Comparison
SpeakCAD vs Onshape: professional browser CAD with a free plan, or a print-ready part from your phone
Onshape is the strongest CAD you can run in a browser: a Parasolid kernel, sketches with constraints, fillets on the edges you pick, assemblies, STEP, version control, and a free plan. It is professional software with a professional learning curve, its free plan makes every document public, and its phone apps are built for viewing more than designing. SpeakCAD does one job that Onshape is not shaped for: a dimensioned part for a 3D printer, shaped with six tools or described to an AI, on the phone next to the printer, with the file already sliced.Updated 4 October 2026
Sources, checked on 4 October 2026: Onshape plans and pricing (Free plan: non-commercial, public documents) · Onshape on AI: AI Advisor and the agents it is developing · What AI Advisor does (TexoCAD write-up) · Onshape 3D CAD on the App Store (reviews)
| Criterion | SpeakCAD | Onshape |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Functional 3D-printed parts: holes, cuts, tabs, rounded corners, measurements, and an AI for the rest | Full parametric CAD: sketches, constraints, fillets on the edges you pick, assemblies, drawings, PDM |
| Where it runs | Browser on any phone, tablet or computer; nothing to install | Browser on a computer; iOS and Android apps |
| On a phone | Full editor laid out for a thumb; tools in a bottom sheet | Apps exist; App Store reviews call them very hard to use on a phone |
| Learning curve | Six tools in millimetres, or describe it | Real CAD: sketching, constraints, feature history |
| Fillets | Round tool on the corners of a part (pockets you cut by hand get their own corner radius); a single edge is an AI request | Fillets and chamfers on any edge (Parasolid) |
| AI | Designs the part or the change from plain words; keeps your hand edits | AI Advisor answers questions about Onshape in the docs and the design environment; it does not see your model or make geometry. Agents that modify geometry are announced |
| Inputs | Starters (box, plate, cylinder, tray) and hand tools on a tapped face; text, photos with a ruler to copy a part, STL/3MF/.scad uploads | Sketches, imported CAD and mesh files |
| Printability | Wall thickness, clearances, flat base and overhang rules applied by default | Not print-specific; you apply the rules |
| Output | STL, 3MF, G-code sliced for your printer | STEP, STL, 3MF, Parasolid, IGES and more |
| Sliced G-code | Yes, for 380+ printers: included in Pro and Unlimited, +5 credits per slice otherwise | No: slice the STL yourself |
| Test the fit before a long print | Fit Check: free 5-minute test slice of the fit, then your printer's calibration is applied to every model | No: reprint, or cut a test piece yourself |
| Free to try | Hand tools (hole, cut, add, rounded corners, measure) and the STL or 3MF they make, with a free account; live demo (3 AI edits of a real part, no account); 650+ ready-made library models open in a free account and resize in the viewer; AI requests, downloads of AI work and G-code use credits | Free plan: non-commercial use only, every document public, mobile apps and AI Advisor included |
| Price | Maker $7.99/mo (60 credits); Pro $14.99/mo; Unlimited $39.99/mo | Free $0; Standard $1,500 per user a year; Professional $2,500 (check their site) |
Two different products in the same browser
Onshape is what "CAD in the browser" means to an engineer: everything a desktop CAD does, with no install and with version control built in. If you want to learn real CAD for free and do not mind your documents being public, it is the best offer there is.
SpeakCAD is for the person who prints and does not want to learn CAD. The six hand tools (Hole, Cut, Add, Extrude, Round, Measure) cover what most printed parts need, every size and position is a millimetre value you type, and the AI handles the shapes the tools do not. The output is a watertight STL or 3MF, or G-code sliced for your printer, and the whole thing runs on a phone.
Where Onshape wins
- Capability. Sketch constraints, fillets on the edges you pick, assemblies with mates, drawings, sheet metal, STEP for a machinist.
- A free plan for learning, with every feature, mobile apps and the AI Advisor included, as long as the work is non-commercial and you accept that every document is public.
- Version control and collaboration, which nothing aimed at hobbyists matches.
Where SpeakCAD wins
- The phone. The editor is laid out for a thumb, not shrunk from a desktop; Onshape's own app reviews say the phone experience is hard.
- Nothing to learn. Tap a face, pick a tool, type a number; or say what you need.
- AI that makes geometry. Onshape's AI Advisor answers questions about Onshape; it does not see your model or build anything (agents are announced). SpeakCAD's AI writes the part and keeps your hand edits.
- Printing. Print rules by default, Fit Check calibrated to your printer, and G-code sliced with official profiles for 380+ printers.
- Private work on the free tier. Your parts are yours; the hand tools and the files they make are free with a free account.
Where SpeakCAD stops
No sketch plane, no constraint solver, no fillet on an arbitrary edge by hand (that is an AI request), no assemblies, no STEP: the output is a mesh. For a part that goes to a machine shop or into a real assembly, use Onshape.
Verdict
Choose Onshape to learn and do real CAD in a browser for free, with public documents and a computer. Choose SpeakCAD for a 3D-printed part you shape by hand or describe, from a phone, with the file sliced for your printer.Other comparisons
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