# Best CAD, simulation and fabrication APIs for AI agents (slim)

> Adam (C), Zoo (C) and Onshape (C) lead the 7 ranked CAD, simulation and fabrication APIs. Picks by need, strengths, weaknesses and prices from the Anchor benchmark.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cad/index.md (~4,800 tokens) · this version ~1,180 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cad/index.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cad/
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-03
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

All 7 ranked CAD, simulation and fabrication APIs on the Anchor benchmark, with a pick for each need and where each one falls short. Scores come from public evidence, re-checked as vendors change.

- Ranked: 7 · agent-ready (BB or better): 0 · accept x402: 0 · hosted endpoints: 3
- Full ranked table: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/cad.md
- Head-to-head comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cad/index.md (15)
- Methodology: https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/index.md

## The shortlist

| # | Tool | Grade | Score | Best for | Price | Where |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Adam](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adam-cad.md) | C | 59.4 | An agent that drives mechanical CAD work in Onshape, Fusion or SOLIDWORKS through a hosted engineering agent, or needs STEP and 3MF exports of Adam-stored models. | Freemium | Hosted |
| 2 | [Zoo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo.md) | C | 58.7 | Agents that need to produce or iterate editable mechanical geometry as code and export STEP, with a hosted engine and no desktop. | $0.0083 / credit | Local |
| 3 | [Onshape](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onshape.md) | C | 55.7 | Agents that read or change existing cloud CAD documents, run configurations, pull BOMs and drawings, or write FeatureScript for a team already on Onshape. | $125 / seat-mo | Hosted |
| 4 | [PrusaLink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prusalink.md) | D | 49.4 | An agent on the owner's network that queues and watches prints on an Original Prusa printer. | Free | Local |
| 5 | [Autodesk Platform Services](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autodesk-platform-services.md) | E | 44.3 | Agents that must process existing Autodesk files (Inventor, Revit, AutoCAD, Fusion) at scale with add-ins a team already has, or translate models for viewing. | Pay per use | Local |
| 6 | [SimScale](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/simscale.md) | E | 41 | An enterprise engineering team that wants an agent to automate CFD, FEA or thermal studies on a platform it already licenses, with a sandbox for development. | Paid | Local |
| 7 | [nTop](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ntop.md) | E | 40.2 | An engineering team that already runs nTop and wants an agent to drive design-of-experiments loops over a notebook or read exported implicit bodies in Python. | Paid | Hosted |

## Picks by need

- Highest score overall: [Adam](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adam-cad.md), C, 59.4/100 on the benchmark. Also [Zoo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo.md), C, 58.7/100.
- Reliability: [Onshape](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onshape.md), 60/100 on reliability, against 35 for the overall leader.
- Maintenance & community: [Zoo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo.md), 90/100 on maintenance & community, against 55 for the overall leader.
- Self-hosting under an open licence: [PrusaLink](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prusalink.md), self-hosted, The Prusa-Link Python package declares its licence as Freeware in setup licence.

## How to choose

- Editable geometry or a mesh: Check whether the output is a parametric model or a mesh, since a mesh cannot be changed by the next step and a parametric model can.
- Export formats: Check the export formats (STEP, STL, 3MF, IGES), because the next tool in the chain, a simulator, a slicer or a machine shop, accepts only some of them.
- Cloud API or a local bridge: Check whether the agent calls a hosted API or has to run on a machine with the vendor's application, as a local bridge needs a licence and a desktop.
- Licence and seat cost: Check whether API use needs a paid seat or an enterprise agreement, as engineering software is often priced per user and per year before the first call.

- How the benchmark tests this category: In this run, public evidence against the published checklist. When the task suites run, the same bracket described in words to each listing that makes geometry, the model exported as STEP and checked for its holes and dimensions, then one part quoted or one print queued where the API allows. We check the geometry, the export, the quote and what it took to get a key.

Each listing's verdict, strengths and weaknesses: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cad/index.md