Download PrusaSlicer — Open-Source FDM & SLA Slicer for Windows PC v2.9.6 for Windows PC

PrusaSlicer 2.9.6 turns 3MF, STL, OBJ and AMF models into G-code for FDM and SLA printers, with tuned profiles, organic supports and detailed time...

Features

• Organic tree supports branch around a model and touch it only where needed, so supported prints finish cleaner, use less filament and separate far more easily afterwards.
• Support painting and seam painting let you decide exactly where supports grow and where the visible seam hides, replacing guesswork defaults with deliberate control over finished print quality.
• The Configuration Wizard ships tuned profiles for Prusa printers and many third-party machines, so most users start from tested temperatures, speeds and retraction values instead of raw guesses.
• Per-object settings allow one build plate to mix layer heights, infill densities and support strategies, which suits plates combining display pieces with strong functional parts in a single print.
• The G-code preview shows every layer with estimated print time and filament usage before anything prints, catching wrong orientations, missing supports and absurd durations while they are still free.

Considerations

• Defaults, naming and documentation lean Prusa-first, so owners of other printers spend noticeably longer in the Configuration Wizard and community profiles reaching equally good results.
• The sheer depth of settings can overwhelm beginners, who must learn which of hundreds of options actually matter before quicker default-driven slicing feels comfortable and safe.
• PrusaSlicer only slices and previews; actually sending files and monitoring a printer requires a separate host such as PrusaLink, Prusa Connect or OctoPrint running alongside.

PrusaSlicer's strength is how deliberately it converts a model into instructions. Import a 3MF, STL, OBJ or AMF file and the workbench lets you arrange, scale, cut and repair parts before a single setting is touched. From there, control is unusually granular: per-object settings let each model on the plate carry its own layer height and infill, modifiers reshape settings in specific regions, and painting tools put supports and seams exactly where you brush them. Organic supports deserve their reputation — they grow like branches, sip filament, and peel away leaving surfaces that need little sanding. The preview closes the loop honestly, replaying the toolpath layer by layer with time and filament estimates that experienced users learn to trust. Profiles hold the whole system together: Prusa machines arrive exhaustively tuned, the Configuration Wizard adds many third-party printers, and every value can be saved as your own preset. Nothing here is hidden behind payment, because the AGPL source is the product.

PrusaSlicer suits makers who care how a print is built, not just that it prints: functional-parts designers balancing strength against material, miniatures painters chasing clean supported surfaces, and Prusa owners who benefit most from factory-tuned profiles. Its per-object control and painting tools reward users willing to learn them, and SLA support makes it a rare single slicer for resin and filament households alike. Start elsewhere if you want the gentlest first week. Cura's wider third-party profile library and Recommended mode can feel friendlier to a brand-new owner of a non-Prusa printer, and anyone whose printer ecosystem lives inside another vendor's software may prefer staying there. Beginners should also know PrusaSlicer does not run the printer: a host such as PrusaLink, Prusa Connect or OctoPrint handles sending and monitoring. None of that diminishes the slicer itself. Judged as a preparation tool, it is deep, honest and free in the fullest sense, with depth you grow into rather than pay to unlock.

A realistic plate tells the story. On the left sits a functional wall bracket needing strength; on the right, a tabletop miniature needing beauty. Per-object settings give the bracket thick walls and dense infill while the miniature gets a fine layer height — one plate, two philosophies, no compromise file juggling. You paint supports only under the miniature's outstretched arm, choose organic supports so they branch around the cloak instead of engulfing it, and paint the bracket's seam onto its hidden rear edge. The preview estimates four hours and a modest filament cost, and replaying the first layers confirms both parts start cleanly before you export G-code. Sending that file to the printer is another tool's job, which still surprises newcomers. Small frictions appear: a third-party printer needed a community profile checked line by line, and two settings had similar names with different effects. But the finished parts — strong bracket, clean miniature — show why users stay. Both jobs finished without supports welded everywhere they were never wanted.

Get PrusaSlicer-2.9.6-setup.exe from the official PrusaSlicer releases page and save it to your PC. Verify the file name includes version 2.9.6 before installing, so you know you have the intended current build.

Double-click PrusaSlicer-2.9.6-setup.exe, approve the Windows prompt and complete the setup wizard with the default options. The installer also offers driver and sample options for Prusa hardware, which owners of other printers can safely skip.

On first launch, use the Configuration Wizard to select your exact printer and filaments, including third-party machines. Slice a small test model and inspect the G-code preview's time and filament estimates before committing to a long print.

Is PrusaSlicer free?

Yes, completely. PrusaSlicer is open-source software released under the AGPL, so downloading, using and even printing commercially with it costs nothing and carries no feature tiers or watermarks. Prusa Research funds development through its printer business rather than the slicer itself. You can also inspect or modify the source code, provided modifications shared with others respect the AGPL's terms.

Can I use it with other printers (not Original Prusa)?

Yes. PrusaSlicer's Configuration Wizard includes profiles for many third-party FDM and SLA printers alongside Prusa's own machines, and you can build a fully custom profile for anything else. Expect a little more setup than a Prusa owner gets, because defaults and documentation lean Prusa-first, but non-Prusa machines slice and print perfectly well once profiled.

What file formats are supported by PrusaSlicer?

PrusaSlicer imports 3MF, STL, OBJ and AMF models, with 3MF preferred because it preserves per-object settings, modifiers and arrangement information that plain STL loses. It exports ready-to-print G-code for FDM machines and the masked image formats SLA printers require. If your modelling tool exports several formats, choose 3MF for the round trip into the slicer whenever possible.

Does it have tree supports for FDM?

Yes. PrusaSlicer calls them organic supports: branching, tree-like structures that reach overhangs while touching the model at minimal points. They typically use less material than classic grid supports, remove more cleanly and leave better surfaces underneath. You can combine them with support painting to force supports on one troublesome overhang and forbid them everywhere else on the model.

Does it have custom supports?

Yes, in a more precise form than simple on-or-off supports. Support painting lets you brush enforced or blocked support areas directly onto the model's surface, and support enforcers and blockers can be added as modifier shapes. Together with seam painting, this gives unusually direct control over the two things that most visibly affect a finished print's appearance and clean-up time.