Deepnest Alternative for Rectangular Parts: When You Need a Cut List Optimizer Instead

Deepnest is a free, open-source true-shape nesting program for laser cutters, plasma cutters and other CNC machines. If your parts are rectangles cut on a table saw, panel saw or track saw, a cut list optimizer is the better tool, because it works from a parts list with quantities and produces kerf-aware, edge-to-edge (guillotine) layouts you can actually saw.

Use this to decide:

Deepnest facts below come from deepnest.io and the project's GitHub repositories, checked September 2026.

Deepnest describes itself as "an open source nesting application, great for laser cutters, plasma cutters, and other CNC machines." It is a true-shape nester. You give it drawings (DXF, SVG or CDR files), it treats each outline as the real shape, and it packs them to leave as little material between parts as possible. Its own quick-start instruction is: "Mark the largest part as your sheet, then hit start."

A few facts worth knowing before you download:

• The original project has stopped. deepnest.io still serves the Deepnest 1.0.5 downloads and links to the original GitHub repository, whose last commit was in August 2018, with no GitHub releases.
• A community fork is active. deepnest-next (homepage deepnest.net) released v1.5.6 in May 2025, and its last commit was in July 2026. If you want Deepnest today, the fork is the one being maintained.
• It's free. It's open source, with no subscription.
• It isn't a cut list tool. The input is a drawing, not a parts list with quantities, and it produces no kerf-aware guillotine cut list. Rectangles work, since they're just shapes, but you get none of the things a saw operator needs.

None of that is a knock on Deepnest. It solves a harder geometric problem than a cut list optimizer does, and for laser and plasma work on irregular parts it is the right free tool.

When every part is a rectangle and the cutting tool is a saw, the problem changes:

• Cuts must go edge to edge. A table saw or panel saw can't stop mid-sheet and turn a corner. The layout has to be guillotine: rip into strips, then crosscut. A true-shape nester has no reason to respect that, so an efficient-looking nest can be impossible to saw. (More in guillotine vs free cuts.)
• Kerf is part of every dimension. Every saw cut removes material, about ⅛" with a typical full-kerf blade. The layout has to leave room for it, or the last part on a strip comes out short. See what is kerf.
• Quantities, not drawings. A cabinet job is "20 sides at 23¼ × 34½", not twenty outlines in a DXF. You want to type a list, or import one from a spreadsheet.
• Grain direction. Visible plywood parts can't be rotated freely, because the grain has to run the right way.
• The output is a shopping list and a cut sheet. The questions are how many sheets to buy, which parts come off which sheet, and in what order the cuts go.

That's the job a cut list optimizer does.

Here's a typical rectangular job, run through EZNESTING's sheet optimizer. It's a 36"-wide, 72"-tall garage cabinet with four shelves and two doors, all from 3/4" plywood, including a full 3/4" back for hanging it on a wall cleat.

Inputs: 4×8 sheets (48" × 96"), ⅛" kerf, rotation allowed, no grain lock.

Result (Least waste mode, guillotine cuts): 4 sheets at 71.0% overall utilization.

The parts add up to 90.8 sq ft, and 90.8 ÷ 32 = 2.84, so no layout of any kind could use fewer than 3 sheets. The optimizer's saw-friendly answer is 4. The reason is the shape of the parts: five of them are about 72" long, and every sheet that carries them has a strip about 24" deep left across the end that only the shorter parts can fill. The fourth sheet is half empty, which is a good place for drawer parts or a second small project.

To reproduce this, open sheet mode with a 4×8 loaded and enter the five rows.

To be straight about where the line is:

• No true-shape nesting. EZNESTING packs every part by its bounding rectangle. It has parametric L-, T- and U-shapes, and for L- and U-shapes it can reuse the notch for smaller parts, but a curved or irregular part still takes up its whole bounding box. If your parts are irregular and the material is expensive, Deepnest will nest them tighter.
• Rotation is 0° or 90° only. True-shape nesters such as Deepnest can try other angles.
• DXF import brings in rectangles. You can import closed outlines from a DXF, and each one comes in as a part sized to its bounding rectangle.
• No toolpaths. EZNESTING is a nesting and cut list optimizer, not CAM. It exports DXF layouts your CAM software can use, but it doesn't generate G-code.

If most of your parts are rectangles with a few irregular ones, a practical split is to run the rectangles through a cut list optimizer for the sheet count and saw plan, and nest the odd shapes in Deepnest on the offcuts.

1. Open sheet mode with a 4×8 sheet loaded. No account needed.
2. Enter each part as width × height × quantity, or import a CSV/Excel file or a DXF.
3. Set kerf (default ⅛") and turn on grain for parts where it matters.
4. Leave the mode on Least waste for the fewest sheets, and run it.
5. Export the layout as PDF for the saw, DXF for a CNC router, or CSV/Excel.

The free plan covers up to 5 part sizes and 3 stock sizes per job, with every export included. For CNC-specific setup, see the CNC router nest optimizer. For broader comparisons, see best free cutlist software.