SketchForge Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy SketchForge on xCloud and get SketchForge hosting for a private 3D design editor on your own domain. xCloud runs the pinned community image behind an nginx login gateway, generates the username and password, mounts a persistent volume for the shared project library and publishes it over HTTPS in minutes. Your team can sketch, cut holes and export models from any browser.

Deploy your SketchForge

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is SketchForge?

SketchForge is a local-first 3D design editor that runs in your browser. Upstream describes a lightweight CAD-style workspace for building shapes, cutting holes, grouping parts, importing STL files and exporting models without accounts, cloud lock-in or heavyweight CAD setup, and a self-hosted SketchForge keeps that workflow on a server you control. It supports STL, OBJ and STEP export, and is licensed under AGPL-3.0.

On xCloud the install runs SketchForge 1.0.3 from a community image, pinned by digest, behind an nginx gateway that enforces a Basic Auth login, because SketchForge has no accounts. The sketchforge_projects volume holds the shared .skf project library, which anyone with the login can list, download and save to. Personal drafts autosave in each visitor's browser storage, and the library is shared files, not live editing.

From Sign-Up to a Live 3D Editor In Just 3 Easy Steps

A shared SketchForge setup normally means an app container, a login in front of it, a persistent volume, a domain and a certificate before the first model. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick SketchForge from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain and target server — there are no extra fields to fill in.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the community SketchForge image, pinned by immutable digest, behind a small nginx gateway that enforces a Basic Auth login, mount the sketchforge_projects volume, generate the password and publish it over HTTPS on your domain.
Step 03
Sign In And Save A Design
Open your HTTPS SketchForge URL and sign in with the generated username and password when the browser asks. Create a design, then choose Export, SKF, Save to shared to put it in the shared project library.

Everything SketchForge Does, On Your Own Server

SketchForge runs in full here: a browser 3D design editor on your own domain, with a shared project library on a volume you own.

Shapes, Holes And Groups
Drop primitives such as boxes, cylinders, spheres and text, turn shapes into holes, and group them into final geometry.
STL, OBJ And STEP
Import STL files into the workspace, and export selected objects or the whole scene as STL, OBJ or STEP.
Chamfer And Fillet
Chamfer and fillet selected CAD edges, with history controls to remove an applied edge feature.
A Shared Project Library
Save a design as an .skf project to the server and list, download and reopen it from the Shared section of the dashboard.
Local-First Projects
Work in progress autosaves in each visitor's own browser storage, so personal drafts stay out of the shared library until saved there.
A Login In Front Of Everything
SketchForge has no accounts of its own, so xCloud puts a generated Basic Auth login in front of the whole site.

Everything You Need To Run Your 3D Design Editor 24/7

Managed hosting for SketchForge, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

SketchForge 1.0.3 deployed instantly
Community image pinned by digest
Login generated for you
Kept behind xCloud nginx
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
Choose your server region
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With SketchForge

Design a part for the printer
Sketch a part from primitives, cut holes, and export STL or OBJ for the printer without installing desktop CAD.
Give a classroom or maker space one URL
Share one private URL and login, and let everyone save and download .skf projects from the same library.
Modify an existing STL
Import an STL, add shapes or holes around it, and export the result as STL, OBJ or STEP.
Keep exact geometry for CAD
Export STEP to carry exact B-Rep geometry into other CAD tools, or keep the full editable project as an .skf file.

SketchForge Screenshots

SketchForge editor showing a 3D model on the workplane

SketchForge after saving a design to the shared project library

SketchForge vs Alternatives

Tinkercad: Tinkercad is a browser-based 3D design tool hosted by Autodesk. As a Tinkercad alternative, SketchForge is a different app that you run as your own instance, with its own shared project library on your server.
FreeCAD: In a SketchForge vs FreeCAD comparison, FreeCAD is an open-source desktop CAD application you install on each machine. SketchForge needs no install, only a browser pointed at your server.
OpenSCAD: OpenSCAD is an open-source desktop tool where models are described in code. SketchForge builds models by placing and editing shapes in the 3D workplane.
OctoPrint: OctoPrint has its own OneClick page. It controls a 3D printer from the browser, so it sits after SketchForge in the workflow: SketchForge makes the model and OctoPrint helps you print it.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for SketchForge hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More headroom and disk if SketchForge sits alongside other tools.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account. SketchForge itself is licensed by its maintainers under AGPL-3.0.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy SketchForge on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Run Your Own 3D Design Editor?

SketchForge on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

Hear what people are saying about us

See why agencies, developers, startups, and growing businesses choose xCloud to power their projects.

xCloud works really well, I am surprised by its performance being this the release version, I have tried many paid platforms such as runcloud, cloudpages or serveravatar, as well as free platforms such as CyberPanel, CloudPanel or Hestia Control Panel and direct competitors such as SpinupWP and FlyWP. Of all those that I have tried, the platform that works best for WordPress is SpinupWP and I believe that xCloud can reach and surpass that development, its roadmap is promising. Congratulations to the xCloud team, I hope they become the leading platform in the segment, it has all the potential to achieve it!

Brian Geovanny

I've been with runcloud for the last 3 years. However, after trying xcloud for the last month, I'm switching over. They are on a roll with their setup.

Kevin Pineda

I'm moving my servers to xCloud, a cloud control panel by M Asif Rahman and the WPDeveloper team. Their roadmap looks interesting and no, there are no team mates nor API limits with xCloud! #xCloud #wordpress #hosting

Leo Koo

How Cloud Nine Web Elevated Client Experience While Streamlining Hosting Operations using xCloud

Ed Ellingham

xCloud is like having an expert server team on call — without the big agency costs. It's given me back my time and given my clients peace of mind. Highly recommended for freelancers and small teams who want reliable performance and security.

