--- title: "SpeakCAD vs Zoo Text-to-CAD: engineering STEP files for developers, or print-ready parts for makers" description: "Zoo generates B-rep CAD from text for engineers and developers, with STEP and an API. SpeakCAD is built for people with a 3D printer: phone browser, chat editing, print rules applied, STL and 3MF out." canonical: https://speakcad.com/vs/zoo-text-to-cad published: 2026-09-03 updated: 2026-10-04 publisher: SpeakCAD --- # SpeakCAD vs Zoo Text-to-CAD: engineering STEP files for developers, or print-ready parts for makers > Zoo generates B-rep CAD from text for engineers and developers, with STEP and an API. SpeakCAD is built for people with a 3D printer: phone browser, chat editing, print rules applied, STL and 3MF out. Zoo's Text-to-CAD, now Zookeeper, a conversational CAD agent inside Zoo Design Studio, is one of the more serious attempts at generative CAD: a prompt produces a proper boundary-representation model with STEP export, a code language of its own (KCL), and an API for building products on top. It is aimed at engineers and developers. SpeakCAD is aimed at someone with a printer and a broken knob, and the differences follow from that. | | SpeakCAD | Zoo Text-to-CAD | |---|---|---| | Audience | Makers and 3D printer owners, no CAD skills assumed | Engineers and developers; API and desktop studio | | Where it runs | Browser on any phone, tablet or computer; nothing to install | Zoo Design Studio for Mac, Windows and Linux, a browser version at app.zoo.dev with a desktop-style interface, and an API | | Editing | Hand tools on a tapped face (hole, cut, add, extrude, text, rounded corners, filleted edges, shell, copies, measure), free; or chat: say what to change, with a ghost of the previous version | Point-and-click modelling tools, chat with Zookeeper, its CAD agent, or edit the KCL code | | 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 | Text; code in its own language (KCL) | | Printability | Wall thickness, clearances, flat base and overhang rules applied by default | Not print-specific; an engineering model | | Output | STL, 3MF, G-code sliced for your printer | STEP, STL, OBJ, glTF and more | | Parametric | Yes, named OpenSCAD variables you can change by chat or in the dimensions panel | Yes, via its code language | | 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 | | Price | Maker $7.99/mo (50 credits); Pro $14.99/mo; Unlimited $79.99/mo | Free plan with 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning a month; Plus $20/mo; Pro $99/mo (check their site) | ## Different jobs Zoo wants to be the generative CAD engine that other products are built on, and the engineering desktop that produces STEP for manufacturing. That is a real and hard problem, and it is not the maker's problem. The maker's problem is: this shelf needs a bracket, my printer is in the garage, and I do not know CAD. SpeakCAD is shaped by that problem. The interface is a chat that works on a phone. The model is parametric OpenSCAD, chosen because an AI writes it reliably and a browser compiles it in seconds. Fits, wall thicknesses and orientation are decided for you unless you say otherwise. The output is the STL or 3MF the slicer wants, or G-code already sliced for your printer. When the print does not fit, the fix is a sentence and a free re-download. ## Where Zoo wins If you need a STEP file for a machinist or for an assembly in SolidWorks or Fusion, or you are a developer building generative CAD into your own product, Zoo is the right tool and SpeakCAD does not try to be. Its B-rep output is what engineering workflows expect; a mesh from OpenSCAD is not. Its free plan also lets you generate your own parts every month, within the included reasoning time. ## Where SpeakCAD wins If the destination is a 3D printer: the parts come out print-ready, the editing loop is a conversation rather than code, it works from the phone in your pocket, it copies a physical part from two photos and a ruler, and it rebuilds an STL you downloaded so you can change it. It starts with Maker at $7.99 a month, cancel anytime, and G-code sliced for your printer costs the same as the STL. ## The code question Both tools produce code. Zoo's is its own language; SpeakCAD's is OpenSCAD, which has existed since 2010 and runs on any computer. In SpeakCAD the program stays in the editor: you change it by chat or by typing a dimension, and every design stays parametric in your project. ## Verdict Choose Zoo if you need STEP, an API, or engineering B-rep. Choose SpeakCAD if you have a 3D printer, want the part today, and want to make it from a browser or a phone without learning anything. ## Sources - [Zoo pricing](https://zoo.dev/pricing) - [Zookeeper (Text-to-CAD)](https://zoo.dev/text-to-cad) - [Zoo Design Studio (browser and desktop, point-and-click and KCL)](https://zoo.dev/design-studio) ## About SpeakCAD SpeakCAD is the most intuitive CAD for 3D printing, made for people who own a 3D printer and need a part that fits something they have: tap a face and type a size to shape it with simple tools, or describe it to the AI, on your phone or computer, and download a print-ready STL, 3MF or G-code sliced for your printer. SpeakCAD works inside ChatGPT and Claude as a plugin (an MCP server): ask the assistant for a part with its measurements and SpeakCAD's own CAD AI designs it, shows it in 3D in the chat and hands over a print-ready STL, 3MF or G-code sliced for your printer. - Live demo, no account: https://speakcad.com/demo - In ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP clients: https://speakcad.com/chatgpt-plugin, https://speakcad.com/claude-connector, https://speakcad.com/mcp-server - Pricing: https://speakcad.com/pricing - FAQ: https://speakcad.com/faq - Site index for AI assistants: https://speakcad.com/llms.txt