{"slug": "dune-3d", "name": "Dune 3D", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 10, "commenters": 14, "warners": 0, "score": 9.575, "rising": -2.27, "first": "2025-11-18", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "Dune3D is currently my go-to for 3d-printer related parts", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 14, "neutral": 3, "compare": 2, "warn": 1}, "spark": [2, 1, 0, 2, 5, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Dune3D is currently my go-to for 3d-printer related parts", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "dune3d.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://dune3d.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Dune 3D", "Dune3D", "Dune3d", "dune3d"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 804413266, "item_id": 50275829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275829", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-10-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "quite workable, and has quite good documentation", "excerpt": "The thing is, there are already some notable projects: - FreeCAD --- exactly what it says on the tin, and making huge improvements, so that I am quite hopeful of 26.3 - SolveSpace --- surprisingly capable/nimble/lightweight - Dune 3D --- the new kid on the block, it is quite workable, and has quite good documentation: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/simple-part.html (and for the hardcore programmers there are OpenS", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Nasscad \u2013 local-first 3D CAD for browser and Windows"}, {"id": 800747008, "item_id": 50046688, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046688", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its quite nice textual documentation", "excerpt": "Yeah, that's why I was willing to pay for a book. That's an interesting approach, and I'll definitely keep it in mind --- maybe 26.3 will finally be the version where I learn FreeCAD. I will note that I was moderately successful w/ Dune 3D on the basis of its quite nice textual documentation: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/simple-part.html", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller"}, {"id": 777609152, "item_id": 48600572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48600572", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-06-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which I find a little less confusing than the traditional 3D CAD packages", "excerpt": "A UI which seems a bit more in-line w/ contemporary expectations is Dune 3D: https://dune3d.org/ which I find a little less confusing than the traditional 3D CAD packages I've tried (and failed to learn) --- at least for Dune 3D I've made it through the tutorial successfully.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 768692275, "item_id": 48043267, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48043267", "by": "parlortricks", "date": "2026-05-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I also love playing with build123d, dune3d", "excerpt": "I love FreeCAD, designed some parts, did a bunch of Solidworks challenges and entered CAD comps. I also love playing with build123d, dune3d (uses solvespace constraint) and SolveSpace. Do love Solidworks but I'm on linux now so time to embrace the other options more.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license"}, {"id": 765321728, "item_id": 47832608, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47832608", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-04-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "consider that one electronics designer actually worked up a 3D CAD system", "excerpt": "Components are pretty easily done via pick-and-place, which was just demonstrated on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGZ0qpPN1uk once one can make traces in 3D as part of a case/shell/frame/structure things get _very_ interesting --- consider that one electronics designer actually worked up a 3D CAD system: https://dune3d.org/ just for making 3D printed enclosures: >My primary use case for 3D CAD is designing ", "context": "", "use_case": "3D-printed enclosure design", "switched_from": "", "story": "Focused microwaves allow 3D printers to fuse circuits onto almost anything"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 747626658, "item_id": 46726666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726666", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-01-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I crashed and burned with pretty much every 3D CAD tool I tried", "excerpt": "FWIW, I crashed and burned with pretty much every 3D CAD tool I tried (though I did make it through the tutorial for Dune 3D which was a first), but OpenSCAD has been quite workable, and the development of a Python-enabled version: https://pythonscad.org/ has allowed me to extend it to do things which would be quite difficult in other tools: https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Year of 3D Printing"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["parametric 3d cad", "3d cad modeling", "3d-printed enclosure design", "electronics enclosure cad", "parametric cad", "3d cad"], "compared": [{"slug": "solvespace", "name": "SolveSpace", "co": 11, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "freecad", "name": "FreeCAD", "co": 11, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "openscad", "name": "OpenSCAD", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "fusion-360", "name": "Fusion 360", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "pythonscad", "name": "PythonSCAD", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "opencascade", "name": "OpenCASCADE", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47475417", "title": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047010", "title": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45972519", "title": "Blender 