Looking for FilaMeter alternatives?
FilaMeter is a free, local-first filament inventory: a tidy browser app that replaces the spreadsheet you keep your spools in, with your data living right in your browser. It's genuinely pleasant, no login, no ads, and if you just want a private place to write down what filament you own, it does that well.
But FilaMeter is a manual log. You hand-enter every spool, and you tell it what you used after each print; it doesn't connect to your printers and it has no filament database to pull from yet. SimplyPrint's filament manager works the other way around: it's connected to your printers, reads the G-code of every print, and deducts filament on its own, with a real open filament database, NFC, AMS and mobile apps. Here's a fair, side-by-side look, first purely as a filament manager, then as the whole platform.
There's a lot more to the SimplyPrint filament manager
Automatic usage tracking, NFC across every standard, Bambu & Creality AMS auto-import, direct Dymo & Zebra label printing, drying, storage locations, a mobile app and the Open Filament Database. See it all, with screenshots, on one page.
Explore the filament manager
Compare FilaMeter vs SimplyPrint:
FilaMeter is a free, open-source (CC-BY-SA-4.0), local-first spool inventory you run in your browser, a nice fit if you want a private, no-login spreadsheet replacement for a single hobbyist and don't mind logging usage by hand. It's a young 2025 indie app; it doesn't connect to printers and has no filament database yet.
SimplyPrint is a connected filament manager that has been running print operations since 2020: it reads the G-code of every print on your printer and deducts filament automatically, with native NFC, Bambu and Creality AMS auto-import, the open, MIT-licensed Open Filament Database (174 brands and growing, the very database FilaMeter is only planning to adopt), native iOS and Android apps and cloud sync by default. And the filament manager is free on every plan. If you want tracking that just happens, that's SimplyPrint; if a private local log you keep up by hand is the point, FilaMeter is a fine, cheap pick.
Comparing purely as a filament manager, the deep, head-to-head view.
A filament manager that's actually connected to your printer
This is the heart of it. FilaMeter is a manual log: you tell it what you used after each print. SimplyPrint is connected to your printers, so your inventory stays right on its own.
A real, open filament database, not a planned one
When you add a spool, where does the brand and material data come from? This is the clearest gap, and FilaMeter is refreshingly open about it.
Where FilaMeter is the better pick
FilaMeter is a well-made little tool, and for some setups it's the right call. Credit where it's due:
FilaMeter does one job, a local filament inventory, and keeps it private and simple. SimplyPrint includes that same filament manager and surrounds it with the rest of a print operation: a print queue, a full cloud slicer, AI failure and bed detection, a maintenance system, teams and permissions, mobile apps and more, in one hosted platform that's free to start. In the table below, FilaMeter's column is filament; ours is the whole platform.
The same filament comparison, plus everything else SimplyPrint does that a local spool log doesn't.
A filament manager that's actually connected to your printer
This is the heart of it. FilaMeter is a manual log: you tell it what you used after each print. SimplyPrint is connected to your printers, so your inventory stays right on its own.
A real, open filament database, not a planned one
When you add a spool, where does the brand and material data come from? This is the clearest gap, and FilaMeter is refreshingly open about it.
Where FilaMeter is the better pick
FilaMeter is a well-made little tool, and for some setups it's the right call. Credit where it's due:
FilaMeter 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 FilaMeter as well!
Pros of using FilaMeter
FilaMeter has real strengths, and they're worth being honest about:- Genuinely free, ad-free and no-login: the full single-device inventory isn't paywalled, there are no ads, and you don't even make an account.
- Local-first and private: your data lives in your browser (PouchDB), works offline on one device and never has to leave your machine, a real plus if privacy or offline use matters.
- Open source and self-hostable: the app is open (CC-BY-SA-4.0) and you can self-host it from the public repo as a static export.
- A cheap one-time sync key, not a subscription: cross-device real-time sync is a single $39.99 lifetime purchase, with no recurring fees.
- Simple, fast and complete enough: a zero-onboarding spreadsheet replacement with a manual usage-history log, per-spool price, and import/export for backup and migration, by a small team shipping conventional releases.
Cons of using FilaMeter
Where FilaMeter falls short if you want tracking that just happens:- It isn't connected to your printers: FilaMeter never measures usage itself. It auto-calculates remaining weight from the figures you type, but you log every print by hand; its SpoolSense optical sensor is unshipped and syncs to FilaMeter, not to a printer, and reads no G-code.
