Zoo CAD
Shares rank 26 of 27 CAD software by recommenders
Recommended for re-iterating on CAD models with text prompts instead of rebuilding from scratch. Main caveat: cloud-only geometry kernel, which critics call lock-in.
Recommended for re-iterating on CAD models with text prompts instead of rebuilding from scratch. Main caveat: cloud-only geometry kernel, which critics call lock-in.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 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.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cloud-hosted kernel, no local option
“promoting vendor lock-in by forcing users to use their cloud-hosted geometry kernel”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D” “Zoo has said it's open to local hosting of the kernel for years.”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “µcad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D” “they did this extremely online-only/SaaS model where they're rendering and streaming the 3D from their cloud”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Oxide Computer raises $445M (SEC Form D)”
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 | — | — |
| Zoo CADThis page | 5 | 3 | 63% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'd find they'd be useful for prototyping, even though you lose revision history when you switch over”
“they did this extremely online-only/SaaS model where they're rendering and streaming the 3D from their cloud”
“Zoo doesn't seem to be a great website, on my normally sized display there is a small horizontal scrollbar that moves like 5 pixels”
“allows you to re-iterate on the same model over and over with prompts, without resorting to creating a new model from scratch every time”
“the rendering engine is so buggy currently that it's not really usable for more than simple shapes”
“I have played with this but been underwhelmed.”
“Zoo has said it's open to local hosting of the kernel for years.”
“promoting vendor lock-in by forcing users to use their cloud-hosted geometry kernel”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.