The best cutlist optimizers in 2026
Every cutlist optimizer promises to minimise waste, and in screenshots they all look much the same. (Both spellings are common, cutlist and cut list.) Three differences decide which one you should be using: how many boards a layout actually needs, how long the software takes to produce it, and whether your saw can cut the result. None of the three is visible in a screenshot. They show up when you run the same job through several tools and count what comes out.
That is what this ranking is built on. We build one of the tools on the list, which is a reason to read it carefully rather than a reason to ignore it. What we can offer against the obvious objection is numbers. Every claim below comes from a published comparison or benchmark run on identical inputs, linked at the point it is made, so you can check it yourself.
For the wider software category, including industrial nesting and machine integration, see the best cutting optimization software. This page is about picking a tool.
What actually matters when choosing a cutlist optimizer
Section titled “What actually matters when choosing a cutlist optimizer”Six things separate these tools in practice.
Optimisation quality (board count)
Section titled “Optimisation quality (board count)”Fewer boards for the same parts is the whole point, and it is measurable. Give several tools identical parts, stock and kerf, then count the boards each one comes back with. The differences are real. In our OptiCutter benchmark, a 2,786-part construction project needed 1,176 sheets with OptiCutter and 1,125 with Cutlist Evolution. That is 51 fewer sheets, at 85% yield against 78%. On a hard 39-shape packing test, the gap was a whole doubled material order.
There is a stronger measure than any head-to-head, and it is a harsh one. For any cutting list a limit exists, a stock count below which the parts will not fit however clever the software. The engine behind Cutlist Evolution is measured against that limit on every job. Across 2,083 real production jobs it lands on it 82% of the time, which means no software could have done better on those jobs.
Speed matters twice over. It matters while you are iterating on a project, and it matters constantly if optimisation sits inside a quoting workflow. On nine benchmarks with identical inputs, SmartCut Fast (the engine behind Cutlist Evolution) finished every job in under 3 seconds. The web-based competitors took anything from a few seconds to over two minutes on the same inputs, which puts the engine 10–100× ahead. Typical solve time is under two seconds.
Kerf, trim cuts and edge banding
Section titled “Kerf, trim cuts and edge banding”A layout that ignores blade thickness, the kerf, is wrong by a few millimetres on every cut. That is enough to ruin the last part on a sheet. Any serious optimizer handles kerf. Fewer handle stock trim cuts, meaning squaring the raw edge before parts are cut, or edge banding allowances. If you band panels, check this before anything else.
Grain direction control
Section titled “Grain direction control”On visible panels, parts have to hold a fixed orientation. Look for per-part orientation locking. Most of the tools here support it, though it is worth confirming for the material types you use.
Export formats
Section titled “Export formats”A cutting diagram on screen is the minimum. Check for PDF cut plans, CSV part lists and printable part labels. If you run a CNC, panel saw or beam saw, check for DXF and PTX output your machine can consume.
Price and free tiers
Section titled “Price and free tiers”Free tiers vary in shape more than in size. Some cap parts per calculation, some cap saved projects, some cap how many calculations you can run. Match the cap to the way you work. A hobbyist building one wardrobe cares about parts per job. A business quoting daily cares about calculation volume.
1. Cutlist Evolution: best cutlist optimizer overall
Section titled “1. Cutlist Evolution: best cutlist optimizer overall”Cutlist Evolution runs in the browser. Nothing to install, no platform requirement. It is powered by the SmartCut optimisation engine, whose Fast and Max modes are benchmarked across 2,083 real production jobs: 82% land on the fewest stock the parts could ever fit into, with a typical result in under two seconds.
Breadth is what puts it first. It handles sheet, linear and roll materials, trim cuts and edge banding, offcut management and visualisation, and cost estimates, with settings for table saws, beam saws and CNC. Exports run to PDF, CSV, SVG, DXF and PTX, plus printable labels. Full feature rundowns are in our CutList Optimizer comparison and OptiCutter benchmark.
The free tier gives unlimited calculations with up to 40 parts each, unlimited stock, 3 saved projects and PDF export. Paid plans (Starter, Pro, Expert, Enterprise) raise the limits in tiers. Pro adds trim cuts, edge banding, CSV export and printable labels. Expert adds beam saw calculations, SVG/DXF/PTX export and unbranded exports. Enterprise adds a material and stock cloud database with automatic stock tracking and multiple saw profiles.
That tiering is the main cost of choosing it. The most advanced capabilities, beam saw settings and the machine-format exports, sit on the higher plans, and the 40-part cap on the free tier rules out very large projects without paying. Pick it if you want the best board counts available in a browser, from a free weekend project up to production beam-saw work. Start with the guide or try it free.
