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Manufacturing · head to head

Formlabs PreForm vs LabVIEW

Formlabs PreForm logo

Formlabs PreForm

Manufacturing

Free print preparation software that only drives Formlabs printers, because the money is in hardware and resin

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LabVIEW logo

LabVIEW

Manufacturing

Graphical dataflow programming for automated test, measurement and instrument control

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Formlabs PreForm has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Formlabs PreForm preForm only drives Formlabs printers, so the free software is really an entry cost to a closed hardware and resin ecosystem rather than a tool you can keep if you change machines.; LabVIEW nI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.
  • They diverge on capability: Formlabs PreForm covers Automatic orientation, LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formlabs PreForm and LabVIEW actually diverge.

Attributes where Formlabs PreForm and LabVIEW differ
AttributeFormlabs PreFormLabVIEW
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree with a Formlabs printerquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOSWindows, Linux, macOS

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

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 Formlabs PreForm

  • Automatic orientation
  • Support generation
  • One-click print
  • Material presets
  • Dashboard
  • Fleet Control

Only in LabVIEW

  • Graphical dataflow programming
  • Front panels
  • Instrument driver library
  • Hardware integration
  • Real-time and FPGA targets
  • Analysis and signal processing
  • Application builder
  • Nigel AI assistant

What people use each for

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

Formlabs PreForm

  • A dental laboratory preparing surgical guides on a validated resin and printer combinationnot LabVIEW
  • A prototyping team running several Form printers that needs job queueing and usage trackingnot LabVIEW
  • A jewellery workshop laying out castable patterns to maximise parts per buildnot LabVIEW
  • An education lab that needs software with no per-student licence costnot LabVIEW

LabVIEW

  • An automotive supplier building an end-of-line test rig that must drive a power supply, read a scope and log pass/fail against a serial numbernot Formlabs PreForm
  • A semiconductor lab characterising devices across a PXI chassis where deterministic timing between instruments mattersnot Formlabs PreForm
  • A medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervisednot Formlabs PreForm
  • A research group prototyping a control loop on CompactRIO where part of the logic must compile down to an FPGAnot Formlabs PreForm

Where each one falls short

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

Formlabs PreForm

  • PreForm only drives Formlabs printers, so the free software is really an entry cost to a closed hardware and resin ecosystem rather than a tool you can keep if you change machines.
  • Formlabs resin is sold in proprietary cartridges, and the ongoing consumable cost over a printer's life dwarfs anything a paid slicer would have charged.
  • Third-party resins can be used only through open material settings that step outside validated profiles, which affects print reliability and the comfort of warranty support.
  • Parameter-level control is deliberately limited compared with open slicers, so advanced users cannot tune exposure and layer behaviour the way they can on an open platform.
  • It is Windows and macOS only with no Linux build, which is awkward for research groups and labs standardised on Linux workstations.

LabVIEW

  • NI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.
  • No prices appear anywhere on the NI site for commercial editions; Base, Full, Professional and the LabVIEW+ suite are all quoted through NI or a reseller, so a buyer cannot compare cost against a Python-plus-PyVISA alternative without opening a sales conversation.
  • Graphical source code diffs badly. Merging two engineers’ changes to the same virtual instrument in git is impractical without NI’s own comparison tools, so team development on LabVIEW is slower and more serialised than on text-based languages.
  • The pool of engineers who write LabVIEW is small and ageing relative to the pool who write Python, so hiring a replacement for the person who built your test rig is materially harder and more expensive than replacing a general software engineer.
  • The environment pulls you toward NI hardware and NI add-on toolkits, and licences for real-time, FPGA and vision modules are sold separately on top of the base edition, so the quoted LabVIEW price is rarely the delivered cost of a working test system.

Pricing, plan by plan

Formlabs PreForm

Free
  • PreFormFree
    • Free download with no licence fee or subscription
    • No installation or seat limit
    • Works only with Formlabs printers

LabVIEW

On request
  • LabVIEW Community EditionFree
    • Free for personal, non-commercial use only
    • Full LabVIEW feature set for hobbyists
    • No commercial deployment rights
  • LabVIEW Base$undefined/year
    • Core acquisition, control and user interface capability
    • Suited to simple test and measurement applications
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Full$undefined/year
    • Adds advanced analysis and signal processing
    • Recommended where mathematics and filtering are required
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Professional$undefined/year
    • Adds application builder, source control and deployment tooling
    • Includes the Nigel AI assistant
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence

Which should you pick?

Choose Formlabs PreForm if

  • You need automatic orientation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS.
  • You also want support generation.
Formlabs PreForm review

Choose LabVIEW if

  • You need graphical dataflow programming.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want front panels.
LabVIEW review

Questions people ask

Is Formlabs PreForm or LabVIEW better?
Neither clearly leads. Formlabs PreForm starts at Free and LabVIEW at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formlabs PreForm or LabVIEW?
Formlabs PreForm has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Formlabs PreForm and On request for LabVIEW.
Does Formlabs PreForm or LabVIEW run on more platforms?
Formlabs PreForm runs on Windows, macOS. LabVIEW runs on Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Formlabs PreForm for free?
Yes. Formlabs PreForm has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LabVIEW starts at On request.
What is Formlabs PreForm best used for?
Formlabs PreForm is most often used for a dental laboratory preparing surgical guides on a validated resin and printer combination, a prototyping team running several form printers that needs job queueing and usage tracking, a jewellery workshop laying out castable patterns to maximise parts per build, an education lab that needs software with no per-student licence cost. Of those, a dental laboratory preparing surgical guides on a validated resin and printer combination and a prototyping team running several form printers that needs job queueing and usage tracking are not what LabVIEW is typically brought in for.
What can Formlabs PreForm do that LabVIEW cannot?
Formlabs PreForm covers Automatic orientation, Support generation, One-click print, Material presets. LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Front panels, Instrument driver library, Hardware integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formlabs PreForm: Is PreForm free?

Yes, with no licence fee, subscription or installation limit. It is free because it only prepares jobs for Formlabs printers.

LabVIEW: Who owns LabVIEW now?

NI, formerly National Instruments, was acquired by Emerson in an acquisition that completed in 2023. LabVIEW is now an Emerson product.

Formlabs PreForm: Can PreForm drive a non-Formlabs printer?

No, and it never will. It is the front end for Formlabs hardware, which is where the revenue is.

LabVIEW: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

Yes. NI offers both subscription and perpetual licences and states there are no functional or feature-level differences between them.

Formlabs PreForm: Can I use third-party resin?

Only via open material settings, which take you outside validated profiles and the reliability those profiles are tuned for.

LabVIEW: Is there a free version?

LabVIEW Community Edition is free for personal, non-commercial use. It carries no commercial deployment rights.

Formlabs PreForm: Does it run on Linux?

No. Builds are provided for Windows and macOS only.

LabVIEW: How much does it cost?

NI does not publish commercial edition prices. Base, Full, Professional and LabVIEW+ are all quoted through NI or a reseller.

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