Octoprint vs Astroprint… what are the differences, how to choose between them, and what’s the best option for you? This article will discuss the two web interfaces that allow you to remotely control your 3d printer from anywhere!

Octoprint is an open source project started by Gina Häußge a.k.a foosel over 5 years ago. Astroprint is a company that offers open source and product kits users can buy pre-configured.

Okay great but what are they and what are their differences?

Both Octoprint and Astroprint gives you the ability to control your 3D Printers from a web interface that can be accessed inside or outside of your home network. This is typically done with a piece of hardware called a Single Board Computer (SBC) or what you’ll most commonly hear used, a Rapberry Pi. We’re not going to go into hardware here but both sites offer very good and detailed information on what you need.

Octoprint vs Astroprint

Comparative Differences

What do they offer?

Octoprint vs Astroprint each basically offers the same thing just in a different way. Here is a small list of some of the things these web interfaces offer;

• File Uploader and Manager
• Integrated Slicing Software
• 3D Printer Motion and Tempurature Control
• Real-Time Data
• Web or IP Camera View
• Terminal Command Window
• Plug-ins and Add-ons

Octoprint

Octoprint is great for users with some programming or development experience. If you have configured marlin firmware for your 3d printer or have installed a Linux distro on your computer then this is probably the right choice for you. Octoprint is found on GitHub and can easily be forked or modified to make things the way you like them. However, you don’t need to be a full-stack developer to use Octoprint either. It’s still really easy to get it installed and running if you are patient enough to read the guide and follow instructions.

Astroprint

If you have never configured your 3d printer’s firmware, installed an operating system on your computer, or just don’t want to mess with any programming, then AstroPrint is probably the best choice for you. Astroprint offers a full suite of control for your 3d printer and it’s a professional interface with lots of user-friendly features. There are even integrated model searches from your favorite stl websites like Thingiverse.

Which will you choose?

So now that you have the facts which one is best for you? There’s no right or wrong answer here. Both options are great and work really well. If you have questions or comments please leave them below and if you like this article please give it a share on your favorite social media page.

Now I should mention that there are other solutions out there like Repetier-Server but we are pro marlin around these parts so…

For more information on the two options, you can find a ton of information and walkthroughs by doing a quick web search.

Octoprint

Homepage: https://octoprint.org/
Repository: https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint

Astroprint

Homepage: https://www.astroprint.com
Downloads: https://www.astroprint.com/downloads

Check out our OctoPrint Beginner Guide Article;

Need help or want to learn how to configure Marlin Firmware check out our article;