For kids, parents and home 3D printers

Design it, see it, fix it, print it.

KidCAD turns "a rocket pencil holder" into something your printer can make. Kids describe it, draw it, or build it from shapes with Sparky the dragon showing them how. Everything runs on your own computer.

⬇️ Get V1 free See V1, V2 and V3

Linux today. Windows and Mac are next.

STANDBY · SPARKY NAPS UNTIL YOU PRINT

The KidCAD Workshop: Sparky explains holes while a name keychain that says MAX is built — **The Workshop.** Shapes, words and holes, with Sparky walking kids through starter projects like a name keychain.

The KidCAD main screen: 1 Make, 2 Look and fix, 3 Tweak, 4 Print, with Sparky asleep in the PRINT box — **Make, look, tweak, print.** Type an idea or add a picture. The PRINT box shows Sparky napping until the printer starts.

KidCAD on an iPad: a toy tire with a gold rim in the Workshop — **Tablets too.** Phones and iPads on your home Wi-Fi use the same KidCAD, once a grown-up approves them.

Grown-ups settings: spools with Sparky loading the printer and grams left on each spool — **Spools that keep count.** Every print's grams come off the spool it used. Sparky shows what's loaded.

Stays at home

The AI runs on your own computer. No online accounts, no ads, and kids' designs never leave the house.

Grown-ups decide

Every print needs a grown-up PIN. Parental controls turn features on or off for each child, with time limits if you want them.

Your printer

23 printer profiles built in, from the Ender-3 to the Prusa MK4 and Creality K1, and adding yours takes a minute.

Three versions, paid once

Start free. Add more when your kids are ready.

V1 is free for everyone. V2 and V3 are one-time purchases: no subscription, and a download code arrives by email.

1

KidCAD V1

Available

Free

Everything a family needs to start designing and printing.

Build things by typing or with pictures (AI on your computer)
Drawings and photos become plaques, keychains and cookie shapes
Figures from photos of a toy or pet (with a graphics card)
The Workshop: shapes, words, holes, curve, bend, taper and twist
Sparky's tours, tutorials and starter projects
Basic print options, spool tracking, print layers viewer
Parental controls, family PINs and approved tablets
Check a print from away through your own VPN

⬇️ Download V1

2

KidCAD V2

Coming soon

$5 one time

Everything in V1, plus advanced tools:

Face tools: push and pull a face, bend it, balloon it
Textures and multi-line, multi-color words on any face
Stick a shape onto a face, and snap faces together
Wall thickness that changes with height
Click a part to see where it needs supports, and which kind
See and edit supports and ironing right in the Workshop
Print layers for each color, and realistic finishes
More special spool types

How buying works

3

KidCAD V3

Coming soon

$20 one time

Everything in V2, plus sharing:

Share your builds on kidcad.xyz
Every shared build is free for V3 owners
Creators earn money when others buy their designs
The suggestion box: send ideas for new features straight to us
Every spool type

About Builds

Prices are planned launch prices. Windows and Mac versions of each will follow the Linux version.

KidCAD V1 · version 1.2.3

Download and install

Pick your computer, then copy each command into a Terminal one at a time.

Tested on Linux Mint 22 and Ubuntu 24.04.

1
Download KidCAD

⬇️ kidcad_v1.2.3.zip About 0.5 MB. Save it in your Downloads folder.
2
Unzip it into your home folder

cd ~/Downloads && unzip kidcad_v1.2.3.zip -d ~
3
Install (asks for your password once)

cd ~/kidcad && ./install.sh

This adds OpenSCAD, PrusaSlicer, the AI models and Sparky's voice. Log out and back in once afterwards, so USB printing works.
4
Start KidCAD

cd ~/kidcad && ./run.sh

Or use the KidCAD icon on your desktop. The first grown-up sets up the family.

Already have KidCAD? Download the new zip and the update script into Downloads:

⬇️ kidcad_v1.2.3.zip ⬇️ update_kidcad.sh

then run:

bash ~/Downloads/update_kidcad.sh

It shows the file it found and asks before installing. Your family's things and settings are kept.

What you need

A Linux computer (Mint 22 or Ubuntu 24.04)
Room for the AI models (about 15 GB)
A 3D printer: USB, OctoPrint, Klipper or SD card
Optional: an NVIDIA graphics card (8 GB, 12 GB works well) for figures from photos
Internet only while installing

Pay once, keep it

Buy V2 or V3

No subscription. You pay once by card, and a one-time download code comes to your email.

2

KidCAD V2

$5 one time

Face tools, supports you can see and edit, color layers and finishes.

💳 Buy V2 · coming soon

3

KidCAD V3

$20 one time

Everything in V2, plus sharing on Builds, earnings for creators and the suggestion box.

💳 Buy V3 · coming soon

1

Pay once

Checkout is by card through Stripe. KidCAD never sees your card number.

2

Get your code

An email from noreply@kidcad.xyz brings your receipt and a one-time download code.

3

Download

Type the code on the Download page. Each code works once.

Lost your code, or a question about an order? Write to customerservice@kidcad.xyz.

Coming with V3

Builds: things kids made, ready to print

With V3, families share their best designs on kidcad.xyz. Open one in KidCAD, change it, and print it.

Share

Send a build from KidCAD to kidcad.xyz with its picture and print settings.

Free for V3

V3 owners download every shared build free. Without V3, a build costs $1.

Creators earn

When someone buys your design, you earn part of the sale.

A name keychain designed in the KidCAD Workshop — Shared builds open right in the Workshop, like this keychain, ready to change and print.

Talk to us

Contact

Pick the address that fits, so your note reaches the right inbox.

🙋 Orders and help

Purchases, download codes and anything else.

customerservice@kidcad.xyz

🐞 Bugs and fixes

Something broken? Tell us what you did and what happened.

bugs@kidcad.xyz

💡 Feature ideas

Ideas for new features. The V3 suggestion box sends here too.

features@kidcad.xyz

📨 Receipts and codes

Our emails with receipts and download codes come from this address. Replies to it aren't read.

noreply@kidcad.xyz

Design it, see it, fix it, print it.

Stays at home

Grown-ups decide

Your printer

Start free. Add more when your kids are ready.

KidCAD V1

KidCAD V2

KidCAD V3

Download and install

Download KidCAD

Unzip it into your home folder

Install (asks for your password once)

Start KidCAD

What you need

Have a V2 or V3 code?

Buy V2 or V3

KidCAD V2

KidCAD V3

Pay once

Get your code

Download

Builds: things kids made, ready to print

Share

Free for V3

Creators earn

Contact

🙋 Orders and help

🐞 Bugs and fixes

💡 Feature ideas

📨 Receipts and codes