2. CutList Optimizer: simplest for hobbyists
Section titled “2. CutList Optimizer: simplest for hobbyists”CutList Optimizer is one of the most searched-for tools in this category and the popularity is earned. It is simple and approachable, and it covers the essentials: part orientation locking, spreadsheet import, edge banding, material thicknesses and saved projects. Low-friction sheet layouts for hobbyists, small workshops and education are where it does its best work.
The feature set stops at sheets. No linear or roll materials, no printable labels, no stock trim cuts, no saw-specific settings, no DXF/SVG/PTX export, no offcut visualisation and no inventory management. The full breakdown is in our comparison. It is also the slowest tool in our benchmarks, taking 95–122 seconds on several mid-size jobs, with an internal ceiling of roughly two minutes regardless of the budget you give it, and a part limit that stopped it completing our 256-part benchmark.
Current pricing is on cutlistoptimizer.com. Pick it if your work is straightforward sheet jobs, you can wait on the bigger lists, and familiarity is worth more to you than features.
3. OptiCutter: quick web layouts for one-off jobs
Section titled “3. OptiCutter: quick web layouts for one-off jobs”OptiCutter is a web-based cutting diagram generator, and it is the one to reach for when you want a layout in the next minute. It was the fastest of the third-party web tools in our nine-job benchmark, at roughly 3–29 seconds per job, and it found the single-board solution on one 20-part test. For a fast, no-fuss sheet diagram in a single material, that is the right shape of tool. Weighing a switch in either direction? See the OptiCutter alternative page.
The limits arrive as the job grows. Each calculation takes one material and one thickness. There is no offcut management, no cut measurements, no cost estimates, no saw settings, no first-cut direction choice and no project sharing (feature table here). On harder packing problems it leaves boards on the table. Our 39-shape test took it 2 sheets at 49.1% yield where 1 sheet at 98.2% was achievable, and on the 2,786-part project it used 51 more sheets than Cutlist Evolution.
Current pricing is on opticutter.com. Pick it if you need a quick diagram for a small, single-material job and nothing beyond the layout itself.
4. Magi-Cut: strongest desktop optimizer in our tests
Section titled “4. Magi-Cut: strongest desktop optimizer in our tests”Magi-Cut is a Windows desktop application and the strongest non-SmartCut performer in our nine-benchmark head-to-head. It matched the best result on most jobs and found the winning layout on two of them, a single board on the 39-part test and 4 boards on the 96-part test. SmartCut Max still matches or beats it on 7 of the 9. If what you want is board counts from traditional desktop software, this is the one. The direct comparison is on the Magi-Cut alternative page.
The cost is the platform. It is a Windows-only install in a category that has moved to the browser, so there is no running it from a tablet at the saw and no sharing a project by link. Running locally also means its timings are not directly comparable with the web tools, which is why our comparison used board counts on the same saw input format.
It is sold as a commercial desktop licence, with pricing on enquiry from the vendor. Pick it if you want a proven offline desktop optimizer, you are on Windows, and browser-based workflow is not something you need.
5. SmartCut: best for embedding optimisation in your own product
Section titled “5. SmartCut: best for embedding optimisation in your own product”SmartCut is the API version of the same engine that powers Cutlist Evolution. Rather than a calculator you visit, it is optimisation you build into your own website, e-commerce store or software, and it is the brain behind online cut-to-size configurators. The published numbers are the engine benchmarks quoted throughout this piece: across 2,083 real jobs, 82% land on the fewest stock possible, with a typical result in under two seconds. The head-to-head results against Magi-Cut, OptiCutter and CutList Optimizer are published too.
It is an API, not an end-user app. If you only want to optimise your own cutting lists, use Cutlist Evolution instead. Where SmartCut earns its place is automated, customer-facing optimisation: instant quotes and cut-to-size ordering on your own site.
Paid plans are priced on the number of parts requested, and a test environment is available on request. Pick it if you are a material supplier or a cut-to-size business wiring optimisation into your sales pipeline. See setting up a cut-to-size business.
6. Biesse OptiPlanner: the bundled beam saw optimizer
Section titled “6. Biesse OptiPlanner: the bundled beam saw optimizer”OptiPlanner is the optimiser shipped with Biesse beam saws, which makes it the default for a lot of industrial shops. It is integrated, it is supported by the machine vendor, and the layouts it produces are ones the saw is guaranteed to accept. For a Biesse owner that is zero-setup optimisation, and it is included with the saw.
Bundled does not mean unbeatable. Run over more than 2,000 real production jobs with identical parts, stock, kerf and trim, and with every layout checked as genuinely cuttable in Biesse’s own file format, SmartCut Max finished more than 100 stock ahead of OptiPlanner in total.