- No filament database yet: there's no brand or material catalogue to pull from, so every spool is hand-entered. Adopting one (the Open Filament Database) is an open plan, issue #120, not a shipped feature.
- No NFC, AMS or direct label printing: native NFC read/write, Bambu and Creality AMS auto-import and direct Dymo/Zebra thermal labels aren't built in. Labels are bought QR stickers or a single on-screen QR per spool.
- No app to install and a flat data model: there's no native iOS or Android app on the App Store or Google Play (it's a responsive website that ships a web manifest but no service worker), location is a single free-text field with no nesting, and notes are one free-text comments field with no custom fields.
FilaMeter vs. SimplyPrint
Side-by-side list comparison of details and features in FilaMeter and SimplyPrint
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Filament management | ||
| Available since | 2025 | 2020 |
| Free to use | ||
| Open-source / self-hostable ? | Open source, but CC-BY-SA-4.0 (content license) | |
| Filament database ? | Open Filament Database | |
| Connects directly to your printer ? | ||
| Automatic usage tracking (no manual subtracting) ? | Manual log; auto-calculates from figures you enter | |
| AMS auto-import (Bambu / Creality / Anycubic) ? | Bambu, Creality, Anycubic + more | |
| Read filament NFC tags | ||
| Write filament NFC tags | ||
| Label printing (direct to Dymo / Zebra) | Dymo & Zebra | |
| Barcode / QR scanning | On-screen QR only (opens a URL) | |
| Drying tracking | ||
| Storage locations | Single free-text field, no nesting | |
| Cost & spend tracking | Price field; no purchase date / vendor | |
| Custom fields | ||
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | ||
| Multi-user / team access | ||
| Import your existing spools ? | Import/Export (CSV/JSON); no direct importer | |
| Developer API for filament data ? | ||
| Compare | Learn more | Learn more |
SimplyPrint prices are shown in USD; see our pricing page for your local currency. Competitor prices are shown as they publish them.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Filament management | ||
| Free to use | ||
| Open-source / self-hostable ? | Open source, but CC-BY-SA-4.0 (content license) | |
| Filament database ? | Open Filament Database | |
| Connects directly to your printer ? | ||
| Automatic usage tracking (no manual subtracting) ? | Manual log; auto-calculates from figures you enter | |
| AMS auto-import (Bambu / Creality / Anycubic) ? | Bambu, Creality, Anycubic + more | |
| Read filament NFC tags | ||
| Write filament NFC tags | ||
| Label printing (direct to Dymo / Zebra) | Dymo & Zebra | |
| Barcode / QR scanning | On-screen QR only (opens a URL) | |
| Drying tracking | ||
| Storage locations | Single free-text field, no nesting | |
| Cost & spend tracking | Price field; no purchase date / vendor | |
| Custom fields | ||
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | ||
| Multi-user / team access | ||
| Import your existing spools ? | Import/Export (CSV/JSON); no direct importer | |
| Developer API for filament data ? | ||
| General | ||
| Available since | 2025 | 2020 |
| Has free plan | ||
| Free printers | 2 | |
| Max cost | Free | Free, or from $4/printer/mo |
| Free cloud storage | 1GB | |
| Usage based cost | ||
| Unlimited printing | ||
| Supports all printers | ||
| Features | ||
| Remote access | ||
| 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 | ||
| Multi-printer friendly | ||
| Multi-print | ||
| Multi-stream | ||
| Statistics | ||
| API | ||
| Slicer smart-rotation | ||
| Smart filament change | ||
| Bed level helper | ||
| Organization | ||
| Multiple users | ||
| User groups / ranks | ||
| User permissions | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | Learn more | Learn more |
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!
FilaMeter vs. SimplyPrint: frequently asked questions
Is SimplyPrint or FilaMeter better for filament tracking?
Does FilaMeter track filament usage automatically?
Is FilaMeter free, and what does the $39.99 buy?
Does FilaMeter have a filament database?
Does FilaMeter work with the Bambu Lab AMS or NFC tags?
Does FilaMeter have a mobile app?
Can I move my FilaMeter inventory into SimplyPrint?
Conclusion
Why SimplyPrint is the Top FilaMeter 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 FilaMeter alternative!
Get started - free foreverRunning 3D printers since 2020
Built in-house by our own developers in Denmark, who ship updates almost every week and answer support questions too.
Read our story and meet the team