5.0", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50273201", "title": "Show HN: Nasscad \u2013 local-first 3D CAD for browser and Windows", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47586614", "title": "Open source CAD in the browser (Solvespace)", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49984349", "title": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {"warn": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2, "compare": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1, "compare": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 804429025, "item_id": 50276814, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50276814", "by": "aothms", "date": "2026-10-28", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Can't comment on the fillet/chamfers but for boolean operations I didn't find it to be a decade behind at all https://github.com/IfcOpenShell/IfcOpenShell/pull/9958", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Nasscad \u2013 local-first 3D CAD for browser and Windows"}, {"id": 804413266, "item_id": 50275829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275829", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-10-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "quite workable, and has quite good documentation", "excerpt": "The thing is, there are already some notable projects: - FreeCAD --- exactly what it says on the tin, and making huge improvements, so that I am quite hopeful of 26.3 - SolveSpace --- surprisingly capable/nimble/lightweight - Dune 3D --- the new kid on the block, it is quite workable, and has quite good documentation: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/simple-part.html (and for the hardcore programmers there are OpenS", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Nasscad \u2013 local-first 3D CAD for browser and Windows"}, {"id": 800747008, "item_id": 50046688, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50046688", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "its quite nice textual documentation", "excerpt": "Yeah, that's why I was willing to pay for a book. That's an interesting approach, and I'll definitely keep it in mind --- maybe 26.3 will finally be the version where I learn FreeCAD. I will note that I was moderately successful w/ Dune 3D on the basis of its quite nice textual documentation: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/simple-part.html", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD the Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller"}, {"id": 777609152, "item_id": 48600572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48600572", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-06-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which I find a little less confusing than the traditional 3D CAD packages", "excerpt": "A UI which seems a bit more in-line w/ contemporary expectations is Dune 3D: https://dune3d.org/ which I find a little less confusing than the traditional 3D CAD packages I've tried (and failed to learn) --- at least for Dune 3D I've made it through the tutorial successfully.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 768692275, "item_id": 48043267, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48043267", "by": "parlortricks", "date": "2026-05-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I also love playing with build123d, dune3d", "excerpt": "I love FreeCAD, designed some parts, did a bunch of Solidworks challenges and entered CAD comps. I also love playing with build123d, dune3d (uses solvespace constraint) and SolveSpace. Do love Solidworks but I'm on linux now so time to embrace the other options more.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license"}, {"id": 765321728, "item_id": 47832608, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47832608", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-04-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "consider that one electronics designer actually worked up a 3D CAD system", "excerpt": "Components are pretty easily done via pick-and-place, which was just demonstrated on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGZ0qpPN1uk once one can make traces in 3D as part of a case/shell/frame/structure things get _very_ interesting --- consider that one electronics designer actually worked up a 3D CAD system: https://dune3d.org/ just for making 3D printed enclosures: >My primary use case for 3D CAD is designing ", "context": "", "use_case": "3D-printed enclosure design", "switched_from": "", "story": "Focused microwaves allow 3D printers to fuse circuits onto almost anything"}, {"id": 764954928, "item_id": 47809683, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47809683", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-04-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Dune 3D has the creation of enclosures for electronics projects", "excerpt": "While not code as CAD, Dune 3D has the creation of enclosures for electronics projects as its _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_, and has a facility for Python scripting: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/python.html", "context": "", "use_case": "electronics enclosure CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "CadQuery is an open-source Python library for building 3D CAD models"}, {"id": 761419041, "item_id": 47588690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47588690", "by": "phkahler", "date": "2026-03-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Chamfers and Fillets are my next major undertaking. Don't expect them any time soon, but they've moved to the top of my list. They are extremely difficult to do in the general case - so we will not cover all cases. Several years ago I tried an experiment: https://github.com/solvespace/solvespace/issues/453#issuecomment-521376948 That could only do the top or bottom of a straight extrusion. This time will be a more ge", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric CAD", "switched_from": "SolveSpace", "story": "Open source CAD in the browser (Solvespace)"}, {"id": 761405889, "item_id": 47587868, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47587868", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-03-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Dune 3D[1] seems like a pretty effective spiritual successor", "excerpt": "SolveSpace is a wonderfully different take on parametric CAD, but development has really slowed, and it seems fundamentally incapable of some pretty rudimentary features (like chamfers[0]). Dune 3D[1] seems like a pretty effective spiritual successor. 