Articles on: Connect & set up printers

How to tell if a 3D printer is compatible with SimplyPrint, OctoPrint, Mainsail or Fluidd

Whether you already own a printer or are about to buy one, you can check how it connects to SimplyPrint, and what works once it does, without buying anything first. This guide shows where to look and what to look for on the printer itself.


In this article


How SimplyPrint connects to printers

SimplyPrint works through OctoPrint and through Moonraker, the software Mainsail and Fluidd run on. So a printer that works with OctoPrint, Mainsail or Fluidd connects to SimplyPrint the same way.


There are a few ways a printer can connect, and each printer's page shows a status for every one that applies to it:


Connection

How it works

Typical printers

SimplyPrint Client

A small app on a device that stays on in your network, such as a Raspberry Pi or a computer. It connects your printers over the network, with nothing installed on the printers.

Bambu Lab, Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo, Snapmaker, Flashforge, Dremel and Ultimaker printers, and Duet boards

Klipper (Moonraker)

SimplyPrint connects to Moonraker, the software behind Mainsail and Fluidd. No extra hardware.

Printers that ship with Klipper, like Voron and Qidi

OctoPrint

A Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint, plugged into the printer's USB port.

Classic printers with a USB port, such as the Ender-3 or Prusa MK3

Prusa direct firmware

SimplyPrint's open-source build of the Prusa firmware, flashed onto the printer. No extra hardware. In beta.

Prusa CORE One, CORE One L, MK4S, MK4, MK3.9, MK3.5, XL, Mini and Mini+

Duet (RepRapFirmware)

Duet boards connect through the SimplyPrint Client.

Printers with a Duet board

Built in by the manufacturer

SimplyPrint comes built into the printer.

A few partner printers

The maker's cloud

SimplyPrint connects to the maker's own cloud, server to server, once you link your account there.

Printers that only talk to their maker's cloud


Step 1: Look the printer up

Search for the printer on the SimplyPrint compatibility list. Every printer shows its status, and you can filter the list by status. The list includes brand-new printers we haven't tested ourselves yet, marked Expected to work or Not confirmed yet.


Open the printer's page. Its compatibility section has one card per connection method, best first. Each card shows:

  • the status, such as Verified by SimplyPrint, Compatible or Expected to work;
  • for an expected printer, the model it's expected to work like;
  • for a method that works or is expected to, what you need besides the printer, such as a Raspberry Pi;
  • anything the printer needs first, such as root access or a minimum firmware version;
  • for a verified or compatible method, whether owners already use it with SimplyPrint, with a number once there are enough printers to count;
  • for a method that works or is expected to, a link to set it up.


Further down, What works with SimplyPrint shows which features work for each way of connecting it: the webcam, starting and pausing prints, the printer controls, multi-material and more. What the compatibility statuses mean (link: article 04 once published) explains every status and number on the page.


Step 2: Not listed? Use the compatibility finder

You can answer these questions from the manufacturer's product page or manual, so this works before you buy the printer too.


The compatibility finder asks one question at a time and ends at the setup guide for the way the printer can connect, with how sure that answer is:

  1. Who made your printer? Every Bambu Lab printer connects through the SimplyPrint Client, so that answer is enough. For a Prusa, the finder asks whether it is one of the newer models; for other brands, whether it is brand new and which listed printer it follows.
  2. Does your printer connect to your Wi-Fi or a network cable? If it does, whether you send prints from the maker's own app (most likely the SimplyPrint Client) or from a page in your browser.
  3. Type the printer's IP address into your browser. Which of these opens? Mainsail or Fluidd means Klipper, OctoPrint means OctoPrint, and Duet Web Control means a Duet board. The finder shows each one's logo and how to tell them apart.
  4. Does it have a USB port for a cable to a computer? A port a computer can print through counts, a slot for a USB stick or an SD card doesn't. If it has one, the printer can most likely use OctoPrint.
  5. What kind of screen does it have? and Roughly when was it made? These are asked only when you're not sure, and give a best guess.


Every printer page also has this finder for that printer: Help us confirm on a card that is expected to work or not confirmed yet, and Find out how to check on one that is not expected to work.


Step 3: See what other owners found

Every result in the finder ends with Find out more yourself:

  • Google searches for the printer together with "klipper", "octoprint", "moonraker" and "root", when you typed the printer's name. Some printers need to be rooted before SimplyPrint can reach them.
  • Buttons that ask an AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, to go through the finder's questions with you. Each question also has an AI button you can send photos of the printer to.


The SimplyPrint Client

The SimplyPrint Client connects printers from Bambu Lab, Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo, Snapmaker, Flashforge, Dremel and Ultimaker over your network, and printers with a Duet board. Not every model from these brands uses it, so check the printer's page. You run it on a device that stays on, like a Raspberry Pi, a computer or a server, on the same network as your printers. One client connects many printers across different brands, and nothing is installed on the printers themselves.


Some brands, like Creality and Anycubic, also have printers that can connect on the printer itself through Klipper or OctoPrint. The printer's page shows which ways work for that model. See Connect your printers with the SimplyPrint Client to set it up.


Klipper with Mainsail or Fluidd

Klipper is printer firmware. Mainsail and Fluidd are the web pages you use to control a Klipper printer, and both run on Moonraker. SimplyPrint connects to Moonraker directly, so if your printer shows a Mainsail or Fluidd page in your browser, follow the Klipper setup guide. A printer that ships with Klipper needs no extra hardware.


A printer that ships with Klipper is not an OctoPrint printer by default. You can run OctoPrint on top of Klipper with the OctoKlipper plugin, but SimplyPrint connects to Klipper directly, so there is no need to. The other way round, many printers that print over USB can have Klipper installed on them: that is a modification, so their page lists them under OctoPrint, not Klipper.


A few printers ship with an older or modified Moonraker that needs a script first. See Setting up a Klipper printer with outdated Moonraker via SSH script.


OctoPrint over USB

OctoPrint runs on a Raspberry Pi that is plugged into the printer over USB and sends it the print. That works when the printer accepts print commands over its USB port, which most classic printers do. A printer that can't print over USB is marked as not compatible with OctoPrint on its page. See Pick the right Raspberry Pi and Which cable to use.


Prusa direct firmware and Duet

Newer Prusa printers (CORE One, CORE One L, MK4S, MK4, MK3.9, MK3.5, XL, Mini and Mini+) can connect without extra hardware by flashing SimplyPrint's open-source build of the Prusa firmware, or through the PrusaLink built into the printer and the SimplyPrint Client. Both are in beta, and OctoPrint on a Raspberry Pi stays the most proven way to connect a Prusa. Older Prusa printers connect through OctoPrint. See Direct Prusa Integration.


Printers with a Duet board, or that run RepRapFirmware, connect through the SimplyPrint Client: you enter the printer's IP address and, if you set one, its Duet Web Control password.


Choosing a printer to buy

  • Look for Verified by SimplyPrint or Compatible on the connection method you want to use.
  • Expected to work like another model means we expect it to behave like that listed printer, usually because it is built the same way.
  • Check What works with SimplyPrint on the printer's page for the features you care about, such as the webcam or multi-material.
  • Compare printers side by side, filtered by connection method, bed size, build height, multi-material and more.


What SimplyPrint does not connect

SimplyPrint connects filament (FDM) printers. Resin printers, laser cutters and CNC machines can't be connected, but you can still track their jobs as virtual machines. A few filament printers can't talk to any outside software. Their page says Not compatible for each connection method.


Updated on: 20/10/2026

Was this article helpful?

Share your feedback

Cancel

Thank you!