Free firmware,
and a clear ceiling.
MASSO vs GRBL and open-source controllers — where GRBL is the right answer, and where a machine outgrows it.
GRBL is free firmware running on inexpensive microcontroller boards. For a small router, a laser or a first build it is a sensible, proven choice, and it costs almost nothing. A great many machines start here and some never need to leave.
It was written to do that job well, not to run a production shop. This page is about the point where a machine asks for more than GRBL set out to give — and if your machine has not asked, you do not need us.
GRBL What a GRBL build takes
- 3parts to buy: the board, a power supply, and something to send the job from
- 3connections to make
- 0software licences to buy
This is the shortest parts list on any of these pages, and the cheapest. We are not going to pretend otherwise — the argument here is not about part count.
MASSO What a MASSO build takes
- 2parts to buy
- 2connections to make
- 0operating systems or drivers to keep in step
The difference is not the number of boxes. It is that the job runs on the controller rather than on a computer connected to it.
Three things worth knowing before a machine has to earn
None of this is a criticism of GRBL, which does what it was designed to do extremely well for almost no money. It is a description of the edges.
The job runs from the computer
GRBL receives the program line by line from sender software on a laptop, tablet or single-board computer. That machine has to stay awake, connected and undisturbed for the length of the job. On a long production run that is a dependency worth thinking about.
Axis count and I/O are modest
Standard GRBL builds are aimed at three axes with limited I/O. Forks and successors extend this considerably, and some of them are excellent — but what you get depends on which fork, which board and which firmware version you happen to be running.
There is no one supplier
The firmware comes from one place, the board from another, the sender from a third. When something does not work, the first job is finding out which of the three to ask. The community is generous, but nobody owns the outcome.
Where you notice the difference
These are the things that tend to decide whether a machine stays on GRBL or moves on.
When GRBL is the right answer
Honestly, more often than a page like this usually admits.
It is your first machine
Learning on a cheap, forgiving, well-documented controller is a good way to find out what you actually need. Spending controller money before you know that is the more expensive mistake.
The work is small and occasional
Short jobs on a small router or laser, where a laptop sitting next to the machine is no inconvenience and an afternoon of downtime costs nothing but the afternoon.
You enjoy the tinkering
Compiling firmware, choosing a fork, wiring your own board — for a lot of people that is the point of the hobby rather than an obstacle to it. A MASSO deliberately removes that, which is not always what you want.
Tell us about your machine
Tell us what you have or what you are building and what you need it to do, and we will tell you which tier fits and what a retrofit involves. If a MASSO is the wrong fit, we will say so.
Ask about your machine
A few questions. A technician reads it, not a bot.
