You bought three 4×8 sheets for a set of cabinet sides and shelves. On the driveway you found a better hand-nest — one that needed a fourth sheet after the kerf ate every “almost.” That is a second lumber-yard run while the saw is already warm and the first parts sit unmarked.
This is the cut list calculator you use on the job tomorrow, not a nesting lecture. Not theory. Sheet count, waste percent, and a guillotine layout you can follow with a fence — plywood first, then linear sticks when the job mixes sheet and lumber.
Free does a 4×8 sheet nest and a single stock length for linear cuts (up to 20 part rows). Pro is $9.99 a month for extra sheet sizes, mixed stock lengths, leftover hints, SVG/PNG export, and a print-friendly cut order. Worth $9.99 if the week has more than one sheet size or you need a cut list you can hand to a helper. After the first nest, the next app in the suite was already open: Framing Takeoff Master for the studs those panels hang on — or Deck Takeoff Master when the same phone needs boards and joists.
What a cut list optimizer actually has to do
Most “best cut list optimizer” pages sell desktop nesting or CNC DXF. A review that matters has to survive the next morning: dirty thumbs, a parts list you already measured, a layout you can read at the saw.
Cut List Master is a phone-first PWA. Add it to the Home Screen. English UI. Feet/inches or metric. Offline after the first load. No login. Data stays on the device unless you export a backup. It packs rectangular parts onto sheets with kerf, and it runs a linear nest for sticks — one stock length on Free, mixed lengths on Pro.
You enter sheet size (or stock length), kerf, and parts. You get sheet count, waste percent, and an on-screen SVG layout. That is the product. Not a cabinet suite. Not G-code. I used it on the job the next morning. If the nest only works at a desk, it is homework. If it works in the truck before you buy the fourth sheet, it is a takeoff.
Free vs Pro — no mystery
| Feature | Free | Pro ($9.99/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet nest | One sheet type: 4×8 plywood | Extra sizes (4×10, 5×5, MDF, drywall, custom) |
| Linear nest | One stock length | Mix stock lengths in one job + leftover reuse hints |
| Part rows | Up to 20 | Up to 100 |
| Kerf + waste % | Yes | Yes |
| On-screen SVG layout | Yes | Yes |
| Export SVG / PNG | — | Yes |
| Print-friendly cut order | — | Yes (sheet + linear) |
Free is enough for a single 4×8 nest or one stick length and twenty cuts. Pro is for mixed sheet sizes, a printed cut order for a helper, or more than twenty part rows. Extra sheets, SVG/PNG export, and print unlock on Plans — that is the $9.99 line.
There is no branded customer quote PDF here the way Fence Quote Pro has one. Cut List Master Pro is about stock sizes and a cut list you can export or print, not letterhead.
The mistake everyone makes
Hand-nesting without kerf. You fit parts on a paper 4×8, then the blade eats a strip off every rip and the last row no longer fits. The second mistake is trusting a desk tool that assumed zero waste and free rotation when your grain forbids it.
Cut List Master uses a guillotine-style nest with editable kerf. Rotation is a setting, not a silent assumption. Measure twice. Factory oversize and grain still belong to you.
What it is not
Estimate only — not engineering or building-code advice. Not a CAM file, G-code, or saw-controller program. It will not drive a CNC or import SketchUp/DXF. If you needed industrial nesting with a stock warehouse, this is the wrong tab.
It is not a full cabinet shop suite. No client portal, no inventory cloud, no invoice. One English UI. Price in USD. Paying markets: USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada. No AI. Nesting is on-device math.
Is $9.99 worth it?
If you cut one 4×8 project a month and twenty parts cover it, Free is the product. Punch the list. Read the waste. Buy the sheets.
If the week mixes sheet sizes, 8 ft and 12 ft stock, or you need a print-friendly cut order for a helper, Pro is the product. One wasted sheet from a bad hand nest costs more than a month of Pro. Worth $9.99 on that week. Not worth pretending it replaces CNC. No fake star widget. No invented “customers say.” The test is whether you used it on the job the next morning. I did — then Framing Takeoff Master was already open for the walls those panels belong to.
The series
Cut List Master is one app in EBN Build Calculators. After the cut list, the next number is often studs, deck boards, or fence posts. Same idea across the suite: phone-first, offline, estimate only.
For the long-form how-tos, see how many fence posts you need or how many bags of concrete. Theory is the chart. The job is the cut list.
Bottom line
Cut List Master is a cut list optimizer you can use at the yard tomorrow. Not a textbook. Not CNC software. Free for a 4×8 nest and one linear stock length. Pro for extra sheets, mixed sticks, export, and print at $9.99 a month. Punch the parts. Take the sheet count to the counter. Open the next app in the series when the framing or the deck needs its own number.
Open Cut List MasterEstimate only — not engineering or building-code advice. Not a CAM file. Not a contract.