Comparison

CutArc Connect vs Pathly

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CutArc Connect

Easily capture sketches, templates, or existing parts and convert them into cut files for CNC plasma cutting. Generate custom signs with stencil fonts or AI-powered text descriptions. Access essential cut charts and a design library on the go.

Highlights
  • Scan sketches and parts into cut files
  • Automatic edge detection and correction
  • Create custom signs with stencil fonts
  • AI-generated vector art from text
  • Shop reference charts for materials
  • Browse and save designs from a library
Features
Read full description

Draw a part on paper. Scan it with your phone. Open it in CutArc, ready to cut. CutArc Connect is the pocket companion to CutArc, the browser-based CAD/CAM for CNC plasma cutting. It puts the two things a fabricator actually needs on the shop floor — capturing real-world shapes and quick reference — right in your pocket, with everything synced to your CutArc account. SCAN ANYTHING INTO A CUT FILE — Point the scanner at a sketch, a template, or a part lying on the bench. Automatic edge detection, perspective correction, and shadow removal turn a phone photo into clean vector geometry — then trace it on-device or with CutArc's cloud tracer and save it straight to your projects. TYPE A SIGN — Pick a stencil font, type a name, and preview a cut-ready sign design in seconds. Made for the "can you cut me one with my name on it?" moment. DESCRIBE IT, GET GEOMETRY — AI design generation turns a text description into plasma-ready vector art. Free accounts include weekly generations. YOUR SHOP'S REFERENCE CARD — Cut charts for common materials and thicknesses — amperage, feed rate, kerf — without walking back to the office computer. ONE ACCOUNT, EVERY SCREEN — Everything you capture or design on your phone appears in your CutArc projects, ready to open in the web designer or the CutArc desktop app for nesting, kerf compensation, and G-code. Sign in with Apple, Google, or email — or create a free account right in the app. BROWSE THE DESIGN LIBRARY — Ready-to-cut designs, searchable by category, saved to your projects in a tap. CutArc supports 12+ plasma table controllers including Mach3, LinuxCNC, GRBL, Langmuir FireControl, and Hypertherm — design on your phone, cut from your table.

About

Pathly

Features
Read full description

Want to check a sliced 3D print before you send it to the printer? Pathly opens a G-code file on your iPhone and shows the toolpath in 3D, layer by layer, with print time, filament and size at a glance. Tap Open a G-code File and pick a .gcode, .gco or .nc file from Files, or open one straight from another app. Pathly reads it on your iPhone and draws the path. • 3D TOOLPATH — extrusion moves in color, travel moves in grey, over a soft ground plane. Pinch to zoom and drag to rotate. • LAYER SCRUBBER — slide through the print to see it build up layer by layer, with the current layer number and Z height. • PRINT STATS — estimated print time, filament used, model size (X × Y × Z), layer count, extrude and travel moves, total path length and maximum feed rate. • READS REAL SLICER OUTPUT — G0/G1 moves and G2/G3 arcs, absolute or relative positioning and extrusion, millimeter or inch units, and files up to 80 MB. • SHARE / EXPORT — send the G-code file on to another app, AirDrop or Files. Honest scope: Pathly is a viewer — it doesn't slice, edit or send jobs to a printer. The time estimate uses path lengths and feed rates without acceleration, so your slicer's estimate may differ; filament volume assumes 1.75 mm filament. Binary G-code (.bgcode) isn't supported, and CNC or laser files without extrusion show every move as travel. Very dense files are thinned for display; the stats still count every move. Your files are opened on your iPhone only — nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. Viewing is free and unlimited. The free version shares or exports 3 files; a one-time $4.99 purchase unlocks unlimited exports. No subscription, no ads. Questions: overlapmarr@gmail.com

Screenshots

CutArc Connect4 screens
Pathly2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CutArc Connect at none against Pathly's 1. Pathly's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pathly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. CutArc Connect asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
CutArc Connect versus Pathly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCutArc ConnectPathly
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequency—Every 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.216.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert SivonenJhomar Maravillas

In-app purchases

None

CutArc Connect

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pathly

One-time1
  • Unlock Unlimited$4.99

Questions

Is CutArc Connect free?
CutArc Connect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pathly free?
Pathly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do CutArc Connect or Pathly have ads?
Neither CutArc Connect nor Pathly shows ads.

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