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Two free browser cutlist optimizers, run on the same jobs and counted. The results are published in full, including the jobs where the tools tie.
By Cutlist Evolution ·
CutList Optimizer, at cutlistoptimizer.com, is one of the most searched-for tools in this category, and the popularity is earned. It is simple, it is approachable, and it covers the essentials of sheet layout work. Cutlist Evolution is the tool this site is about. It also runs free in the browser, and it is built on an engine whose results are benchmarked and published.
We build one of the two, so read what follows the way you would read any vendor's comparison. The difference we can offer is numbers. Each claim below comes from a published benchmark run on identical inputs, or from the vendor's own published material with the date we read it.
Nine real jobs, identical parts, stock and kerf in every tool. On sheet counts the two were often level. SmartCut Max, the deepest mode of the engine behind Cutlist Evolution, finished four of the nine jobs one stock ahead of CutList Optimizer and matched it on the rest. Where CutList Optimizer could not finish at all was the 256-part job, which its part limit stopped it completing.
Time separated them far more than sheet counts did. CutList Optimizer took 95 to 122 seconds on several mid-size jobs, with an internal ceiling of roughly two minutes however long you let it run. SmartCut Fast, the mode Cutlist Evolution runs by default, finished every one of the nine jobs in under 3 seconds. The full tables, methods and timings are published on the benchmarks page, ties included.
There is one stronger measure than any head-to-head. For every cutting list a floor exists, a stock count below which the parts cannot fit no matter the software. Across 2,083 real production jobs, the engine lands on that floor 82% of the time, with a typical result in under two seconds.
Both tools handle the essentials: part orientation locking, spreadsheet import, edge banding, material thicknesses and saved projects. Our published feature comparison found CutList Optimizer's set stops at sheets. It records no linear or roll materials, no printable labels, no stock trim cuts, no saw-specific settings, no DXF, SVG or PTX export, no offcut visualisation and no inventory management. Cutlist Evolution covers each of those, with some arriving on the paid plans. The feature-by-feature table lives in the article rather than here.
The two free tiers are shaped differently, and the shape matters more than the label. CutList Optimizer's published plans table, as of July 2026, gives the free tier 5 calculations a day and 5 saved items, with ads shown. Cutlist Evolution's free tier allows unlimited calculations of up to 40 parts each, unlimited stock, 3 saved projects and PDF export. Run a couple of calculations an hour while you iterate on a design and the difference is felt the same afternoon.
Free to use
The comparison article holds the full feature table behind this page. The wider ranking, covering OptiCutter, Magi-Cut and the desktop tools, is in the best cutlist optimizers in 2026. And the quickest test costs nothing: run one of your own cutting lists through both tools and count the sheets and the seconds.
Comparing other tools in this space? See Cutlist Evolution vs Cutlistor and the Cutlistor alternative page.