Bambu Farm Manager vs Rackrew: an honest comparison
Updated 31 October 2026
Bambu Farm Manager is the better choice for many Bambu-only farms: it is free, made by Bambu, keeps printer traffic on your network and doesn't need Developer Mode. Rackrew differs in four ways: it picks the printer and starts the job by itself once a bed is marked clear, it runs Klipper printers in the same queue, it works in a browser from anywhere, and it needs no Windows PC.
Reviewed on 31 October 2026. Rackrew is our product, so read this as a vendor's page. We print motorcycle parts for our shop Revsticks in Thun on seven printers, four of them Bambu.
How we checked this
We could not open Bambu's own guide or its 3.0 and 3.1 release notes for this review.
Facts about 3.0 and 3.1 below come from two summaries: PrintStash (checked against Bambu's guide on 7 October 2026) and Printago (reviewed 20 October 2026). Both publish competing or adjacent tools, as we do. If Bambu's notes disagree with this page, trust Bambu.
What Farm Manager does well
- It is free. Bambu's July 2025 post says everything in that version "is and will remain free to use". It also says paid features are being explored, with no decision on scope or price.
- It is Bambu's own, and needs no Developer Mode. You stay on a route Bambu supports.
- Printer traffic stays local. Commands and files stay on your network. The client does need internet for server activation, printer verification and firmware downloads, as of PrintStash's 7 October 2026 check.
- It is built for scale. Bambu says it reaches "dozens or even hundreds of printers". A customer story describes around 35 machines, up to 45 for larger jobs.
- Start All. Since 3.0 it recommends idle printers by task priority and checks model, nozzle size, filament type, quantity and colour. That answers part of what a user asked for in April 2026.
- Fleet chores. Batch firmware upgrades, staggered starts against power spikes and, in 3.1, a Wi-Fi view with remote network switching. Rackrew has none of these.
The comparison
Farm Manager's column is as of the sources above, in October 2026, unless a row says otherwise.
| Bambu Farm Manager | Rackrew | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free for 2 printers. CHF 14 a month for 5, CHF 24 for 10, then CHF 2 each, so CHF 104 at 50 printers billed monthly |
| Printers | Bambu only, 13 models | 14 Bambu models in the driver (we print on P1S and X1C), plus Klipper through Moonraker |
| Printer setup | LAN mode off, unbound from Handy, no Developer Mode | LAN-only and Developer Mode on, no Handy, unsupported by Bambu |
| Computer | Windows 10 or later on x86-64 | Docker on a Linux computer or Raspberry Pi |
| Where you use it | Client on the local network. Bambu doesn't support port forwarding or tunnels | Any browser, from anywhere |
| Your files | On your own network | Stored in Rackrew, sent over your LAN by the bridge. Access codes stored encrypted |
| Internet down | Printer traffic is local, so it should carry on | Running prints carry on. No new job starts |
| Starting a job | Start All recommends printers. Dispatch details below | The router starts it when a printer is free |
| Clearing a plate | Confirmed by hand, in batches | A person clicks Bed cleared, then the next job starts within ten seconds |
| Filament check | Type, quantity, colour | Material, exact colour, grams from your spool ledger |
| Slicing | You upload a .gcode.3mf from Bambu Studio | You upload sliced files, or use server slicing on paid plans (300 or 1,500 plates a month) |
| Several plates in one file | Added in 3.1 | We start plate 1 only, so export one plate per file |
| Several users | Admin and common-user roles | Inviting teammates isn't built yet |
We have not tried one printer under both. Their setups conflict, so plan on one per printer.
Where Rackrew differs
Automatic dispatch
In Rackrew you add a job and don't choose a printer. When a printer is free, the router starts the next job that fits. A person still clears each plate and clicks Bed cleared, as they confirm plates in Farm Manager. So the difference is one step, not every step.
In Farm Manager, as far as we can establish, a person still starts the work. The evidence, by date:
- July 2025. Bambu's launch post lists smart queuing that assigns jobs by printer availability.
- 31 August 2026. A user running six H2D Pro printers wrote on Bambu's forum that they had no clear answer on starting the next job automatically. They reported updating to 3.0 on 11 September, so this may predate Start All.
- 24 September 2026, with 3.0 out. In the same thread dennis.zhang, who appears to work on the product, named queue flow as an area to improve in future versions.
- 20 October 2026. Printago describes Start All as recommending idle printers, and SimplyPrint's undated comparison, read 31 October 2026, says you choose printers and click Start.
Printago and SimplyPrint sell competing software. We found no Bambu statement that next-job starts are automatic, and none that they aren't. Starting prints on our seven took about 45 minutes every morning, so even a button that matches printers is a big step.
The filament check
This is no longer a clean difference, and older comparisons are out of date. Both check filament before a job starts.
Rackrew checks by itself each time a printer is free. It maps a file's filaments to whichever AMS slots hold them, and compares the job's grams against a per-spool ledger. It only checks grams on assigned spools, and the ledger drifts until you correct it from a scale. We don't know how Farm Manager measures quantity.
Printers that aren't Bambu
Farm Manager is Bambu only, by design. Rackrew runs Bambu and Klipper printers in one queue. Two of our seven printers can't be driven over the network by any software we have working, so no tool solves everything.
Web access
Rackrew is a website, so you can check the farm from anywhere. On a phone the queue's summary line is hidden. For off-site use of Farm Manager you would need your own VPN, according to SimplyPrint (read 31 October 2026).
No Windows PC
Rackrew's bridge runs on a Linux computer or a Raspberry Pi. It must stay on, and it needs Docker. A Linux version of Farm Manager has been requested, and one user reported on 30 April 2026 that Bambu was considering it. We found no announcement as of 31 October 2026.
The price of Rackrew's route
Bambu won't support Developer Mode and could restrict it in later firmware. Read what you lose and the Bambu print farm guide before you decide.
When Farm Manager is the better choice
- All your printers are Bambu and will stay that way.
- You want to stay on a route Bambu supports, without Developer Mode.
- Files and access codes must not leave your network, for example under IT or data rules.
- You don't want another subscription. At 50 printers, Rackrew's CHF 104 a month is real money against free.
- Several people need their own logins today.
- You need batch firmware upgrades or staggered starts.
When Rackrew is the better choice
- You also run Klipper printers, or don't want a Windows machine.
- You want the next job to start on its own once someone has marked the bed clear.
- You want to see the farm from outside your network without a VPN.
- You want plates sliced on the server from your own presets, or an API and webhooks.
- You want a job refused when the spool's recorded grams can't finish it.
See pricing and the print farm calculator.
To try it, connect two printers for free, with no card, at app.rackrew.com/login.