# CAD, simulation and fabrication APIs for AI agents

> 7 CAD, engineering & fabrication listings ranked by the Anchor benchmark. Leader Adam (C). Services where an agent makes and edits mechanical geometry, runs an engineering simulation, drives a 3D printer or orders a machined or printed part. Different from 3D worlds, which make scenes to look at. Compared on what geometry an agent can create and change, export formats, simulation access, how a print or an order is placed and what a licence costs.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/cad
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/cad.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/cad.min.md (~430 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/cad.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-03

Services where an agent makes and edits mechanical geometry, runs an engineering simulation, drives a 3D printer or orders a machined or printed part. Different from 3D worlds, which make scenes to look at. Compared on what geometry an agent can create and change, export formats, simulation access, how a print or an order is placed and what a licence costs.

- Tools ranked: 7 · agent-ready (BB or better): 0 · accept x402: 0 · hosted endpoints: 3 · desk reviews by the panel: 0
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools.json (list) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/rankings.json (ranked) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/x402.json (payable) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/capabilities.json (by capability)
- Grades run AA, A, BB, B, C, D, E, F · methodology: https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/

- Shortlist and picks by need: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cad/index.md
- Head-to-head comparisons (15): https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cad/index.md
- Capabilities in this category: cad.generate, cad.edit, cad.export, cad.simulate, cad.print, cad.manufacture
- https://letme.dev/cad.generate picks the top-graded tool in this list and says how to call it direct (https://www.anchorterminal.com/letme/index.md)

## Ranking

| # | Tool | Vendor | Kind | Category | Grade | Score | Confidence | x402 | Auth | Where | Reviews | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 630 | Adam | Adam AI Labs, Inc. | MCP server | CAD | C | 59.4 | medium | no | OAuth or key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adam-cad.md |
| 669 | Zoo | Zoo Corporation | HTTP API | CAD | C | 58.7 | medium | no | OAuth or key | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo.md |
| 820 | Onshape | PTC | HTTP API | CAD | C | 55.7 | medium | no | OAuth or key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onshape.md |
| 1036 | PrusaLink | Prusa Research a.s. | HTTP API | CAD | D | 49.4 | medium | no | OAuth or key | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prusalink.md |
| 1154 | Autodesk Platform Services | Autodesk | HTTP API | CAD | E | 44.3 | low | no | OAuth | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autodesk-platform-services.md |
| 1203 | SimScale | SimScale GmbH | HTTP API | CAD | E | 41 | medium | no | API key | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/simscale.md |
| 1214 | nTop | nTopology Inc. | SDK + MCP | CAD | E | 40.2 | low | no | OAuth or key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ntop.md |

Scores are from public evidence against the published checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/), with Performance and Task success pending. p95 latency and context cost come from our probes, which haven't run yet.

## Summaries

### 630. Adam, C (59.4)

Adam is Adam AI Labs' AI copilot for mechanical CAD. It creates and edits parts in Onshape, Fusion, SOLIDWORKS and other desktop CAD through a hosted agent that AI clients reach over a remote MCP server and a REST API. An agent reaches Adam's CAD tasks over OAuth 2.1 with per-area scopes, idempotency keys and a public OpenAPI spec, and can export STEP, STL, IGES and 3MF from Adam-stored models. The MCP server and API are beta, numeric rate limits and plan prices are not published, and native CAD edits need a connected desktop application.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adam-cad · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/adam-cad.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/adam-cad.json
- Capabilities: cad.generate, cad.edit, cad.export, cad.simulate · endpoint: `https://adam.new/mcp`

### 669. Zoo, C (58.7)

Zoo is a hosted CAD platform from Zoo Corporation with a REST API, the Zookeeper design agent over a websocket, file conversion and analysis endpoints, a CLI and a local MCP server, all built on its KCL modelling language. A public OpenAPI document, SDKs in four languages, a 42-tool MCP server and a $10 monthly allowance let an agent generate KCL geometry and export STEP without a contract. No rate limits, retry guidance or scoped tokens are documented, the MCP server has no read-only subset, and the Free plan's data trains Zoo's models with no opt-out.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zoo.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zoo.json
- Capabilities: cad.generate, cad.edit, cad.export

