# FluidCAD

23 Hacker News commenters recommended FluidCAD and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Code-based parametric CAD in JavaScript that runs in the browser and combines code with a visual, mouse-driven interface.

## Why people recommend it

- Easier than pure code-based CAD (3 comments): "overcome the issues of CAD by code, less mental effort to design by providing visual guidance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036513)) "Using JavaScript for parametric CAD feels like it could significantly lower the barrier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47729006)) "The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47727855))
- Fresh approach to parametric modeling (3 comments): "This looks like it could do the same thing for constraint modeling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47723299)) "surprising to me this hasn't existed before seems so natural" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47724140)) "That looks like a really nice approach." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50039468))
- Combines code CAD with a GUI (2 comments): "Love the combination of 'code cad' and graphical interface" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47741100)) "great combination of gui-driven and code-driven cad" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040926))
- Runs in the browser or locally (2 comments): "Impressive to see parametric CAD running in the browser." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47724292)) "It runs locally on your machine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50067681))

## What people warn about

- Indices may break in changing models (1 comments): "the use of indices instead of stable identifiers might bite in complex models that undergo changes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47728871))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [FreeCAD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freecad.md): 199 recommend
- [OpenSCAD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openscad.md): 173 recommend
- [Onshape](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onshape.md): 65 recommend
- [Autodesk Fusion 360](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fusion-360.md): 60 recommend
- [SolveSpace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/solvespace.md): 37 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "FluidCAD", https://hackerapproved.com/p/fluidcad/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).