Zoo Design Studio
AI CAD on a custom geometry engine: prompts, images and sketches become editable parametric models.
- Starting price
- Free plan with 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month
- Free trial
- Free plan with full access to Zoo Design Studio and all core CAD workflows
- Output
- Parametric B-rep CAD models, exported as STEP, STL, glTF, OBJ, PLY or FBX
Overview
Zoo Design Studio is a hybrid CAD platform built on Zoo's own geometry engine, combining conventional sketch and feature-tree modelling with AI generation through Zookeeper, its built-in conversational agent. Zookeeper turns text prompts, images and sketches into parametric boundary-representation models, and every result stays editable, with human-readable KCL as the source of truth. It reads the active project as context and proposes a plan before it models. It runs as a native application on Mac, Windows and Linux and needs an internet connection for the cloud geometry engine.
Our take
Zoo answers a different question from the mesh generators it sits next to here: the output is engineering geometry meant to be dimensioned, revised and manufactured, not an asset to drop into a scene. If your objection to AI 3D has always been that a generated mesh is a dead end, this is the one to try; for game or visualisation work it is the wrong tool entirely. Two conditions decide it in practice: no internet means no CAD, which rules out air-gapped environments, and free-plan usage may be trained on, so an early evaluation should not run on anything confidential.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | Free plan with 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month Paid tiers (Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise) add more reasoning time, around 400 minutes a month on Plus and unlimited on Pro; their amounts are not shown on the public pricing page. Overages run pay-as-you-go at $0.0083 per second. |
| Free trial | Free plan with full access to Zoo Design Studio and all core CAD workflows |
| Output | Parametric B-rep CAD models, exported as STEP, STL, glTF, OBJ, PLY or FBX |
| API | Yes, published developer APIs for building custom CAD applications; Zookeeper runs on the Agent API |
| Languages | Prompts primarily in English, with other major languages accepted at varying accuracy |
| Hosting | Cloud; the desktop application needs an internet connection because the geometry engine runs in the cloud |
| Made in | United States |
Screenshots
Placeholders. They are replaced as soon as the vendor sends material, and both open the same short form.
Features
- What it makes
- Parametric B-rep CAD models from text prompts, images and sketches: primitives, brackets, mechanical parts, enclosures, mounts, assemblies and 3D-printable components
- Detail and topology
- Boundary-representation solids rather than meshes, editable through sketch and feature-tree workflows with human-readable KCL as the source of truth; assembly mates are still on the roadmap
- Rigging and textures
- No rigging, no animation and no UV-mapped textures: the KCL standard library has no module for any of them. Surface appearance goes as far as setting a material colour on a solid
- Speed
- No fixed generation time is published. Zoo states that Agent API requests, which is what Zookeeper runs on, have no fixed completion time and that the duration depends on the complexity of the task, the tools required and the number of iterations the agent performs; billing follows that, metered in reasoning minutes rather than per model
- Export and pipeline fit
- Exports STEP, STL, glTF, OBJ, PLY and FBX; imports KCL, STL, glTF/GLB, OBJ, FBX, PLY plus experimental STEP/STP and SLDPRT
- Commercial use
- You own the outputs and may use them commercially. Material you put in is licensed back to Zoo to run and improve the service, including training its models, and opting out of that training is possible only on subscription tiers that allow it
- API
- Yes, developer APIs for custom CAD applications; Zookeeper runs on the Agent API, billed pay-as-you-go at $0.0083 per second
Integrations
Integrations coming soon.
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
-
- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
- Support
-
- Email helpdesk
- Community forum
- Onboarding
-
- Documentation and knowledge base
- Video tutorials
- Company size
-
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Suitability
| Industry | Freelancers | Small and mid-sized | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Architecture & Engineering | Stated as a fit | Stated as a fit | Stated as a fit |
| Consulting | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Media & Creative | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Technology | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
The table combines the industries the vendor addresses with the company sizes the tool is aimed at. An empty cell means the combination is not stated, not that it is ruled out.
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Output is editable parametric CAD rather than a mesh that has to be rebuilt
- Free plan includes full CAD access plus 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning a month
- Native applications for Mac, Windows and Linux
- The Design Studio application is open source on GitHub
- Zookeeper reads selections, renders and existing KCL as context instead of starting from a blank prompt
Limitations
- Needs an internet connection: the geometry engine runs in the cloud
- Paid tier amounts are not shown on the public pricing page
- The geometry engine itself is not open source
- Zoo may train on data from free plan usage
- Assembly mates are not implemented yet
Pricing
-
Free
Free
Full access to Zoo Design Studio and all core CAD workflows, with 20 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month. Zoo may train on free plan usage data.
-
Plus
Not stated
Around 400 minutes of Zookeeper reasoning per month. No amount is published on the pricing page.
-
Pro
Not stated
Unlimited Zookeeper reasoning in Design Studio, with pay-as-you-go available. No amount is published on the pricing page.
-
Team
Not stated
Unlimited Zookeeper reasoning, with custom billing on request. No amount is published on the pricing page.
-
Enterprise
Custom
Contact sales. Adds design rules and internal company knowledge to Zookeeper, plus custom billing.
Best For
Alternatives and Comparisons
What users say
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- Value for money
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- Features
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