserved to be there.

Source: been there, done that.

by Sakthimm

3/24/2026 at 4:38:50 AM

fillets and chamfers are at the same time both ridiculously difficult and ridiculously important.

by Brian_K_White

3/24/2026 at 1:04:58 AM

It has been one of the main complaints about openscad for some time

by alanbernstein