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Manufacturing · head to head

Duro PLM vs Zoo

Duro PLM logo

Duro PLM

Manufacturing

Hosted PLM for hardware startups, sold in fixed user bands with no published price

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoo logo

Zoo

CAD

Cloud CAD with a scripting language and a geometry engine exposed as an API

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Duro PLM no pricing is published anywhere, so budgeting requires a sales conversation and buyers cannot compare against alternatives without entering a pipeline.; Zoo the geometry engine runs entirely in Zoo's cloud and there is no offline mode, so an aircraft, a customer site with no guest wifi or an outage stops modelling work completely.
  • They diverge on capability: Duro PLM covers Part library, Zoo covers KCL scripting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Duro PLM and Zoo actually diverge.

Attributes where Duro PLM and Zoo differ
AttributeDuro PLMZoo
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, API
CategoryManufacturingCAD

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Duro PLM

  • Part library
  • Multi-level BOMs
  • Change orders
  • CAD integrations
  • Supplier and cost data
  • User band plans

Only in Zoo

  • KCL scripting
  • Design Studio
  • Design API
  • Zookeeper agent
  • Format conversion
  • Open source client

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Duro PLM

  • A robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturernot Zoo
  • A consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the BOMnot Zoo
  • A hardware company whose engineers keep overwriting each other's BOM spreadsheet versionsnot Zoo
  • A venture-funded startup that needs a defensible change history before a first production buildnot Zoo

Zoo

  • A hardware startup that wants part models reviewed in pull requests alongside firmwarenot Duro PLM
  • A software team generating thousands of parametric part variants programmatically rather than by handnot Duro PLM
  • A SaaS product that needs to render and convert customer CAD files without licensing a geometry kernelnot Duro PLM
  • An engineer who models occasional brackets and enclosures and does not want a four figure annual seatnot Duro PLM

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Duro PLM

  • No pricing is published anywhere, so budgeting requires a sales conversation and buyers cannot compare against alternatives without entering a pipeline.
  • Plans are sold in fixed user bands rather than per seat, so hiring an eleventh engineer moves you to the next tier instead of adding one seat.
  • Storage allowances are capped at 25, 50 and 100 GB, which is tight for teams keeping native CAD files rather than only neutral formats.
  • There is no self-hosted or on-premises option, which rules Duro out for defence and some aerospace suppliers with data residency or ITAR handling constraints.
  • Scope stops at engineering data: no requirements management, no quality module and no manufacturing process planning, so it does not replace the systems a company needs at production scale.

Zoo

  • The geometry engine runs entirely in Zoo's cloud and there is no offline mode, so an aircraft, a customer site with no guest wifi or an outage stops modelling work completely.
  • STEP and SLDPRT import are still labelled experimental, which means the most common way of receiving a supplier or customer model is the least reliable path into the tool.
  • Drawing production, GD&T and tolerance annotation are far behind SolidWorks, Creo and NX, so most users still need a second package to release a manufacturing drawing.
  • Zookeeper is billed in reasoning minutes rather than per seat, so a team cannot forecast next month's bill from headcount the way it can with conventional CAD subscriptions.
  • The open source label applies only to the Design Studio client; the kernel that does the modelling is closed and hosted, so forking the repository does not give you a product you can run yourself.

Pricing, plan by plan

Duro PLM

On request
  • Team$undefined/year
    • Up to 10 users
    • 25 GB data storage
    • Part library, BOMs and change orders
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Up to 20 users
    • 50 GB data storage
    • CAD integrations
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 20 or more users
    • 100 GB data storage
    • Extended support

Zoo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Design Studio access
    • About 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month
    • Around $10 of API calls included
  • Plus$20/month
    • Roughly 400 Zookeeper minutes per month
    • Pay as you go beyond the allowance
    • Design Studio and API access
  • Pro$99/month
    • Unlimited Zookeeper reasoning
    • Higher API allowance
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Duro PLM if

  • You need part library.
  • You also want multi-level boms.
Duro PLM review

Choose Zoo if

  • You need kcl scripting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API.
  • You also want design studio.
Zoo review

Questions people ask

Is Duro PLM or Zoo better?
Neither clearly leads. Duro PLM starts at On request and Zoo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Duro PLM or Zoo?
Zoo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Duro PLM and Free for Zoo.
Does Duro PLM or Zoo run on more platforms?
Duro PLM runs on Web. Zoo runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API.
Can I use Zoo for free?
Yes. Zoo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Duro PLM starts at On request.
What is Duro PLM best used for?
Duro PLM is most often used for a robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturer, a consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the bom, a hardware company whose engineers keep overwriting each other's bom spreadsheet versions, a venture-funded startup that needs a defensible change history before a first production build. Of those, a robotics startup imposing change control on a design before releasing it to a contract manufacturer and a consumer electronics team tracking supplier part numbers and costs against every item in the bom are not what Zoo is typically brought in for.
What can Duro PLM do that Zoo cannot?
Duro PLM covers Part library, Multi-level BOMs, Change orders, CAD integrations. Zoo covers KCL scripting, Design Studio, Design API, Zookeeper agent.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Duro PLM: How much does Duro cost?

Duro does not publish prices. Plans are fixed annual subscriptions quoted by sales against a user band, billed Net 30.

Zoo: Is Zoo the same company as KittyCAD?

Yes. KittyCAD renamed itself Zoo; the GitHub organisation is still KittyCAD and the scripting language KCL keeps the old initials.

Duro PLM: Can I run Duro on my own servers?

No. It is cloud only, which is a hard blocker for organisations with data residency or export control requirements.

Zoo: Can I use Zoo without an internet connection?

No. The geometry engine is a cloud service, so Design Studio needs a live connection to model anything.

Duro PLM: What happens when we exceed our user band?

You move to the next tier rather than adding individual seats, so growth arrives as a step change in cost.

Zoo: Is Design Studio free?

There is a genuine free tier with a small monthly allowance of AI reasoning and API calls. Paid plans start at $20 per month.

Duro PLM: Is Duro suitable for medical device work?

Its change control is real but the workflow configuration and audit depth are lighter than dedicated regulated-industry PLM, so most ISO 13485 programmes need more.

Zoo: Can I replace SolidWorks with Zoo?

Not for drawing release, large assemblies or GD&T. Teams typically use Zoo for programmatic part generation and keep an established package for production documentation.

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