The software is free.
The build is the cost.
MASSO vs LinuxCNC — what a control system costs when nobody is charging for the software.
LinuxCNC is free, open source, and genuinely capable. It runs real production machines, it handles machine geometries most commercial controls will not touch, and there is no licence to buy — not now and not for the second machine.
It runs on a PC with a real-time capable Linux install and a hardware interface card, configured by you. A MASSO is the control system — screen, motion control and I/O in one unit, with no computer in the chain.
LinuxCNC What a LinuxCNC build takes
- 5parts to buy: a PC, an interface card, a breakout board, a display, and a keyboard and mouse
- 5connections to make and keep good
- 0software licences to buy, now or ever
Worth saying plainly: the zero on that last line is real. No operating system licence, no control software licence, no per-machine charge. That is a genuine advantage over every other option in this set of comparisons.
MASSO What a MASSO build takes
- 2parts to buy
- 2connections to make
- 0operating systems or drivers to keep in step
One purchase per machine, configured through a menu rather than a text file. The controller executes only job files and does not run arbitrary code.
Three things about free software worth reading first
None of this is a criticism of LinuxCNC. It is a description of what you take on when the software costs nothing, written by people who would rather you went in with your eyes open than bought the wrong thing from us.
There is no licence, ever
LinuxCNC and the Linux it runs on are both free. Ten machines cost the same in software as one. No other option compared across these pages can say that, and for some shops it settles the argument on its own.
You are the integrator
Configuration happens in HAL and INI files rather than a setup wizard. That is what makes LinuxCNC able to drive almost anything, and it is also work — your time, your learning curve, and your responsibility when something does not behave.
Support is the community
The forum and mailing list are knowledgeable and generous. There is no vendor to call, by design. If the machine is down on a Monday, the answer comes from whoever is reading at the time.
Put your own numbers in
There is no software price to enter on the LinuxCNC side, because there is not one. What it does cost is hardware and your time. Enter your own figures. If it comes out in LinuxCNC’s favour, it will say so — and on purchase price alone it usually will.
Your situation
Free. This field is here to make the point, not to be filled in.
A Mesa 7i96S Ethernet step and direction card, a common choice, was listed around €239 at a European distributor on 9 September 2026 — about US$277 at €1 = US$1.16. Parallel port builds cost less.
No operating system licence needed. A fanless industrial PC starts around US$641 (OnLogic CL260, checked 9 September 2026), and many people run LinuxCNC happily on far less.
Control system only, over 5 years across 1 machine. Drives, motors, the frame and the spindle are left out of both sides. Setup time is valued at the rate you enter on the LinuxCNC side and the same rate on the MASSO side. All figures USD.
Where you notice the difference
LinuxCNC has been running machines for a long time and it is not going anywhere. These are the things that decide whether it is the right fit for your shop.
When LinuxCNC is the right answer
There are more of these than on any other page in this set, and we mean them.
Your machine is unusual
Non-standard kinematics, custom geometry, research machines, anything that does not look like a mill or a router. LinuxCNC will drive things that commercial controls, MASSO included, are not built for.
You want the source
If modifying the control software itself matters to you, or you need to know exactly what it is doing at every level, no closed product can offer that. This one can.
Software budget is the constraint
If you are fitting out several machines and licence costs are what stands in the way, free software solves the problem that is actually in front of you.
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.