0: https://github.com/solvespace/solvespace/issues/149 1: https://dune3d.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Open source CAD in the browser (Solvespace)"}, {"id": 760018496, "item_id": 47501156, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47501156", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-03-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "hopefully articles such as this will help to make Dune 3D more popular", "excerpt": "I've been trying that, but I've been having a hard time catching the nuances of terminology and minor differences in UI --- hopefully articles such as this will help to make Dune 3D more popular and more videos will show up. Another is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOHTD1RYBY I wish the person doing: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-16-002-how-to-cad-almost-anything-january-iap-2024/ would revisit that course w/ D", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric 3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application"}, {"id": 759996928, "item_id": 47499808, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47499808", "by": "majso", "date": "2026-03-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There is a flatpak https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.dune3d.dune3d", "excerpt": "There is a flatpak https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.dune3d.dune3d", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application"}, {"id": 759958736, "item_id": 47497421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47497421", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Dune 3D uses solvespace's solver, but it can do fillets and chamfers, and has a slightly more approachable user interface.", "excerpt": "The documentation addresses that[0]. Basically, Dune 3D uses solvespace's solver, but it can do fillets and chamfers, and has a slightly more approachable user interface. 0: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric 3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application"}, {"id": 759958224, "item_id": 47497389, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47497389", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I found the UI far more approachable in Dune 3D than any other 3D CAD program I've tried", "excerpt": "I found the UI far more approachable in Dune 3D than any other 3D CAD program I've tried and as the readme notes, Dune 3D imports STEP files and does fillets/chamfers which SolveSpace does not (in the current version) There was a recent video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1VNpC0nwF4 If someone knows of a general introduction to 3D CAD which focuses on vendor-neutral descriptions of terminology and concepts,", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application"}, {"id": 759944560, "item_id": 47496535, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47496535", "by": "Levitating", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I enjoy having simple solutions that get simple things done. Will definitely give Dune3D a try.", "excerpt": "Another simple GTK4 app for the ecosystem, nice. In case anyone is wondering, Dune3D as a flatpak is about 33mb. FreeCAD is 354mb. I enjoy having simple solutions that get simple things done. Will definitely give Dune3D a try.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dune3d: A parametric 3D CAD application"}, {"id": 755707313, "item_id": 47231707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47231707", "by": "garaetjjte", "date": "2026-03-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lately I have been using Dune 3D which uses much more reliable kernel.", "excerpt": "The trouble with Solvespace is that using it quickly turns into randomly nudging points in hope to avoid kernel failures. Lately I have been using Dune 3D which uses much more reliable kernel.", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD modeling", "switched_from": "Solvespace", "story": "Simple screw counter"}, {"id": 753468096, "item_id": 47091756, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47091756", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Gonna check out dune3d for my next side project!", "excerpt": "Oh awesome, dxf import.[0] Nice, that solves it. Gonna check out dune3d for my next side project! [0] https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/dxf-import.html", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD for side project", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753396273, "item_id": 47087267, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47087267", "by": "rounce", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "", "excerpt": "> for the new UI --- any word on that? (Just an annotated copy would be great) I also am not a fan of the icon-only toolbars and so I always use this plugin: https://github.com/APEbbers/FreeCAD-Ribbon IMO it's a big improvement (I have it configured to only show small sized icons with labels) but then again I know not everyone is a fan of this type of toolbar because of the amount of screen space it takes up.