Carveco vs Kerf

Carveco is Windows CAD and CNC machining software for designing and manufacturing artistic 2D and 3D products. Maker targets hobbyists, woodworkers, sign-makers, and small businesses using CNC routers or engravers; it includes vector editing, bitmap-to-vector conversion, relief design, machining strategies, toolpath simulation, and export. Maker Plus adds relief sculpting, nesting, drill banks, batch calculations, and toolpath operations. Pro is for professional decorative work from individual pieces to production at scale. Carveco says it directly supports over 300 CNC machine tools and has dedicated post-processors for many machines. It exports formats including G-Code, STL, AI, DXF, SVG, PDF, OBJ, IGES, STEP, and 3DM. It does not include CNC controller or G-Code sending and streaming software, so a separate compatible controller application is needed. Maker subscriptions start at $17.50 a month, with a 30-day trial for new customers that converts to paid unless cancelled. Subscription software requires internet for activation and must reconnect to its licensing server at least once every 21 days.

Kerf is a free, open-source CAD workspace that runs on the user's own machine and supports work across 37 engineering domains. Users can describe design changes in plain language or use the Python kerf-sdk and JSON-RPC API. Mechanical design tools include constraint-based sketching, parametric feature history, validated B-rep geometry, drawings, and persistent face references. The workspace also includes FEM analysis, topology optimization, SPICE and RF analysis, CAM toolpaths, and G-code output. Listed outputs include STEP, STL, 3MF, IFC4, Gerber, PDF, DXF, BOM CSV, Touchstone, GDS-II, and firmware binaries. The site describes workflows for mechanical and electronics engineers, BIM architects, jewelry designers, and other engineering users. Kerf runs locally without accounts and keeps Git history for file revisions. Workshop content can be used offline once pinned. Installation options include source or Docker, with release archives listed for macOS arm64, macOS x64, and Linux x64; source installation requires Python 3.11 or later. The chat workflow can use a bring-your-own LLM; no bundled model or paid hosted plan is listed.