Best nesting software for CypCut lasers (2026)

The short list

Every competitor cell is a row of our comparison pages, with the day it was read on the vendor's page. Prices change: open the vendor's page before you buy. The full tables are under Compare.

What “best” means on a CypCut machine

CypCut is the control software on Bochu's FSCUT controllers. It already imports DXF, cleans it, nests it and adds lead lines, kerf compensation, micro-joints and bridges. So the question is not “which program can nest” but which one saves you time or metal on the jobs you actually get. Four things decide it:

• Nest quality on your parts: array is fine for one repeat bracket; mixed customer jobs need true-shape and part-in-part.
• What the nester hands CypCut: native task files, NC through a post processor, or a DXF that CypCut imports like any other.
• Whether you also need a price: most nesters stop at a report; a job shop needs a quote before it cuts.
• Where the work happens: on the machine's PC, which stops the operator, or in the office while the machine cuts.

CypCut's built-in nest: free and already there

The v6.5 manual is clear about the limits: the parts library takes at most 50 part types, CypCut nests at most 20 plates at one time, and the nest strategy “only supports array”. Within those limits it has part gap, plate margin, rotation, co-edge and remnant management, and it is the controller itself, so there is no file hand-off. Two things are easy to miss. Its nesting report has pricing settings and estimates the cost from the layer parameters — useful, though not a customer quote. And without the USB encryption dog and control card, CypCut starts in demo mode with every function except machining, so the manual suggests installing it on a laptop to prepare jobs. More on CypCut and the side-by-side in Zorocut vs CypCut nesting.

CypNest: the controller maker's own nester

CypNest lifts the built-in limits and writes Bochu task files that CypCut opens directly, with techniques and layers already set. It has true-shape and in-part nesting, co-edge, micro-joints, remnants (including one captured from a photo) and bevel as a paid pack. For a shop that runs only Bochu controllers, that native hand-off is hard to beat. The catches: it runs on Windows, its quoting is a report template, its own manual marks DXF export “Not recommended”, and the only public EU price we found — €1,290.45 net at Cormak — is listed as not available for purchase. The trial is one month, once per computer. See Zorocut vs CypNest.

Lapas: the best free web nester we found

Lapas nests true-shape in the browser and its Free plan is real: unlimited nesting, 5 project exports a month, and sheet inventory and remnants on every plan — better than Zorocut Free on remnants. It imports DWG, PDF, AI and LightBurn files as well as DXF and SVG. What it does not list is CypCut or FSCUT output, or a customer quote; the PDF is a report. Pro is $49 a month, or $468 a year. See Zorocut vs Lapas.

ProNest LT + Laser: when you want NC, not DXF

ProNest LT is the only Western product we found that is sold for lasers on CypCut, HypCut or Raytools CNCs. The laser tier adds collision avoidance, automatic micro-joints, slug destroy and one laser post processor on top of common line, chain and bridge cutting and skeleton cut-up. Hypertherm's cut-process data and support stand behind it. It runs on a Windows PC, costs €149.99 net a month per user — three times the plasma tier — and does costing but no customer quote. If your operator wants a finished program rather than a DXF to set up, this is the one to try; the trial is 7 days with billing details up front. See Zorocut vs ProNest LT.

SigmaNEST and Lantek: industrial CAD/CAM

Both are full CAD/CAM lines for production plants. SigmaNEST comes in editions from AutoNEST to PowerPack Premium and also covers inventory, job tracking and cost estimating; SigmaTEK is part of the Sandvik group. Lantek Expert Cut programs laser, plasma, oxy-fuel and waterjet machines and records remnants automatically; Lantek iQuoting quotes in the browser with 3D import and unfolding, but hands the nest on to Expert Cut instead of giving you a DXF. Neither publishes a price. For a two-machine shop that is usually the deciding fact. See Zorocut vs SigmaNEST and Zorocut vs Lantek.

Deepnest: free, open, unfinished

Deepnest is the open-source true-shape nester many shops try first, and it costs nothing. The maintained fork, deepnest-next, is MIT-licensed except deepnest.js, which is GPLv3. Its open issues are the ones a laser shop runs into: part-in-part fails (#170), there is no edge margin (#167), and curves are approximated as segments (#66, #160) — which CypCut then has to smooth back. No quote, no remnants. See Zorocut vs Deepnest.

Zorocut: nest and quote in the office, hand CypCut a DXF

• True-shape nesting with part-in-part, rotation rules and mirrored pairs, on every plan, Free included.
• A quote priced from the nest it made: sheets, cut length, pierces, by machine time or per metre plus per pierce.
• One ASCII DXF per sheet, R2000 or R12, in mm, with only lines, arcs and circles on ZC_CUT, ZC_MARK, ZC_ENGRAVE, ZC_SHEET and ZC_LABEL. You map those five layers in CypCut once.
• Runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and in the browser; nesting runs on your computer and customer DXFs are not uploaded.

Where it is weaker: Zorocut has no common-line cutting yet, writes no G-code and no CypCut task files, and leaves lead-ins, kerf compensation and micro-joints to CypCut. Its CypCut export is beta — it follows the rules in CypCut's manuals, but we have not yet imported it on a real controller, so cut a scrap sheet first. Prices: Free with 10 exports or quotes a month, Cutter €19 a month or €190 a year, Shop €49 a month or €490 a year for 3 machines, excluding VAT. All on the pricing page.

How tight do they nest?

We scored the same 17 jobs in several nesters on 2026-11-02, checking every layout for overlaps before it counted. On the 13 classic ESICUP instances, with a 30-second budget, Zorocut's online nester averaged 82.29 % density and Lapas 82.34 % — level; deepnest-next averaged 64.03 %. Ten of those 13 Lapas results were read from its result screen rather than an exported file, because the Free plan exports 5 layouts a month. At the app's default 3 seconds Zorocut averaged 78.91 %. CypCut, CypNest and ProNest were not in this run. The older single-thread study is in our ESICUP benchmark.

Who should pick what

• A few repeat parts, one machine, no quotes: CypCut's built-in nest.
• Only Bochu controllers, and you want task files with techniques already set: CypNest, if you can get a licence.
• Your operator wants finished NC, and you also run Hypertherm plasma: ProNest LT + Laser.
• A production plant with an ERP and a CAD/CAM budget: SigmaNEST or Lantek.
• Free, browser-based, and remnants matter most: Lapas Free.
• Free and open source, and you can live with the open issues: Deepnest.
• Mixed customer jobs that need a price before they are cut, nested in the office on any computer: Zorocut.