ShopSpec
Hacker ApprovedRanked 11 of 27 CAD software by recommenders
Woodworkers recommend it for planning and visualizing furniture projects and building cut lists. Known gaps include limited shelf counts and imperial-only units.
Woodworkers recommend it for planning and visualizing furniture projects and building cut lists. Known gaps include limited shelf counts and imperial-only units.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 95%
Recommended in 4 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: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 19 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Customizable for DIY furniture builds
“Your approach to doing what you happened to need - bookshelves, workbench etc in a customisable way is very cool.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?” “This is amazing -- I was looking for a tool exactly like this to DIY a bookshelf.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?” “This is beautiful and I'm now itching to make a workbench”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)” - Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)”
Plans, visualizes and executes projects
“ShopSpec has been instrumental to plan, visualize, and execute on these new ideas/projects.”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)” “ShopSpec has been instrumental to plan, visualize, and execute on”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)” “I'm a woodworker and use it for my own home and shop builds.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?” - Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)”
Practical woodworking knowledge and examples
“this is really well done. Nice work on this, and good job on incorporating some really good, practical woodworking knowlege”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?” “using those example as a base are really great”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Limited shelf count and hardwood types
“This is cool. ... (2) >4 shelves does not work. (3) 'Other' hardwood type not possible.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?” Cut list sometimes misses parts
“That part doesn't seem to be in the cut list.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: CAD for wood working with LLM support?”
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 | — | — |
| ShopSpecThis page | 19 | 1 | 95% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
21 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“That part doesn't seem to be in the cut list.”
“ShopSpec has a standalone optimizer too separate from the parametric design.”
“this is really well done. Nice work on this, and good job on incorporating some really good, practical woodworking knowlege”
“I checked this project couple months ago and i can say it's really nice!”
“Your approach to doing what you happened to need - bookshelves, workbench etc in a customisable way is very cool.”
“This is amazing -- I was looking for a tool exactly like this to DIY a bookshelf.”
“shopspec looks great(good job variodot)”
“This looks fantastic - great job!”
“This is cool. ... (2) >4 shelves does not work. (3) 'Other' hardwood type not possible.”
“This looks really nice, I'll give it a shot with my next project!”
“I'm a woodworker and use it for my own home and shop builds.”
“Don't forget about the rest of the world which does not use imperial”
“love seeing new woodworking software! Thank you for making this.”
“a tool that I find useful for myself”
“This is beautiful and I'm now itching to make a workbench”
“This is amazing, I may use it for a built-in pantry”
“ShopSpec has been instrumental to plan, visualize, and execute on”
“using those example as a base are really great”
“ShopSpec has been instrumental to plan, visualize, and execute on these new ideas/projects.”
“Shopspec looks very cool! Love to see people building in this direction”
“This looks really neat and can't believe how similar the functionality is.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.