Mach3 is a CNC control software for Windows. We have also written an article on GRBL vs Mach3. This way, you don’t have to rely on Mach3 or Mach4 for CNC control. They can act as 3rd party software for some external controllers, or they can work even without a controller, and turn your computer into a CNC controller.īut you have to be very careful choosing beteween Mach3 or Mach4 – they’re more different than you might think.Īlternatively, you could buy or build a simple CNC controller like GRBL or a full-blown industrial CNC controller. But strangely, you can have it the other way around: with Mach3 and Mach4, you get CNC software without a matching controller. You can’t have a CNC controller without its own software. Mach3 can control 6 stepper motors, while Mach4 can control up to 30 stepper motors.īetter scripting language and more features.Mach4 has more features for advanced users, including macro-B and PLC programming.Mach4 has a simulation plugin, Mach3 doesn’t.Mach4 has a better UI with convenient screens for g code editing and probing.They cost about the same: Mach3 costs $175, Mach4 costs $200.Their plugins are not interchangeable and do not work with each other.Mach4 is not just a Mach3 update – it’s a completely different software sharing less than 1% of the same code.