OctoPrint

What is OctoPrint?

OctoPrint puts a 3D printer on the network: upload models, start and monitor prints, watch a webcam feed and control the machine from a browser instead of shuffling SD cards.

Best for

Managing 3D prints without walking to the printer

Why choose OctoPrint

OctoPrint takes a 3D printer off the SD card and onto the network. You upload a model from a browser, start and pause prints, monitor progress on a graph, and watch a webcam feed — which means you can start a print and check on it from another room rather than sitting beside the machine. Its plugin ecosystem is the real differentiator: timelapse recording, print failure detection, filament tracking, notification to whatever messaging service you use, and integrations with slicers so a print can be sent directly from the tool that prepared it. It works with an enormous range of printers because it drives them over the serial connection they all expose, and it has been the standard interface for hobbyist printers for long enough that almost every problem has an answer somewhere.

Replaces

• Bambu Cloud
• Prusa Connect
• Repetier Server

Key features

• Remote print control and file management
• Webcam monitoring and timelapse
• Plugin ecosystem for extra features
• Runs on a Raspberry Pi

What to watch out for

OctoPrint runs on a small single-board computer, and that computer is now a dependency between you and the printer — if it crashes mid-print, the print stops. Serial connections to printers are sensitive to a Raspberry Pi that cannot deliver stable power, and undervoltage causes disconnections that look like software faults. It monitors but does not control temperature safety: a relay or the printer's own firmware is what makes a failed print safe, and relying on the web interface for that is a mistake. The plugin ecosystem varies in quality and maintenance, and a popular plugin that stops being updated can break on a version upgrade. Webcam integration often requires tuning the stream to avoid bogging down the host.

How to deploy

• Flash the OctoPi image to an SD card
• Connect the printer over USB
• Enable access control before remote access

Getting started

Use a power supply adequate for the single-board computer rather than a phone charger, because undervoltage is the most common cause of mysterious disconnects. Install it on a card you can reflash, and keep the configuration backed up, since the plugins and settings are the part that takes time to rebuild. Connect the printer and confirm it responds before configuring plugins. Establish how a failed print will be made safe — a smart plug, a thermal fuse, whatever your hardware supports — rather than assuming the software handles it. Add plugins one at a time so a problem can be attributed to a specific change, and check each one's last update before relying on it.

Typical setup

It runs on a single-board computer with an adequate power supply, because undervoltage is the most common cause of mysterious disconnects mid-print. The configuration and plugin set are backed up, since rebuilding them by hand is the slow part of recovery. The printer is confirmed to respond before plugins are installed, and plugins are added one at a time with their last-update date checked. How a failed print is made safe is established separately, through a smart plug or the printer's own protection, rather than assumed from the software. A card that can be reflashed is kept on hand.

Who should look elsewhere

Do not use it if you need unattended reliability without redundancy, because the computer running it becomes a single point of failure between you and the printer. Avoid it for printers that are deliberately locked to a manufacturer's cloud, since you would be fighting the design. And if you print rarely and don't mind walking to the machine, the setup and maintenance effort is not repaid by convenience you would barely use.

Project health

• GitHub stars: 9,117
• Last code push: 2026-10-01
• Open issues: 250
• Status: actively developed

Figures pulled from the GitHub API and refreshed periodically.