OctoPrint is an open source3D print controller application. It was created by Gina Häußge who initially developed the software to support her first 3D printer in 2012. OctoPrint was forked from Cura, and is available under the same AGPL license. Development is hosted on GitHub. OctoPrint development was financially supported by the Spanish smartphone manufacturer BQ beginning in August 2014. When BQ discontinued support in April 2016, Häußge turned to Patreon. As of February 2019, crowdfunding through Patreon was responsible for providing over $6000 per month from over 1500 backers to Häußge. OctoPrint provides a web interface for controlling 3D printers, allowing the user to start a print job by sending G-code to a 3D printer connected via USB. OctoPrint monitors the status of the print job, as well as the printer itself, primarily the temperature of the print head and the temperature of the bed, if the bed on the printer is heated. OctoPrint can also show the output of a connected webcam in order to monitor the state of the print, and can visualize the G-code in sync with the print job, or asynchronously. OctoPrint also provides a plugin system, allowing users to extend functionality. There are currently over 150 plugins listed in the official plugin repository. These include advanced timelapse videos that trigger by layer and position the model and print head properly, 3D design collection sites such as MyMiniFactory, STL.garden, integrating OctoPrint with Android apps and Android Wear modules, a Pebble smartwatch,, software integrations with printers such as BigBox3D, MakerGear M3, and Robo 3D printers, and both software and hardware integrations with Prusa i3, Proforge 2S, and the industrial-level GEWO HTP 260 and AON3D printers. It has also been used by Thomas Sanladerer in a PrintrBot as a self-contained and fully mobile printer build. OctoPrint can run on a variety of systems, but is commonly run on Raspberry Pi. A distribution called OctoPi, based on the Raspbian OS for Raspberry Pi, provides a pre-configured version of OctoPrint along with an mjpeg-streamer support for webcams. OctoPrint recommends using the Raspberry Pi 3B and specifically warns against using the Raspberry Pi Zero W due to severe performance issues observed. In September 2018, a vulnerability was publicized at the Internet Storm Center of SANS Institute because "thousands" of users misconfigured their OctoPrint interface so it was available to the Internet without a login. This could result in not only a loss of data and privacy, but literal fires from poorly designed 3D printer safety controls. Solutions that still enable worldwide access to a printer include using a commercial cloud printing interface like AstroPrint or Polar Cloud, as well as the OctoPrint Anywhere plugin or standard VPN installations.
