OwlCAD

A parametric CAD app that runs in the browser, at owlcad.com. Its gallery holds two quite different things: a large library of CC0 and CC-BY parts, and the CAD projects its users share. Nothing there needs an account, and Thingport keeps no credentials for it at all.

At a glance
Sign-in	None — nothing to connect
Thingport Grab	Recommended — a CAD project’s file is built by OwlCAD’s editor, so only Grab can bring one
FlareSolverr	Not used
Imports	Models, filed by OwlCAD’s category. No collections or likes: its gallery is one list

How it works

OwlCAD is a Firebase app. Its gallery is a public database collection, its library parts are files in its storage, and the one call Thingport makes to it answers without a sign-in — so imports need nothing set up.

What differs is where a model’s geometry comes from, and it decides how it imports.

Library parts are a stored mesh. Thingport downloads it and converts it to an STL, placed exactly as OwlCAD places one: turned Z-up and scaled so its longest side is 40 mm, which is the size the gallery states. These import on their own, with no Grab and no sign-in.
CAD projects have no file anywhere. A project is a script — primitives, booleans, fillets, generators like gears and Gridfinity bins — and OwlCAD’s own kernel is what turns it into geometry, in the page, when you use File → Export. There is nothing for Thingport to download, so Thingport Grab opens the model in OwlCAD’s editor, exports it there as a 3MF and hands the file back. The few projects that are nothing but an imported mesh are the exception: those Thingport converts itself, like a part.

Paste a model link (https://owlcad.com/gallery/<id>, with or without the name after it) in Thingport, or import it from its page with Grab. A link to the model open in the editor, https://owlcad.com/app?shared=<id>, works too — that is what OwlCAD’s Share button hands out.

Importing a CAD project

With Grab allowed on OwlCAD, importing one from its page just works: Grab opens it in the editor in a tab of its own, exports it and closes the tab again. It takes a few seconds while OwlCAD loads its kernel and builds the geometry.

A project imported anywhere else — pasted in the app, or started from the import queue — has nothing to download, so it waits instead. Thingport notifies you, and Grab brings it in the next time you open owlcad.com. A model that fails three times is dropped with a notification saying why.

Two things OwlCAD’s editor won’t do:

A model over 250,000 triangles is refused by the bridge Grab exports through. Open it in OwlCAD and use File → Export by hand instead.
A project that is no longer shared can’t be opened, so it can’t be exported.

Categories, authors and licences

Categories. OwlCAD has 23 of them and no ids for them: a model carries its category’s name, such as Printer Parts. Map them to yours in Configuration → Categories, as for any other site.
Authors. A library part credits the pack’s original creator — Kenney, Quaternius, Adafruit and others — and links to their own page on their own site, since OwlCAD has no creator pages. A CAD project has no author at all: OwlCAD shows none either, so one imports without one.
Licences. Library parts are CC0, CC-BY or MIT, and their attribution comes with them. OwlCAD states no licence for a CAD project.

Setup

None. OwlCAD needs no account, no API key and nothing in Configuration → Providers — it is connected from the start. For CAD projects, allow Thingport Grab on owlcad.com: in Grab’s popup, click OwlCAD under Providers — or Enable on the card at the top while you’re on owlcad.com — and let your browser give it access.

Compare with other providers

Provider	Sign-in	Thingport Grab	FlareSolverr	Collections	Likes	Sync	Print profiles
OwlCADThis page	None	Recommended⁴	Not needed	No	No	No	No
MakerWorld	Your cookie	Recommended	Optional	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Printables	None	Optional¹	Recommended	Yes	Yes¹	Yes	No
Thingiverse	Admin’s App Token	Optional	Recommended	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
MyMiniFactory	Admin’s API key, yours for paid	Optional	Recommended	Yes	No	Yes	No
Snapmaker Space	Yours, for a day	Recommended²	Not needed	Bookmarks	Yes	Yes	Yes
MakerOnline	Yours, for likes only	Required	Not needed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Creality Cloud	Yours, for a week	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NexPrint	Yours	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Thangs	Yours, renewed for a year	Recommended	Optional	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Cults3D	Your API key + browser sign-in	Recommended³	Not needed	Printlists	Yes	Yes	No
eufyMake	Yours, for likes only	Recommended	Not needed	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pinshape	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Toymakr3D	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	No	Yes⁵	Yes	No
Makerables	Yours, for saved projects only	Recommended	Not needed	Saved	No	Yes	No
CGTrader	Yours, for the files	Recommended⁶	Recommended	Wishlist	Yes⁶	Yes	No
GrabCAD	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	No	Yes	Yes	No
Meshy	Yours; Pro for community models	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	No	Yes	No
PIXUP	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	Collections, wishlists	Yes	Yes	No
Fab365	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	No	Yes⁷	Yes	No
3DExport	Yours, for the files	Recommended	Not needed	Bookmark collections	No	Yes	No
QIDI Maker	Yours, for your collections and likes	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VoxelShare	Yours, for your collections and likes	Recommended	Not needed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Your private Printables collections and your likes are read by Grab, while you’re on Printables.
Snapmaker’s sign-in lasts a day and only Grab renews it; without Grab you paste a new one every day.
Cults3D’s files need your browser’s Cloudflare clearance, and Thingport on the same IP address as that browser.
A gallery item that is a CAD project, rather than a library part, has no stored mesh: OwlCAD’s editor builds its file, so Thingport Grab exports it on owlcad.com.
Toymakr3D hands a model’s files to signed-in users only, the free ones included, and shows your likes to you alone.
CGTrader shows your likes and wishlist to you alone, and its downloads sit behind AWS’s bot check, which Thingport passes with Grab’s token from your browser or FlareSolverr’s own.
Fab365 hands a model’s files to signed-in members only, the free ones included, and shows your favourites to you alone.

Known problems

Open bug reports about OwlCAD in Thingport, on GitHub.

No known problems with OwlCAD.

Report a problem with OwlCAD

Notes from users

Tips, workarounds and news about OwlCAD from people who use it. Something broken in Thingport? See Known problems.