FluidCAD
Ranked 8 of 27 CAD software by recommenders
Code-based parametric CAD in JavaScript that runs in the browser and combines code with a visual, mouse-driven interface.
Code-based parametric CAD in JavaScript that runs in the browser and combines code with a visual, mouse-driven interface.
24 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 96%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 23 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 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.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easier than pure code-based CAD
“overcome the issues of CAD by code, less mental effort to design by providing visual guidance”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller” “Using JavaScript for parametric CAD feels like it could significantly lower the barrier”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” “The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” Fresh approach to parametric modeling
“This looks like it could do the same thing for constraint modeling.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” “surprising to me this hasn't existed before seems so natural”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” “That looks like a really nice approach.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller” Combines code CAD with a GUI
“Love the combination of 'code cad' and graphical interface”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” “great combination of gui-driven and code-driven cad”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller” Runs in the browser or locally
“Impressive to see parametric CAD running in the browser.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript” “It runs locally on your machine.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Indices may break in changing models
“the use of indices instead of stable identifiers might bite in complex models that undergo changes”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript”
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 | — | — |
| FluidCADThis page | 23 | 1 | 96% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
18 of the 27 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This looks really cool! Nice work”
“It runs locally on your machine.”
“great combination of gui-driven and code-driven cad”
“That looks like a really nice approach.”
“overcome the issues of CAD by code, less mental effort to design by providing visual guidance”
“As a mechatronics engineer I really liked this!”
“Love the combination of 'code cad' and graphical interface”
“I like your approach to selection eg endFace, intuitive selection is definitely one of the trickier parts of a code based approach.”
“Using JavaScript for parametric CAD feels like it could significantly lower the barrier”
“the use of indices instead of stable identifiers might bite in complex models that undergo changes”
“The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable”
“Impressive to see parametric CAD running in the browser.”
“This project is pretty cool to see!”
“The workflow is exactly what I'm looking for.”
“surprising to me this hasn't existed before seems so natural”
“Not a list of operations/features.”
“Nice work and kudos for programming it by hand!”
“This looks like it could do the same thing for constraint modeling.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.