--- title: "Customiser vs Paperless Parts" description: "How Customiser and Paperless Parts differ on RFQ input formats, pricing logic and who each is built for, sourced from each vendor's own documentation." url: "https://customiser.ai/compare/customiser-vs-paperless-parts" modified: "2026-08-28" --- # Customiser vs Paperless Parts Customiser and Paperless Parts solve different first problems. Customiser reads the RFQ as it arrives, 2D drawings, specification documents, scans, spreadsheets and a forwarded email, builds the bill of materials from what the drawings state, and applies your own rates. Paperless Parts is a quoting platform built around uploaded CAD and print files, with manufacturability analysis and a customer-facing portal. If your RFQs already arrive as clean 3D models, Paperless Parts is a strong fit; if they arrive as a mixed package of 2D drawings and specifications, that is what Customiser is built for. ## Key facts - **Paperless Parts's lane:** Geometry-driven CAD quoting - **Tools compared:** 2 - **Last verified:** August 28, 2026 - **Corrections:** team@customiser.ai ## About this page Customiser makes this page. Customiser is one of the 2 tools discussed here, and we have an obvious interest in how it compares. We built this page anyway because contract manufacturers asked us how we stack up, and a page that only ever compares tools it did not make would tell you less, not more. Every fact stated about another company's product is drawn from that company's own current public documentation (its website, help centre or product pages) and carries a source link and the date we captured it. We did not sign into, test or reverse engineer any competitor's software to write this. Where a capability is marked "Not confirmed", that means we could not find public documentation of it as of the capture date, not that the tool cannot do it. If you work at one of the companies named here, or you use one of these tools and think we have something wrong or out of date, tell us at team@customiser.ai and we will correct it. ## How Paperless Parts reads an RFQ Paperless Parts' supported-file-types documentation lists a wide range of 3D CAD formats (including STEP, JT, SolidWorks, CATIA and NX) plus vector PDF, DXF/DWG and raster image formats (TIF, JPEG, PNG) for viewing and quoting. Forwarding an RFQ email directly creates a new quote with the attached files in place, which is a documented, native path from inbox to quote. Its own documentation does not describe reading Excel BOMs or points lists and single-line diagrams directly. ## Where Paperless Parts is the better choice If your shop already receives clean, native 3D CAD files for most jobs and wants a customer-facing quoting portal with self-serve manufacturability checks, Paperless Parts' geometry analysis and portal are a more direct fit. Customiser does not process 3D CAD at all; it works from the 2D drawings and specifications an RFQ arrives with. ## Sources for the Paperless Parts facts on this page https://help.paperlessparts.com/s/article/supported-file-types (captured August 28, 2026) https://www.paperlessparts.com/manufacturing-software-2024/ (captured August 28, 2026) https://www.paperlessparts.com/pricing-costing-automation/ (captured August 28, 2026) https://help.paperlessparts.com/s/article/processes (captured August 28, 2026) https://www.paperlessparts.com/job-shop-software/ (captured August 28, 2026) https://help.paperlessparts.com/s/article/interrogations-basics (captured August 28, 2026) ## Document input matrix: what each tool reads natively, per its own public documentation | Document type | Customiser | Paperless Parts | | --- | --- | --- | | 3D CAD | Not supported | Native | | Vector PDF drawing | Native | Native | | Specification documents | Native | Not confirmed | | Scanned / raster prints | Native | Native | | DXF / 2D CAD | Native | Native | | Excel BOM | Native | Not confirmed | | Points lists & single-line diagrams | Native | Not confirmed | | Forwarded RFQ email | Native | Native | ## Where Customiser and Paperless Parts differ | Dimension | Customiser | Paperless Parts | | --- | --- | --- | | Lane | AI RFQ-reading & estimating | Geometry-driven CAD quoting | | Where the price comes from | Shop's own rates and history, applied to what is read from the RFQ | Shop-configured operations, pricing items and rules applied to uploaded CAD geometry | | Who maintains the pricing logic | The shop | The shop, using Paperless Parts' own pricing configuration and rules language | | Built for | Contract manufacturers with mixed-format RFQs | Job shop manufacturers and their estimators, quoting from CAD | | Approved performance metrics | 10x faster quoting, 85% less manual entry, 99% accuracy (Customiser's own approved metrics) | Not asserted in this comparison | ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Customiser a replacement for Paperless Parts? Not directly. Customiser is built to read the RFQ package as it arrives, 2D drawings, specification documents, scans, spreadsheets and email, build the bill of materials and price it with your own rates. Paperless Parts is a quoting platform built around uploaded CAD files with its own manufacturability analysis and customer portal. Shops that already receive clean model files and want a portal may prefer Paperless Parts; shops fighting messy, drawing-and-specification RFQs are what Customiser is built for. ### Does Paperless Parts read scanned or handwritten drawings? Its own supported-file-types documentation lists raster formats (TIF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG) for viewing and quoting. A specific handwritten-annotation reading capability is not documented, so treat that as not confirmed rather than assuming either way. ### Can I use Customiser and Paperless Parts together? Some shops use a document-reading layer to structure RFQs before they reach a CAD-first quoting platform, but that is a general possibility rather than a documented integration between the two products. Check with both vendors before assuming they connect. ## Related - [Paperless Parts alternatives](https://customiser.ai/alternatives/paperless-parts) - [Compare hub](https://customiser.ai/compare) - [Best manufacturing quoting software](https://customiser.ai/manufacturing-quoting-software/best) - [Manufacturing quoting software](https://customiser.ai/manufacturing-quoting-software) - [How do you choose quoting software?](https://customiser.ai/guides/how-to-choose-quoting-software)