[drutort]

I have been trying them all. Testing them out, please feel free to add your opinion and suggestions, with the exception of OneCNC I believe I would pare the other 2 with Alibre CAD expert/pro

OneCNC Expert/Pro Possibility with 4th axis addon

The most expensive if going expert and 4th axis
2nd when it comes to features (IMO) compared to SprutCAM
Easy to use interface, pretty nice all around
Pro version lacking 4th indexing sucks, and seems like its quite short on tool path options, hence need for Expert

SprutCAM Master
Seems nice, good price for the features
but tool path geometry just takes a long time to generate vs the other 2
Buggy, had it crash when trying to get a 3d model's geometry to use for tool path
The cheapest of the 3? (depends which site you buy)

VisuallMill Pro
Easy to use, not easy feature packed
Pretty quick in tool path generating
Cheapest among the 3, with features in between the 2?
comes with 4th axis ability



I understand that OneCNC has CAD, I would use it, but its still no Alibre CAD, adding Alibre to the equation adds quite a bit of cost


personally im leaning on OneCNC expert with 4th axis, but Only need indexing :/ this is quite a high price when adding 4th axis

(update seems that it could be my configuration, but this still should not be the case, im going to try different SprutCAM, file demo as suggested by others)

Please feel free to add or contest anything that I have noticed about the software above...

I only used them for a few days after work. (and will continue to use as long as the demo's last)

[Dan B]

Have you considered Rhino and madCAM?

Modeling tools for designers
MadCam Start page

[DareBee]

I have been with VM for ages. If I had been better educated at the time, I might have gone with Sprut (it looks so pretty). IMO VM was usable back then but it was difficult (I also got it extremely cheap). Before I upgraded to the last version (VM6 Pro), I checked out OneCNC. I didn't figure I needed to spend an extra $6000 to get the same capabilities (those being enough cad capability to tweak or contain with, 4th axis continuous, direct SolidWorks import, toolpath editor).
You get a HUGE amount of features for your money with VM6 pro (half the money of almost everything else).
I look forward to hearing the outcome of your testing/decision.

[drutort]

ya I should have said that I did test that combo, but I want a paremetric software, madcam is not bad but it ties me only to rhino cad, I have lately discovered the low price of sprutcam, and I'm watching videos on all three, I think sprutcam beats all in feature rich for the price

[Dan B]

I've looked at SprutCam in the past too. It does provide a lot of "bang for the buck".

[drutort]

also onecnc is really turning me off w the price point, when going expert and 4th axis, quoted for like 5.5k + 2k for 4 the axis

vm pro is nice the ease of use better then sprutcam, and its drawing abilities is pretty nice, I will have to get good either way and train others, this is my concern w sprutcam, the learning curve is much higher the the other 2 cam options

[SBC Cycle]

I evaluated Visual Mill and OneCNC at the beginning of this year. Similar (not the same of course) functionality and I was very impressed with VM for the price. Almost pulled the trigger on it but my budget got cut unexpectedly. Another month or so and I will be making the rounds on CAM evaluation again.

SprutCAM looks very impressive and I've been hearing a lot of good things lately about it but haven't tried it out. It will be one of the first I evaluate.

[drutort]

I have pretty much narrowed it down to SprutCAM Master, with VisualMill Pro tied with AlibreCAM (not sure which tier) for 2nd choice.

There is no CAM software that can match the price per feature of SprutCAM, oneCNC is just too expensive for the features that one would want.

I do understand that with the great price and feature rich environment of SprutCAM that I am sacrificing a bit of ease of use, or I should say a bit of a learning curve. The way I see it its worth the time spent as i will be learning regardless what CAM software and it might be difficult for others to learn but for me its quite easy (had been going computer science as a career in the past), so computers and software are cake to me.

I do not mind the learning curve of SprutCAM besides with enough video's online and the tutorials its pretty straight forward, and I really like all the features esp that for this price the software has HSM too

Ill be going with Alibre Expert, for the CAD as its the best price for Solidworks comparable. Since CAM is more of a features then I can go with Alibre over SolidWorks, which is a no brainier.

I did try to negotiate on price for Solidworks Standard but its still 2x as expensive then Alibre, and the maintenance fees will end up really screwing over a small shop that is focused on CAM/machining and design 2nd.

[Bigtoy302]

I was just in this same boat. I did demo Sprutcam but had issues with errors once it was installed. I downloaded a different version that worked after that. Make sure it has the posts you need for your machines. They did not have either of the ones I needed(Fanuc 11m and Siemens 810T) and the post are not free. They wanted 1k each to make posts. That turned me off right there.

I looked at Visualmill but the lathe side was lacking. I wanted a package that would do both.

I ended up Buying Ez-cam Mill pro V19 and Ez-cam lathe Express V19. Retail for mill was 4k and lathe was 1K. DNC software is free with it also. I worked out a deal with Chris for both. Post work and support is free for a year. No maintenance required after that. The Demo on there site is several versions behind. Call Chris and he can do a internet demo and answer all your questions on the newest version.

[drutort]

ya I dl the version from the Sprutcam America's site and it was all good, I had issues with demo as well.

Post is a none issue, I know how to program at the control I can mod or edit an existing post with specific G code for the machine.

wouldnt all Fanuc post be similar? if its same machine type... you could easily customize the post yourself to suit your needs, all the 3 major software packages that I listed had edit/customizable posts if you get there mid to high tear packages

[Bigtoy302]

ya I dl the version from the Sprutcam America's site and it was all good, I had issues with demo as well.

Post is a none issue, I know how to program at the control I can mod or edit an existing post with specific G code for the machine.

wouldnt all Fanuc post be similar? if its same machine type... you could easily customize the post yourself to suit your needs, all the 3 major software packages that I listed had edit/customizable posts if you get there mid to high tear packages

They are similar but not all the same. I Probably could of made that one worked with some mods. I played with there post editor and could not figure it out. Siemens controls are totally different from fanucs. I tried editing one but I gave up. Ez-cam post editor is simple.

If I spend that much money I want free Post support. Visualmill is free but not Sprutcam. I do not know about Onecnc.

My time is valuable right now. I do not have a bunch of time to mess with posts and software that has a bunch of bugs.