You can see below in the screenshot I took that there are override options that you can tweak while the project is ongoing, whereas in Lightburn you have to pause the project before you can change any of the settings. LaserGRBL also has better laser override settings than Lightburn. For more information on the differences, I’ve also written an article comparing Lightburn vs LaserGRBL. As a Mac user, this prevented me from using Lightburn for a while and so I had to use Lightburn instead, until I found my old Windows laptop to try LaserGRBL with. LaserGRBL is also only compatible with Windows, while Lightburn is also compatible with MacOS and Linux. Lightburn is better for these other controllers.

So, while you can use it with popular lasers by Ortur, xTool, Atomstack and other consumer brands, it isn’t compatible with lasers that use other controllers like Ruida or Marlin – such as Thunder Laser or OMTech lasers. However, it’s only compatible with laser engravers that have GRBL controllers.

With this, you can load any kind of image, including photos, clip art, pencil drawings, and icons into LaserGRBL and turn it into g-code without any additional software. There’s also the override function, which allows you to speed up or slow down the effective engraving speed and laser power in real-time during the engraving process.Īnother notable feature is the raster image import function. LaserGRBL has some really useful features, such as the jogging feature that allows you to manually position the laser head with two sliders to control the size and speed of steps. The UI is easy to use, without many confusing options, as you can see in this screenshot below: It’s specifically designed for hobbyists, so it’s a user-friendly tool perfect for beginners, and having used it in my laser projects, I rate it as the best free laser engraving software. LaserGRBL is an open-source laser engraver software for Windows that’s completely free to download and use. Only compatible with lasers that have GRBL controllers.

Lightburn free download