Looking for BuildBee alternatives?
BuildBee is an easy, all-in-one 3D printing app built for the beginner classroom, and for a single teacher with a couple of older USB or OctoPrint printers its guided, jargon-free on-ramp is genuinely pleasant. The workflow is jargon-free and guided, there are built-in design tools for STEM (image-to-3D, lithophanes, BuildBee MakeCode), and it's simple enough for a teacher to run without involving IT. For a school with a handful of older USB or OctoPrint printers, that on-ramp is hard to beat.
But that simplicity comes with a ceiling. BuildBee's printer list is legacy FDM and resin machines, no Bambu Lab and no Klipper, it's single-user unless you pay per printer, there's no AI failure detection and no continuous-printing automation, and its iOS "app" is a home-screen web shortcut. For a print farm, or a modern fleet, SimplyPrint runs the printers BuildBee can't and automates the work it leaves manual. Here's a fair, side-by-side look.
SimplyPrint is the better fit for a print farm or any modern fleet, and it's a serious schools platform in its own right, built around real print farms since 2020. It natively runs the printers BuildBee can't (Bambu, Klipper/Moonraker, Prusa, Duet), adds AI failure detection with AutoPrint continuous printing, filament inventory with NFC, a maintenance system, multi-user roles with SSO and native iOS and Android apps, and ships a dedicated education plan with classes and teachers, an Academy for courses and assignments, quotas and district SSO, so a school never has to trade depth for ease of use.
BuildBee is a friendly on-ramp for a single teacher with one or two older USB or OctoPrint printers, and that simplicity is the whole product. Beyond one classroom (Bambu or Klipper machines, multiple teachers, automation, native apps) it runs out of room.
A modern fleet, not just the legacy bench
BuildBee's printer support is built around older USB and OctoPrint machines. SimplyPrint speaks the printers people actually buy today, natively.
Where BuildBee is the better pick
For a beginner classroom, BuildBee's whole design is the strength, and SimplyPrint is honest about it:
Built to run unattended, and to reach from anywhere
BuildBee shows a live stream and a pre-print checklist. SimplyPrint adds the parts that keep a fleet running, and real apps for the people running it.
BuildBee and SimplyPrint comparison
Nothing is black-and-white, and there are always pros and cons to consider when choosing a 3D printing cloud solution!
And we're not here to simply tell you, that SimplyPrint is the best - we want you to make an informed decision, and of course there are pros of using BuildBee as well!
Pros of using BuildBee
BuildBee has real strengths, and they're worth being honest about:- Ease of use: genuinely simple, jargon-free, guided, built for teachers and students.
- STEM design tools: image-to-3D, lithophane/cookie-cutter generators and BuildBee MakeCode.
- Legacy-printer onboarding: community-tested profiles get older USB/OctoPrint printers online cheaply.
- Cheap entry: a real free tier and a low-cost single-user plan, an easy start for one teacher.
Cons of using BuildBee
Where BuildBee runs into a ceiling for a farm or modern fleet:- No Bambu Lab and no Klipper (and no Duet), its list is legacy FDM/resin printers wrapped over USB/OctoPrint/Pi.
- Single-user personal plan: multiple users, groups and permissions require a paid Enterprise or Education tier.
- No AI failure detection (its "AI" picks print settings) and no continuous-printing automation.
- Android-only: the iOS "app" is a home-screen web shortcut, not a native App Store app.
- No NFC filament, label printing or maintenance system, and slicing is capped on the free tier.
BuildBee vs. SimplyPrint
Side-by-side list comparison of details and features in BuildBee and SimplyPrint
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Has free plan | ||
| Free printers | 1 | 2 |
| Free cloud storage | 5 models | 1GB |
| Usage based cost | ||
| Unlimited printing | Paid plans (free = 5 slices/mo) | |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per-printer (Education) | Flat Education plan + per-printer |
| Price per printer | $15/printer/mo ($180/yr), flat | ~$240 to $132/printer/yr ($20-11/mo) |
| Volume pricing (per-printer cost drops at scale) ? | ||
| Supports all printers | Legacy USB/OctoPrint printers | |
| Features | ||
| Remote access | ||
| Filament management | Usage/cost dashboards | |
| Filament NFC tags (read & write) | ||
| Filament label printing (Dymo / Zebra) | ||
| Knows your printer | ||
| Cloud files | ||
| Print queue | ||
| Livestream | ||
| Gcode analysis | ||
| A.I failure detection | ||
| AI Bed Check (is the bed clear?) | ||
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ||
| Maintenance & servicing system | ||
| Custom fields | ||
| Staggered Start (for power draw) | ||
| Schedule prints | ||
| Print job history | ||
| Print remotely | ||
| Built-in slicer | Free: 5 slices/mo | |
| Multi-printer friendly | ||
| Multi-print | ||
| Multi-stream | ||
| Statistics | ||
| API | ||
| Slicer smart-rotation | ||
| Smart filament change | ||
| Bed level helper | ||
| Organization | ||
| Multiple users | Paid tier | |
| User groups / ranks | Paid tier | |
| User permissions | Paid tier | |
| School plan | ||
| Shared files & folders | ||
| Shared slicer profiles | ||
| Hub | ||
| Custom domains | ||
| SSO (single sign-on) | ||
| Notifications | ||
| Email notifications | ||
| Push (mobile / app) notifications | ||
| SMS / text message notifications | ||
| Apps | ||
| Android app | ||
| iOS app | ||
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ||
| Security & privacy | ||
| Account 2-factor authentication | ||
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering ? | ||
| Support | ||
| Live-chat support | ||
| Phone support | ||
| Email support | ||
| Firmware & gateway support | ||
| OctoPrint install | Connect via plugin | |
| Native Moonraker support | ||
| Mainsail install | ||
| Fluidd install | ||
| Klipper support | ||
| Duet3D integration | ||
| Direct Prusa support (MK4, XL and up / new main boards) | ||
| Direct Bambu Lab printer integration | ||
| Support for custom integrations | ||
| Enterprise & partners | ||
| OEM | ||
| Partner program (reseller / distributor) | ||
| Affiliate program | ||
| On-prem / self-hosting ? | Contact us | |
| Compare | See pricing | See pricing |
SimplyPrint prices are shown in USD; see our pricing page for your local currency. Competitor prices are shown as they publish them.
Contact us if you think we made a mistake in our comparison!
BuildBee vs. SimplyPrint: frequently asked questions
Is BuildBee or SimplyPrint better?
Does BuildBee support Bambu Lab or Klipper printers?
Does BuildBee have a native iOS app?
Is BuildBee multi-user?
Does BuildBee have AI failure detection?
Can BuildBee run a print farm?
Conclusion
Why SimplyPrint is the Top BuildBee Alternative
We made SimplyPrint due to the fact, that nothing else on the market quite fit our needs. We wanted a platform that was easy to use, but still had all the features we needed. We wanted a feature-rich platform, intuitive and easy to use, with a great user experience and actual innovation within the 3D print management software space.
In summary, we - humble and unbiased as we are 😉 - believe that the SimplyPrint platform is a great BuildBee alternative!
Get started - free forever