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753388145, "item_id": 47086759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47086759", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "except Dune 3D", "excerpt": "I've crashed and burned in FreeCAD each time I've tried it (to be fair, that's happened in every other traditional 3D CAD program I've tried except Dune 3D) --- hoping that someone will update: https://magazine.raspberrypi.com/books/freecad for the new UI --- any word on that? (Just an annotated copy would be great) Apparently, one of the devs from Ondsel has done a soft-fork and is stumping for funding: https://www.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753356960, "item_id": 47084810, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47084810", "by": "kilpikaarna", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it seems like the most promising to me", "excerpt": "You might want to check out Dune3D. It advertises itself as combining the constraint solver from SolveSpace with a OpenCASCADE geometry kernel supporting fillets and chamfers. :) Haven't used it much apart from some minor tests (I tend to prefer MoI3D, but that's in a different category in several ways...), but as far as FOSS solid modelers it seems like the most promising to me. I do remember some small UI quirks, b", "context": "", "use_case": "Parametric 3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 747626658, "item_id": 46726666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726666", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2026-01-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I crashed and burned with pretty much every 3D CAD tool I tried", "excerpt": "FWIW, I crashed and burned with pretty much every 3D CAD tool I tried (though I did make it through the tutorial for Dune 3D which was a first), but OpenSCAD has been quite workable, and the development of a Python-enabled version: https://pythonscad.org/ has allowed me to extend it to do things which would be quite difficult in other tools: https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Year of 3D Printing"}, {"id": 741452784, "item_id": 46340799, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46340799", "by": "JP44", "date": "2025-12-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's pretty easy to use and feels intuitive", "excerpt": "If you're doing enclosures, check out Dune3d! Has been featured here as well (it's how I found it). It's pretty easy to use and feels intuitive for prints you'll only have to make once or twice. It's missing some things here or there but nothing fundamental (except trimming edges i.m.o.) I often switch between FreeCad and Dune3d now, Freecad for things I know how to design properly and Dune when I'm in 'claying' mode", "context": "", "use_case": "simple CAD for enclosures", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD is kinda neat"}, {"id": 735688402, "item_id": 45980525, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45980525", "by": "MayeulC", "date": "2025-11-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it looks like Dune3D is based on solvespace with opencascade", "excerpt": "Ah, interesting, it looks like Dune3D is based on solvespace with opencascade: https://docs.dune3d.org/en/latest/why-another-3d-cad.html I was going to suggest solvespace. It is very barebones, but was much easier to use than FreeCad for me. It also has constraints in 3D space, which I use a lot: https://solvespace.com/index.pl", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.0"}, {"id": 735614048, "item_id": 45975878, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975878", "by": "WillAdams", "date": "2025-11-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Another opensource CAD tool to look at is Dune 3D", "excerpt": "Another opensource CAD tool to look at is Dune 3D: https://dune3d.org/ which has been discussed here in the past: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37979758 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40228068 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41975958 which if it just had parameters/scripting would have a lot more potential.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.0"}, {"id": 735604176, "item_id": 45975261, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975261", "by": "Fabricio20", "date": "2025-11-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "give Dune3D a try", "excerpt": "If you are looking for a tool that handles constraint based CAD for mostly like 3d printing your stuff, give Dune3D a try (on github), it's currently my go-to to keep a workflow similar to what I used to have on Fusion360, it's lightweight, open source and pretty damn good. The author also develops a EDA/circuit board designer called Horizon EDA.", "context": "", "use_case": "Constraint-based CAD for 3D printing", "switched_from": "Fusion 360", "story": "Blender 5.0"}, {"id": 735603586, "item_id": 45975224, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975224", "by": "Fabricio20", "date": "2025-11-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Dune3D is currently my go-to for 3d-printer related parts", "excerpt": "I tried FreeCAD and the user interface is so unintuitive and things just have constraints that block you from doing the most basic things from the get-go that I just gave up in 10m, like sibling. SCAD is scripted/programmer CAD, I like the concept and have used for a few things but it's quite a learning curve to do anything more than a cube with some funny edges! Dune3D is currently my go-to for 3d-printer related pa", "context": "", "use_case": "3D printer part design", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.0"}]}