About SkipTheCAD

Most people who buy a 3D printer hit the same wall after a few weeks: the downloads run out, and making your own model means learning CAD. For a lot of useful prints you don't have to. There are generators for lithophanes, storage bins, signs, keychains, terrain maps, cookie cutters and much more. You fill in a form and they give you a file that is ready to slice.

The trouble is finding them. They are scattered across personal websites, GitHub pages, MakerWorld and Reddit threads, and half the links in old lists are dead. SkipTheCAD collects the ones that work in one place: 686 generators in 15 categories, 520 of them free, each with the same facts: what it makes, what it costs, which files it exports and whether you need an account.

What SkipTheCAD is for

• Finding the right tool fast. Browse by what you want to make, filter by price, file format or account, or read a guide that compares the best options.
• Knowing before you click. Every listing says up front what is free, what needs a login and what the tool does badly.
• Skipping the dead ends. Tools that stop working or stop fitting are updated or removed.

How a generator gets listed

• No CAD skills needed. You type, click, drag sliders or upload an image. Tinkercad, Fusion, Blender and raw OpenSCAD code don't count, however beginner-friendly they are.
• It is available today. Every tool's page is opened and checked: is it live, which formats does it export, does a download need an account. Where possible the generator itself is opened too. Links are re-checked regularly, and each listing shows the date it was last checked (how we check).
• It gives you a file you can print. STL, 3MF or another format a slicer can open.
• Honest pros and cons. Every listing has a cons section, without exception.

Not every tool gets the same depth of check. How far the check went, and how the "Most popular" order is set, is explained on how we check and rank generators.

Who checks the tools

SkipTheCAD is run by Mike Janssen, a 3D-printing maker from the Netherlands who designs printable models for MakerWorld and other model sites as SimplySolid3D and built the OrbitStudio generators listed below. Every listing is checked by hand: opening the generator, comparing its pricing, export formats and sign-up rules with the maker's own pages, and writing the guides. Makers can write to hello@skipthecad.com when a listing needs a fix.

Our own tools

Two listings come from the same makers as SkipTheCAD: OrbitStudio, a generator for Moon, Mars, Mercury and Venus terrain prints, and OrbitStudio Sky, which makes a printable star chart of the sky over one place on one date. Both carry a clear "Made by us" label, use the same template as every other tool, cons included, and get no boost in the rankings.

How the site is paid for

Some links to printers, filament and paid tools are affiliate links. When you buy through one, SkipTheCAD may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That never decides which generators get listed or how they are described. The details are on the affiliate disclosure page.

If SkipTheCAD saved you an evening of modeling, you can also buy us a coffee on Ko-fi. Donations keep the checks going; like commissions, they never decide which tools get listed or how they are ranked.

Get in touch

Found a dead link, a wrong price or a generator that is missing? Email hello@skipthecad.com, use the "Let us know" link on any tool page, or use the submit page. Tool makers are welcome to send corrections about their own product.

SkipTheCAD is published by SimplySolid3D (the Netherlands).