µcad
Ranked 18 of 27 CAD software by recommenders
Free open-source language that generates 2D sketches and 3D models from code, seen as a promising OpenSCAD alternative; critics doubt it can displace sketch-based CAD.
Free open-source language that generates 2D sketches and 3D models from code, seen as a promising OpenSCAD alternative; critics doubt it can displace sketch-based CAD.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 57%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Underpowered and hard to use
“an extremely underpowered programming language, which makes creating even the simplest 3D models a chore”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D” “wow is does it have poor performance /is difficult to use”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D” Examples are videos or fail
“I find it horrible that all the examples are given as videos.”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D” “But I also quite quickly found examples that don't work.”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D”
Other CAD software people recommend
The four most recommended other CAD software, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeCAD | 199 | 95 | 68% | 12 | 2 yrs13 owners | Approved |
| OpenSCAD | 173 | 87 | 66% | 12 | 9 yrs4 owners | — |
| Onshape | 65 | 21 | 76% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Autodesk Fusion 360 | 60 | 37 | 62% | 12 | — | — |
| µcadThis page | 8 | 6 | 57% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“That's interesting project”
“I find it horrible that all the examples are given as videos.”
“Programming language that requires (maybe it does not require, but then example is not good) to type degrees.”
“But I also quite quickly found examples that don't work.”
“It makes LLMs stronger because code is something LLMs are good at.”
“an extremely underpowered programming language, which makes creating even the simplest 3D models a chore”
“this feels waaaay more intuitive”
“Looks like a promising alternative to OpenSCAD.”
“ucad is based on Manifold, so unfortunately, not really comparable”
“Doesn't it solve the problem by being local?”
“wow is does it have poor performance /is difficult to use”
“This does not seem to have a constraint solver or any documented plans to integrate one.”
“I would need to recreate something like openscad's workflow to consider switching.”
“I have a hard time seeing this gaining traction over traditional sketch-based CAD for a number of reasons”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.