— Honest comparison
Why pay $15,000 for a nester?
Here is how Indolent Forge Nesting stacks up against the names you have been quoted — and against the spreadsheet most small shops are actually using today.
| Feature | Indolent Forge $499 one-time | SigmaNEST $12,000–$15,000 + $2K/yr | ProNest (Hypertherm) $10,000–$12,000 | Spreadsheets Free (your time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (one-time) | $499 | $12K–$15K base | $10K–$12K base | Free |
| Annual maintenance | None | ~$2,000/yr | Optional subscription | None |
| KISS file import (Tekla / SDS2 / Advance) | ||||
| 1D linear nesting (beams, channels, angle) | ||||
| 2D plate / sheet nesting | ||||
| Polygon / DXF nesting | ||||
| Shear sequence on cut sheets | ||||
| Cut sheet PDFs that actually print | ||||
| Excel BOM export | ||||
| Multi-machine routing (Beamline / Dragon) | ||||
| Auto-updates included | ||||
| AI-powered chat (steel-domain) | ||||
| Free trial | 14 days, full app | Demo on request | Demo on request | — |
| License model | Perpetual, owned | Perpetual + maintenance | Perpetual or subscription | — |
| Time to first nest | Minutes | Days (training) | Days (training) | Hours per job, forever |
Indolent Forge
$499 one-time
- Price (one-time)
- $499
- Annual maintenance
- None
- KISS file import (Tekla / SDS2 / Advance)
- 1D linear nesting (beams, channels, angle)
- 2D plate / sheet nesting
- Polygon / DXF nesting
- Shear sequence on cut sheets
- Cut sheet PDFs that actually print
- Excel BOM export
- Multi-machine routing (Beamline / Dragon)
- Auto-updates included
- AI-powered chat (steel-domain)
- Free trial
- 14 days, full app
- License model
- Perpetual, owned
- Time to first nest
- Minutes
SigmaNEST
$12,000–$15,000 + $2K/yr
- Price (one-time)
- $12K–$15K base
- Annual maintenance
- ~$2,000/yr
- KISS file import (Tekla / SDS2 / Advance)
- 1D linear nesting (beams, channels, angle)
- 2D plate / sheet nesting
- Polygon / DXF nesting
- Shear sequence on cut sheets
- Cut sheet PDFs that actually print
- Excel BOM export
- Multi-machine routing (Beamline / Dragon)
- Auto-updates included
- AI-powered chat (steel-domain)
- Free trial
- Demo on request
- License model
- Perpetual + maintenance
- Time to first nest
- Days (training)
ProNest (Hypertherm)
$10,000–$12,000
- Price (one-time)
- $10K–$12K base
- Annual maintenance
- Optional subscription
- KISS file import (Tekla / SDS2 / Advance)
- 1D linear nesting (beams, channels, angle)
- 2D plate / sheet nesting
- Polygon / DXF nesting
- Shear sequence on cut sheets
- Cut sheet PDFs that actually print
- Excel BOM export
- Multi-machine routing (Beamline / Dragon)
- Auto-updates included
- AI-powered chat (steel-domain)
- Free trial
- Demo on request
- License model
- Perpetual or subscription
- Time to first nest
- Days (training)
Spreadsheets
Free (your time)
- Price (one-time)
- Free
- Annual maintenance
- None
- KISS file import (Tekla / SDS2 / Advance)
- 1D linear nesting (beams, channels, angle)
- 2D plate / sheet nesting
- Polygon / DXF nesting
- Shear sequence on cut sheets
- Cut sheet PDFs that actually print
- Excel BOM export
- Multi-machine routing (Beamline / Dragon)
- Auto-updates included
- AI-powered chat (steel-domain)
- Free trial
- —
- License model
- —
- Time to first nest
- Hours per job, forever
— Built different
Three things you will not get from a SaaS vendor.
We did not start in an enterprise software conference room. We started on a fab-shop floor.
Owned, not rented
Pay $499 once. The license keeps working forever, on the version you bought, on the machine you bought it for. No yearly invoice. No vendor pulling your tools if a subscription lapses. No seat-count games.
Steel-shop pragmatic
Built by people who actually estimate steel jobs — not a generalist nesting platform re-skinned for fab. The cut sheets look like the cut sheets your foreman already trusts. The shear-sequence table is on every plate.
Reads the files you already have
KISS straight from Tekla, SDS/2, and Advance Steel. DXF for plates from CAD. CSV/Excel for the takeoffs your estimator already keeps. No double-entry. No "import bridge" add-on at $2K extra.
— Straight talk
When NOT to buy Indolent Forge Nesting
We would rather you skip this purchase than buy something that does not fit. A short list of situations where another tool is the right call:
- You already have SigmaNEST or ProNest and it is working — there is no reason to switch.
- You need 5-axis plasma path optimization or true HVAC ductwork unfolding — ProNest is built for that.
- You need network-licensed, multi-seat enterprise rollout with floor-license servers — talk to SigmaNEST.
- You only nest two or three jobs a year — your spreadsheet is probably fine.
Still cheaper than one SigmaNEST maintenance year.
Try it for 14 days, full functionality, no credit card. Keep the proposals it generates either way.