// Blog · 2026-10-04
Free online CAM software for CNC: what you can do in a browser
“Online CAM” used to mean a toy: a few profiles, no simulation, a G-code file you would not dare run. That has changed. A browser can now do the geometry, the toolpaths and a full simulation on your own computer, without sending your drawings anywhere. This post sums up what to expect from a free online CNC CAM and how MillPath does it.
What an online CNC CAM should do
- Read your drawings and models. DXF and SVG for 2D work; STEP, IGES, STL and OBJ for 3D. MillPath reads all of them in the browser.
- Make the toolpaths you need. For routers and mills: profiles with tabs, pockets, adaptive clearing, drilling, boring, thread milling, chamfers, engraving and V-carving. For 3D models: roughing level by level and finishing (parallel, waterline, steep & shallow, pencil, rest, scallop, spiral). For plasma and lasers: cut and mark operations with kerf, lead-ins and pierces.
- Simulate the stock. Not just lines on a screen: the material removed, move by move, so you see what is left.
- Check the program. MillPath replays every file against the stock with checks that are independent of the code that made the toolpaths: rapid moves into material, plunges with tools that cannot plunge, cuts into what an operation must keep, cuts below the stock.
- Write G-code for your controller. Posts for GRBL, Carbide Motion, Mach3/4, LinuxCNC, MASSO and others, plus plasma and laser controllers — and the G-code is read back and compared with the toolpath before you download it.
Does online mean your files are uploaded?
Not with MillPath. The toolpaths, the simulation and the checks run in your browser. Your projects are kept in the browser; with an account you can also keep them in your account to open on another computer.
What is free
The free plan has every operation and two G-code exports a day. Hobby ($49 a year) removes the export limit; Pro ($149 a year) is for commercial work and adds nesting. Everything else — simulation, checks, the lessons — is the same.
Before you run any CAM’s G-code
- Pick the post for your exact controller and run the controller check in the air.
- Set the work zero on the machine where the program expects it (MillPath shows the axes and the zero in its 3D view).
- Run the first file with the spindle off, a few millimetres above the stock.
- Read the safety checks; open each problem with Show.
Questions
Is there free online CAM software for CNC routers? Yes. MillPath’s free plan covers routers, mills, plasma tables and lasers, with two exports a day.
Can an online CAM do 3D? MillPath reads STEP, IGES, STL and OBJ and makes 3D roughing and finishing toolpaths, in beta. The 3D models guide shows every strategy with a picture of its real toolpath.
Do I need to install anything? No. MillPath runs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and keeps working offline once opened.