Pick it if you run a Biesse saw and want the fully integrated path. It is still worth benchmarking your own jobs against an alternative before you assume the bundled optimiser is the ceiling.
7. CAD cutlist workflows: Fusion 360 and Shapr3D
Section titled “7. CAD cutlist workflows: Fusion 360 and Shapr3D”Neither of these is an optimizer, but so many projects start in CAD that the route earns a place on the list. Autodesk Fusion 360 and Shapr3D can both export a design as OBJ for direct import into a cutlist optimizer, which then extracts the rectangular parts, their dimensions and their quantities on its own. Nobody retypes a parts list, and a finished 3D design becomes an optimised cutting list in minutes.
The automated extraction works on rectangular parts, so shaped components need handling separately, and you still need an optimizer at the other end. Take this route if you design first and cut second. There are step-by-step guides for creating a cut list from Fusion 360 and creating a cut list from Shapr3D.
Cutlist optimizer comparison table
Section titled “Cutlist optimizer comparison table”Feature-by-feature, from our published comparisons (CutList Optimizer, OptiCutter). A dash means the feature wasn’t covered in those comparisons.
| Feature | Cutlist Evolution | CutList Optimizer | OptiCutter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet materials | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linear & roll materials | ✓ | ✗ | – |
| Edge banding | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Stock trim cuts | ✓ | ✗ | – |
| Multiple materials & thicknesses | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Offcut management & visualisation | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cost estimates | ✓ | – | ✗ |
| Saw settings (table, beam & CNC) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Share projects via link | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Printable labels | ✓ | ✗ | – |
| DXF, CSV, SVG & PTX export | ✓ | ✗ | – |
| Stock inventory management | ✓ | ✗ | – |
On Cutlist Evolution, some of these features are plan-gated. Labels and CSV arrive on Pro, and beam saw settings plus DXF/SVG/PTX export on Expert.
What the benchmarks say
Section titled “What the benchmarks say”Four sets of numbers sit under this ranking.
Nine benchmarks were run across five tools on identical inputs. SmartCut Fast finished all nine jobs in under 3 seconds, 10–100× faster than the web-based tools. SmartCut Max matched or beat Magi-Cut on 7 of the 9, and beat OptiCutter and CutList Optimizer on every job where the tools differed.
Across 2,083 real production jobs, the engine lands on the fewest stock the parts could ever fit into 82% of the time. That is a result no software can improve on, only match.
Against the optimiser that comes with the machine, SmartCut Max saved more than 100 stock versus Biesse OptiPlanner across more than 2,000 real jobs.
At real-project scale, a 2,786-part construction job needed 51 fewer sheets with Cutlist Evolution than with OptiCutter, at 85% yield against 78%. The full write-up is here.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Is there a free cutlist optimizer?
Section titled “Is there a free cutlist optimizer?”Yes. Cutlist Evolution’s free tier gives unlimited calculations with up to 40 parts each, unlimited stock, 3 saved projects and PDF export. That is enough to run real jobs before committing, with nothing to install. Try it here. Several other tools on this list offer free usage as well, so check each vendor’s site for current terms.
Do I need to install anything to use a cutlist optimizer?
Section titled “Do I need to install anything to use a cutlist optimizer?”Not any more. Cutlist Evolution, CutList Optimizer and OptiCutter all run in the browser. Desktop tools such as Magi-Cut still need a Windows installation. The trade-off is convenience and sharing on one side, offline operation on the other.
How much material does a cutlist optimizer actually save?
Section titled “How much material does a cutlist optimizer actually save?”Most shops see 10–15% material savings after adopting optimisation software, and some reach 20% or more. There is more on why in how a cutlist optimizer works. Which tool you pick matters as well. On our benchmark projects, the gap between the best and the weakest optimizer on the same job ran from one extra sheet to 51 extra sheets.
What’s the difference between a cutlist optimizer and cutting optimization software?
Section titled “What’s the difference between a cutlist optimizer and cutting optimization software?”They largely overlap. A cutlist optimizer is usually the tool a woodworker or panel shop uses to turn a parts list into cutting diagrams. Cutting optimization software is the broader category, covering everything from hobbyist sheet layout up to industrial nesting and machine integration. We cover the broader category in the best cutting optimization software.
Can a cutlist optimizer drive a beam saw or CNC?
Section titled “Can a cutlist optimizer drive a beam saw or CNC?”The professional ones can. Look for saw-aware settings (kerf, trim, first-cut direction, machine constraints) and machine-readable exports. Cutlist Evolution produces DXF and PTX output and has dedicated settings for table saws, beam saws and CNC on its Expert plan. Whatever you choose has to respect your machine’s constraints, because a layout that is optimal on screen and uncuttable on the saw has saved you nothing.