this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
35 points (97.3% liked)

3DPrinting

16585 readers
186 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or [email protected]

There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Thingyverse is owned by Ultimaker, Printables by Prusa and makerworld belongs to bamboo. I don't really want to donate my models to a for profit company, so are there any similar community run alternatives where I can upload to? Cheers

top 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

There has been a NIH 3D model database,but it has become unreliable already for orange reasons. Besides that there aren't many options beside manifold or plainly hosting your own site (which is not that hard tbh, but makes it hard for others to find,though)

[–] roofuskit 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Your only options are all part of for profit ventures. My Mini Factory, Cults, Thangs, etc... etc... etc... The ones subsidized by printer manufacturers are where free models are most likely to be found and are best of the sites.

If you are really concerned you can read their terms of service to be sure what rights you retain. My money is on Prusa having the best terms.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Cool, another service I didn't know I definitely need

[–] spongeborgcubepants 1 points 1 day ago

Nice, didn't know that existed

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Prusa being "for profit" isn't the same as the term implies.

They are very much a socialistic company. Pretty much, their business model is open source.

I think they are the winning choice in the same way that Valve's Steam wins the game store/manager market.

Prusa has given back as much as they have made.

[–] corodius 2 points 1 day ago

They used to be. As of the Mk4 and XL they no longer share a lot of their designs, and the source is also closed.

Very sad to see.