Comparison
SpeakCAD vs SketchUp Free: push-pull surfaces for buildings, or solids that print
SketchUp Free runs in the browser, is free for personal use and is a pleasure for sketching a room, a deck or a piece of furniture with push-pull. 3D printing is where it fights you: a SketchUp model is a set of faces, and the STL is only printable when every group is a closed solid; faces smaller than about 1 mm are refused, so small parts are modelled at 10x or 100x and scaled down; there is no fillet tool; and it does not run on a phone. SpeakCAD is built from the other end: every part is a solid by construction, every size is a millimetre you type, and the file is sliced for your printer.Updated 4 October 2026
Sources, checked on 4 October 2026: SketchUp for 3D printing (how-to-sketchup): solids, the 1 mm face limit, STL export on the free web version · SketchUp plans and pricing
| Criterion | SpeakCAD | SketchUp Free |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Functional 3D-printed parts: hand tools plus AI | Architecture, interiors, woodworking; general surface modelling |
| Where it runs | Browser on any phone, tablet or computer; nothing to install | Browser on a computer (the free web version); iPad on paid plans |
| On a phone | Full editor laid out for a thumb | No; a mobile viewer only |
| Watertight for printing | Always: solids compiled from a program, manifold by construction | Only when a group shows as Solid Group; open faces and stray edges break the export |
| Small parts | Any size in millimetres | Faces under about 1 mm are refused; model at 10x or 100x and scale down (the Dave method) |
| Dimensions | Exact millimetres you type; linked, so a later change follows | Typed lengths while drawing; weak dimension control afterwards |
| 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 | No fillet tool (extensions, or Follow Me by hand) |
| AI | Designs the part or the change from plain words; keeps your hand edits | None |
| Output | STL, 3MF, G-code sliced for your printer | STL from the file menu on the free web version; more formats on paid plans |
| Sliced G-code | Yes, for 380+ printers: included in Pro and Unlimited, +5 credits per slice otherwise | No: open the STL in your slicer and check it is solid |
| 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 | SketchUp Free: free for personal use in the browser |
| Price | Maker $7.99/mo (60 credits); Pro $14.99/mo; Unlimited $39.99/mo | Free; Go $10.75 a month billed annually for iPad and web (check their site) |
Surfaces or solids
SketchUp models surfaces: you draw faces and push-pull them, and a box is six faces that happen to meet. A slicer needs a closed solid, so SketchUp users learn the rituals: check for Solid Group in Entity Info, run Solid Inspector, hunt stray edges and reversed faces, and scale the whole model up because faces under about 1 mm are refused. For a house that never matters; for a 20 mm clip it is most of the work.
SpeakCAD parts are solids from the first second, computed from a program with named millimetre sizes. A hole is a hole, a tab is a tab, and the mesh is manifold without a repair step.
Where SketchUp Free wins
- Architecture, rooms, furniture, decks: push-pull on a plan is fast and intuitive, and the 3D Warehouse has the chairs and doors.
- Free in the browser for personal use, with STL export in the file menu.
- Freeform geometry: anything you can draw as faces, which a solid modeller for printed parts does not try to do.
Where SpeakCAD wins
- It prints. Watertight by construction, no Solid Inspector, no 100x scaling trick.
- Millimetres that stay linked, with six hand tools on the face you tap and an AI for the rest.
- The phone. The whole editor in Safari or Chrome; SketchUp Free needs a computer.
- G-code sliced for 380+ printers, and Fit Check to calibrate clearances to yours.
Verdict
Keep SketchUp Free for buildings, rooms and furniture. Use SpeakCAD when the thing has to come out of a 3D printer and fit something: it is a solid in millimetres from the start, on a phone, with the file sliced for your printer.Other comparisons
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