Sheet Cut Optimiser

This one is free and needs no account. Open it, use it, keep the plan. Signing up only ever matters if you want to save a cut list and come back to it.

Cutting stock efficiently is a bin-packing problem, and humans are reliably bad at it. Working down a cut list in the order it was written typically wastes ten to twenty percent more material than an optimised layout, and on a job of any size that is real money left in the offcut pile.

What it does

• Takes your stock lengths and your required pieces and works out the layout with the least waste
• Accounts for kerf, so the plan matches what the blade actually removes
• Handles mixed stock lengths, which is the situation most people are actually in
• Shows leftover offcuts per stick, so usable remainders do not get thrown out
• Prints a plan you can take to the saw without a laptop

Who uses it

Carpenters and framers on lumber, fabricators on steel and aluminium stock, glaziers, cabinet makers on edge banding and rail stock, and a steady stream of people building one deck who would rather not buy an extra six boards. It works the same for any material sold in fixed lengths and cut to size.

The rest of the free tier

The deck planner produces a joist layout and materials list, and the blueprint designer draws a full floor plan with automatic dimensions. Both are free with no account for the same reason this one is: a tool a stranger cannot actually use is worth nothing to them.