Dumitru Butucel

xCloud isn't just a solution. It's like one of that friend who got your back when you screw things up pretty bad.

Waqar Ahmed

Trust me when I say, once people explore the potential of xCloud they gonna switch from other panels, just keep delivering the best tech, lots of love for the team 😍😍

Rahul Singh

So far my experience has been smooth like silk. I didn't imagine that configuring and managing a VPS would be so easy. As of today, I have deployed 8 sites. The support is good, and they treat users with respect, even if they ask stupid questions (myself included). For the future, I hope for greater flexibility in scheduled backups and more comprehensive and consistent documentation. I'm sure that within a few months, xCloud will become the leader in its segment. This community is amazing, and the Staff here is super helpful.

Massimo Villa

Came from cloudways then to runcloud then to xcloud. Looks like I'm staying here.

Gerson El

I've recently taken all of my Vultr-hosted sites and gotten rid of cPanel for them to substitute it with xCloud. I have to say, I'm really impressed with xCloud so far! The interface is definitely the standout feature for me.

Tony Lewis

I came from Cloudways and won't go back. Highly impressed with xCloud. Glad I gave them a chance.

Jared McDowell

I like xCloud better than RunCloud, but one thing I'll point out is that some years ago RunCloud was hungry for business, the support was outstanding, and the community was active and helped each other. Maybe it was sold, there was a change in management, or they stopped being hungry, but the quality of the RunCloud offering declined and it hasn't been moving forward quickly. My point is that currently the xCloud team has the edge and it is theirs to keep or lose

David McCan

How Kevin Heinrichs Cut Hosting Costs by 84% While Running WooCommerce & Node.js Sites Efficiently

Kevin Heinrichs

I had 150 sites on cloudways and am in the process of moving them to xcloud. Much faster and better priced.

Dan Spinoza

Dear xCloud Team, I have been using xCloud for some time now and am genuinely impressed with its capabilities and the flexibility it offers by allowing users to bring their own VPS for management. It's a fantastic service, and my experience so far has been very positive. Successful migrated 5 sites on a single server. Xcloud migration tool worked great. There were few hiccups with security plugin like MalCare but disabling the plugin prior to migration worked just fine.

Rahil Maknojia

Came from runcloud. Tried xcloud and never came back.

Karl Fanega

How Advanced Web Strategies Saved Over $2,000 & Recovered 56 Hours per Month Managing 70+ Client Websites

Gary Moody

xCloud gave me what no other hosting platform could: the flexibility of a VPS with the convenience of managed WordPress. As a solo founder running an entire business on one server, that combination is an important unfair advantage.

Jorge de los Reyes Martínez

I use Server Avatar and xCloud and I'll sooner use xCloud than Server Avatar personally.

Jay Pagano

How Newman Web Solutions Ensured Perfect Uptime and Seamless Scaling For 120+ WordPress Sites with xCloud

Lori Newman

I too have moved over to xCloud. It's pretty sweet. One click n8n and uptime Kuma apps

John Aperture

I went from Cloudways to xCloud. No intention on switching in the foreseeable future.

Blaine Moore

Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Can you self-host SketchForge with Docker?

Yes, and this template is SketchForge Docker hosting without the setup. Upstream ships a container image; here xCloud runs the community image pinned by digest behind an nginx Basic Auth gateway, adds the sketchforge_projects volume and publishes HTTPS on your domain.

How much RAM does SketchForge need?

The template floor is 512 MB of RAM, one CPU core and 2 GB of disk, and in QA the app used 58 MiB after a restart and 643 MiB in an earlier run after a test round trip. The 6 GB plan is the entry rung. The 3D editing runs in each visitor's browser.

How do I sign in to SketchForge?

SketchForge has no accounts of its own, so xCloud puts a Basic Auth login in front of the whole site. Your browser asks for the generated username and password shown in the protected credentials when you open the URL.

Who can use the SketchForge shared project library?

Anyone with the login can list, download and save projects, and there is no size quota, so share the login only with people who should have that access. Uploads of .skf files up to 512 MiB are accepted.

Is the SketchForge shared library live collaborative editing?

No. It is shared file storage: opening a shared file creates a private local working copy, and saving back is refused if someone else changed the file in the meantime. Reload or save under another name to continue.

Which 3D file formats does SketchForge export?

Upstream lists STL, OBJ and STEP export, plus STL import, and the full editable project as an .skf file. Import and export run in the browser and are not uploaded. Chamfer and fillet work on selected CAD edges.

What should I back up on a SketchForge server?

Back up the sketchforge_projects volume, which holds the shared .skf library, and your .env values, including the generated gateway password. Personal drafts live in each visitor's browser, so export STL, OBJ, STEP or SKF to keep a copy.

Backups in xCloud

How do I upgrade SketchForge?

The image stays pinned to the build of release 1.0.3 until you move to a newer template version, so the update banner in the app changes nothing. Copy the volume first and read upstream's notes.

Is SketchForge free?

Yes. The GNU AGPL-3.0 covers SketchForge, which means the software itself costs nothing. The dedicated Cloud VPS is the only expense, and it mostly serves the page and stores shared projects, so disk space is what to size.

Where is my unsaved SketchForge work kept?

In each visitor's own browser storage, which autosaves work in progress. That keeps personal drafts out of the shared library until someone saves there, but a cleared browser loses them, so export a copy of anything you care about.

Is there a SketchForge cloud service?

Upstream's pitch is no accounts and no cloud lock-in. Hosting it here just means a Cloud VPS prepared by xCloud holds your instance, with the shared library kept on a volume that belongs to you.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.