# The best nesting software

URL: https://cutlistevo.com/articles/best-nesting-software

> Deepnest, SVGnest, Autodesk Fusion, Nest&Cut and Cutlist Evolution compared on algorithm, part limits, file formats and what they cost to run.

Nesting software packs irregular shapes onto a sheet. Not rectangles, which is a
different and much easier problem, but real outlines with curves and concave
pockets that other parts can sit inside. Get it right and a job that needed four
plates needs three.

The market splits in a way that is worth understanding before you compare
features. At one end sit open-source projects written by one person, free and
genuinely capable. At the other sit CAM extensions and cloud services priced for
a fabrication shop, from around $500 a year upwards. In between there is very
little, which is why so many people end up running a browser tool alongside
software that cost them a subscription.

We build one of the five tools below. That is a reason to check our claims
rather than a reason to skip the page, so every figure here comes from the
vendor's own published material and is stated plainly enough to verify.

## What actually separates them

Four things, and only one of them shows up in a screenshot.

**The algorithm.** Almost every true-shape nester in this price range descends
from the same idea: No Fit Polygon to work out where two outlines can touch
without overlapping, then a search to decide the order parts go down in. The
differences are in the search and in how long you let it run.

**Part count.** This is the limit people hit first. A genetic search over
irregular outlines gets slower as parts multiply, so free tiers cap it and open
source projects slow down rather than stopping.

**What it reads and writes.** DXF is the common currency. SVG suits laser and
vinyl work. If a tool takes only one of them, that decides things for you before
any layout quality does.

**Where it runs.** A desktop install, a browser tab, or inside CAD you already
pay for. This matters more than it sounds, because it decides whether the person
who needs the nest can get one without an IT request.

## Deepnest

Open source, desktop, and the one most people are sent to first. It runs on
Windows, Mac and Linux, reads DXF, SVG and Corel CDR, and writes DXF and SVG.

Two features are unusual at any price. It does part-in-part placement, so small
parts drop into the holes of larger ones. And it merges shared lines
automatically, so a laser does not cut the same path twice, which saves time on
the machine rather than material on the sheet. It will also nest bitmap images
for laser engraving.

The project describes itself as free as in beer and free as in speech. There is
no tier, no part cap and no account.

**Choose it if** you are cutting on a laser or plasma table, you are comfortable
installing desktop software, and you want line merging without paying for it.

## SVGnest

The original browser implementation, MIT licensed, written by Jack000. Deepnest
grew out of this work, so the family resemblance is not a coincidence.

It uses a genetic algorithm over the No Fit Polygon approach, runs entirely in
the browser, and takes SVG files with outline-based shapes. The author is
straightforward about what that costs: the demo is CPU intensive, mobile is
warned against, and performance becomes comparable to commercial software after
roughly five minutes of optimisation. Part-in-part and concave exploration are
both noted as resource-intensive.

**Choose it if** you want to understand how nesting works, or you have a small
number of SVG parts and no wish to install anything. It is a reference
implementation that happens to be usable, rather than a product.

## Autodesk Fusion, Manufacturing Extension

Nesting inside Fusion is not part of the base subscription. It arrived as the
Nesting and Fabrication Extension and now sits inside the Manufacturing
Extension, which also carries 4- and 5-axis machining and metal additive.

It produces associative multi-sheet and multi-material nests, which is the real
argument for it: change the model and the nest updates, because the nest and the
CAD are the same document. Autodesk prices extensions from $495 per user per
year, with the range running to around $1,465. There is a 30-day free window.

**Choose it if** you already model in Fusion and machine from it. The
associativity is worth real money in that workflow and is not available from
anything else on this list. If you do not already pay for Fusion, this is an
expensive way to buy a nester.

## Nest&Cut

A cloud service, browser-based with nothing to install, aimed squarely at
production. It reads DXF and writes DXF, PDF reports and NC programs, and covers
composites, cardboard, foam, stone, wood panels, sheet metal and food products.

Pricing starts at $60 a month, with a 30-day trial that needs no card. The
company claims about 30 seconds from import to result and describes an algorithm
refined over 45 years.

**Choose it if** you nest daily, you need NC output rather than a drawing, and a
monthly fee is easier to justify than an annual licence.

## Cutlist Evolution

Ours. Browser-based, no install, and the nesting mode is part of the same tool
that does rectangular cutting, so one parts list can be cut either way.

True-shape nesting for irregular polygons, DXF import from any CAD package,
automatic rotation for the tightest fit, kerf-aware spacing between every part,
common-line cutting to share edges, and lead-in and lead-out paths for CNC.
Export goes to DXF, SVG and G-code for laser, plasma, waterjet and router.

The free tier runs to 40 parts per nest, which covers most one-off jobs and is
where you should test it. Paid plans raise that to 150, 300, 1,000 and 2,000.
Current prices are on the [plans page](/plans).

**Choose it if** you want true-shape nesting and rectangular cutting from one
parts list, or you need something a person can open in a browser and use the
same day.

## How to choose, in one paragraph each

**Cutting on a laser or plasma table, occasionally.** Deepnest. Line merging and
part-in-part for nothing is hard to argue with, and the desktop install is a
one-off cost in patience.

**Already inside Fusion.** The Manufacturing Extension, because associative
nests are worth more than a slightly better packing you have to re-import by
hand.

**Nesting every day, with NC output.** Nest&Cut, or a shop-floor CAM package
above this price range. At that volume the subscription is not the expensive
part of your week.

**Mixed work, some rectangular and some shaped.** Cutlist Evolution, because
running two tools over one parts list is where mistakes get made.

**Learning, or nesting a handful of SVGs.** SVGnest.

The one thing worth doing before you commit is running your own worst job
through two of them and counting sheets. Layout quality varies by the shape of
what you cut, and a tool that wins on long thin parts can lose on round ones.
Nobody's benchmark, including ours, predicts your job as well as your job does.

## Related reading

- [Nesting optimizer](/nesting-optimizer), true-shape nesting in the browser
- [Plate nesting calculator](/plate-nesting-calculator), for steel and aluminium
- [Nesting from AutoCAD](/articles/autocad-nesting), the DXF route end to end
- [The bin packing problem](/articles/bin-packing-problem), the maths underneath
- [The best cutting optimization software](/articles/best-cutting-optimization-software), the wider category