### 820. Onshape, C (55.7)

Onshape is PTC's cloud CAD platform. Its REST API reads and changes documents, Part Studios, assemblies and drawings with API keys or OAuth 2.0, and the FeatureScript MCP Server in Onshape Labs lets an assistant write FeatureScript into a document. Scoped API keys, OAuth 2.0 and versioned release notes every three weeks give an agent a stable REST surface over documents, parts, assemblies and drawings, and the Labs MCP server writes FeatureScript. Each request needs an HMAC signature and nonce, annual call quotas end in 402, per-endpoint limits are unpublished, and robots.txt closes the OpenAPI explorer's host to readers.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onshape · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/onshape.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/onshape.json
- Capabilities: cad.edit, cad.generate, cad.export · endpoint: `https://fs-mcp.labs.onshape.app/mcp`

### 1036. PrusaLink, D (49.4)

PrusaLink is Prusa Research's local web interface and HTTP API for Original Prusa 3D printers, built into current models or run on a Raspberry Pi. It reports status, uploads files and starts, pauses and stops prints over the local network. An agent on the same network can read printer status, upload G-code and start, pause or stop a print through a documented OpenAPI surface with one credential per printer. The spec is a 2024 draft, the Pi edition's last release is July 2024 with 102 open issues, and there is no read-only mode, pagination or SDK.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prusalink · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prusalink.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prusalink.json
- Capabilities: cad.print

### 1154. Autodesk Platform Services, E (44.3)

Autodesk Platform Services (APS, formerly Forge) is Autodesk's cloud API set. Its Automation API runs AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, 3ds Max and Fusion headlessly on design files, beside Model Derivative, Data Management, OSS and Webhooks APIs under OAuth 2.0. OAuth 2.0 with scopes, public OpenAPI specs for six APIs and a status page with APS components make the platform callable by an agent that holds an app's credentials. The Automation API's own docs, quotas, pricing and terms sit on pages our reader could not load, so an agent must plan without published limits or rates.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autodesk-platform-services · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autodesk-platform-services.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autodesk-platform-services.json
- Capabilities: cad.generate, cad.edit, cad.export

### 1203. SimScale, E (41)

SimScale is a cloud engineering simulation platform from SimScale GmbH in Munich. Its REST API imports geometry, builds meshes, sets up and runs fluid, structural and thermal simulations and exports results, with Python and C# SDKs, on the Enterprise plan. Public OpenAPI documents for v0 and the v1 beta, a keyless sandbox that answers every endpoint with example data, and official Python and C# SDKs let an agent plan a simulation before anyone signs a contract. Running one needs an Enterprise API key priced on request, with no status page, no published rate limits and SDK releases eight months old.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/simscale · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/simscale.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/simscale.json
- Capabilities: cad.simulate, cad.export

### 1214. nTop, E (40.2)

nTop is nTopology's computational design software for implicit geometry, lattices and simulation-driven parts. nTop Automate runs a notebook headlessly from the ntopcl command line with JSON in and out under a paid licence; a beta Python package reads implicit bodies. An agent on a licensed Windows machine can run any nTop notebook headlessly through ntopcl with JSON in and out, and the beta Python package reads the resulting implicit bodies. Nothing is callable without a paid per-user licence, no price is public, the EULA bars servers without an order form, and licence credentials go on the command line.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ntop · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ntop.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ntop.json
- Capabilities: cad.generate, cad.export, cad.simulate · endpoint: `https://docs.ntop.com/mcp`

## How we test 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. This test hasn't run yet, so Task success is pending and the grades here come from the categories assessed from public evidence.


---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp