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Best 3d printer file websites


The 6 Best Places to Search for 3D Printing Models

As 3D printing patents expired, the industry exploded into the home.

An endless number of 3D models are now available on the internet, with everything from D&D characters to replacements parts for your washing machine.

With a host of design-sharing sites that exist, both paid and free, here’s what you need to know about where to look for the best models for 3D printing.

What to Look For: 3D Models, File Format, Slicers, and G-code

There are hundreds of thousands of 3D models online and it can get a little confusing.

Websites that cater to 3D printing models are particularly useful because the files available for download will be in the right format. Some sites will even check the designs of contributors, making sure that they are in fact printable.

As lots of these websites are community-based, you can read the comments or check out the photos of the completed project by other people.

Files need to be in the STL or OBJ format, so check this first before downloading. Once you have the files, use a ‘slicer’ software to convert your file to G-code.

Related link: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to 3D Printing

All you need to do then is copy the G-code file to your SD card and insert the card into your 3D printer. Good to go, right?

One thing to note is whether the 3D model has a creative license.

On the website Thingiverse, for example, the creative license is displayed under the heading License on the left-hand side of the model’s home page (below the tags), such as for the classic Benchy model.

Clicking on Creative Commons – Attribution – No Derivatives will open a link explaining what the condition of reproduction is, including for commercial use.

A lot of hours go into designing a 3D model. So making sure to attribute the designer, if you share your work publicly, is a good way to support them.

Depending on the site, the designer might include a link to where you can donate, or in some cases this option is built into the website. For sites that feature payment options, you can either pay directly for designs, or for a subscription to the website for further discounts.

Each site is different, so check the percentage of profits that go to the designer if you choose to support them.

Now that you have an overview of what you are looking for, delve into the websites below for some of the best 3D printing models out there.

A popular and well-established site, Thingiverse began as a companion site for a DIY 3D printer kit-making company.

What is awesome about this site is its education section. Here you can find 3D printing projects related to a class subject (think T-Rex skeleton or Lego Renaissance figures).

Under the model page, you can then find complete lesson plans, activities, and background information on the subject. If you are a classroom teacher, this could be a great way to introduce 3D printing technology to young people.

Besides manufacturing 3D printers, Prusa Printers also hosts a website for design sharing.

Under a section called Makes, people can submit photos when they have completed the project, which is very useful if you want to check the quality of the design first.

A unique feature of this site is a map that indicates where world events, workshops, or printing labs are located globally.

On YouMagine, designs can be gathered into collections, which is another way that you can search for new projects.

Collections range from 3D printing machine mods to models for medical masks.

Hitting the Download button is all you need to do to get a design. When you do, a popup will display giving you the option to donate to the designer if you choose.

Related link: Useful 3D Printing Ideas and Projects for Your Home

For something a little bit different, on Thangs you can search for models based on similar geometric shapes. To do this, upload a previous STL file you have to the search box, or simply type a shape into the search engine; e. g., cube.

On each model page, neat viewing options can be changed to display the model from different angles, and with render modes and colors, before downloading the files.

Interestingly, this website also allows you to limit your search for models only to the Thangs website, or else open the search to other sites on the internet.

Alongside a free STL file library, MyMiniFactory guarantees that each file is printable by checking it with software and making sure that it has been test-printed by its community.

In MyMiniFactory’s store, you can purchase designs to support artists, or opt for a paid subscription to the website to get discounts on designs, among other things like its in-house printing materials.

Image Credit: Creative Tools/flickr

Another site that allows you to pay for designs is Cults. It has both free and paid designs with added functions for donating to designers.

When browsing through the community designs, you will notice a lot of people using GIFs to display the 3D object in the library, which will help you to get a quick overview of the 3D model.

Cults also claims that the files available on its site are guaranteed to print, so you can at the least expect the correct file format.

Did you know that NASA has a resource page dedicated to 3D printable models of space-related artifacts?

You can find models for famous robots like the Curiosity Rover and Perseverance, or detailed models of supernova remnants.

If you have a child who loves space, or you yourself want to combine two of your favorite hobbies, check out what’s in this NASA resource.

A Universe of 3D Models to Explore

Every design-sharing website is a little different from the next, but you are guaranteed to find a design you like on one of them.

Whether you find a model for free or paid, checking the creative license and uploading an image of your printed model will help to support the growing community of 3D printing enthusiasts.

And who knows, maybe one day you will be designing and uploading your own models? Competitions are becoming popular, so check your favorite website to see what you could win by building your own 3D model.

Best Websites to Download Free STL Files

Published on March 17, 2020 by Jamie D.

STL files are the most common 3D printing file formats. Therefore, we searched the internet for the best sites to download these files for free. Containing thousands of STL files, these websites allow you to download and share a huge variety of models. These are divided into different categories, ranging from jewelry and design to more complex items like bicycles or engineering parts. You can create these STL files in 3D software such as Solidworks, and use these to 3D print your part. Therefore, we put together our Top 12 STL files websites so you can find your new favourite designs to print.

1. Cults

Cults is one of the leading websites to download free STL files. The website is a digital marketplace where you can find thousands of 3D models related to fashion, jewelry, architecture and more. Cults is also a community that allows people to discuss their interests, and communicate about their love of 3D printing, connecting designers, makers, and other creators. They organise contests, and regularly create content for their community or publish on their blog. You can find the best 3D models to download on Cults in our ranking.

The variety of STL file downloads on Cults.

2. Free3D

Free3D is another marketplace that offers a wide range of 3D models. Not all of them are STL files, however many are OBJ, which work for 3D printing too. You will also find many models for software such as Blender, Cinema 4D or 3ds Max. The Marketplace counts different sections such as architecture, vehicles, aircraft or electronics for example. You can easily join the Free3D community to share your 3D models with the world and build your own portfolio to show your skills or get freelance work. Finally, the platform is available in 14 languages!

3. GrabCAD

GrabCAD is one of the largest online libraries of CAD models. The community that uses GrabCAD is mostly made up of professional engineers, designers, manufacturers and STEM students. Moreover the company says that almost 6 million members use its platform to share files but also get tips on design challenges and work together on improving models. Today, GrabCAD has about 4 million free files that you can access and download, making it the largest professional library of 3D models.

Incredible STL file to 3D print this vehicle.

4. MyMiniFactory

MyMiniFactory is a platform that aims to increase collaboration between 3D designers by enabling them to share their work freely. The website offers free files specifically made for 3D printing. Each of the files uploaded to the platform are carefully selected and tested by community members. In addition to having thousands of files, MyMiniFactory has a service which allows you to request files from a professional designer, if you can’t find the file you are looking for.

5. Pinshape

Today, Pinshape brings together more than 70,000 manufacturers and designers who publish their 3D STL files on the platform every day. The platform offers free and premium files that users can download directly for printing. Designers can be financially rewarded by selling their creations. Acquired in 2016 by the manufacturer Formlabs three years after its creation, Pinshape also offers various 3D printing guides and articles to learn more about 3D printing  technologies and their applications. The platform is quite intuitive, directly suggesting the most trendy 3D models and highlighting a few famous designers.

6. STLFinder

When you log in to the STLFinder site, you will find a very basic page: a search bar where you can type in the 3D file you are looking for. The platform will then suggest all the models associated with your query found on other online sites. STLFinder is more of a search engine that will allow the user to compare all the designs available on the web. This will save time from searching on ten sites at once! STLFinder takes the description of each 3D file indicated on the source platform and sends it back to the source platform so that the user can download the model and print it.

7. SketchFab

Created in 2012, Sketchfab is a platform that features a 3D model viewer. In addition to this function, it also offers a section where community users can browse, rate and download existing 3D models on the web. The fact that it includes all types of 3D design makes Sketchfab a very broad platform for users. Therefore, if we want to focus on 3D printing, we must go to the STL files labels section. There we can find all the files for additive manufacturing under Creative Commons licenses, some being free and others not.

8. Thingiverse

The Thingiverse platform was launched in 2008 and belongs to the 3D printer manufacturer, Makerbot. Currently it is one of the websites with the most STL files to download for free, thanks to its community of creators. What most characterizes Thingiverse is the interactivity between users, who upload their files to the platform to share them with others and let them download and give their opinion. With more than 1,700,000 files for 3D printing, Thingiverse is one of the most popular websites to find 3D models on the market.

9. Yeggi

Just like STLFinder, Yeggi is a search engine that will allow you to find what you are looking for among more than 2 million STL files available on different platforms. However, Yeggi offers more filters and options than its competitor. You will be able to choose between free or paid files, popular models, recently added models, etc. It is probably the most popular search engine in the additive manufacturing market.

10. YouImagine

Created by the founders of Ultimaker, the YouMagine platform now gathers 16,000 free STL files and brings together thousands of designers and makers who want to share their ideas and invent together. The templates are mainly open-source, leaving the possibility for any user to modify designs if needed. YouMagine gathers all kinds of files, from small decorative figurines to functional prototypes like a wind turbine.

11. 3DShook

3DShook is a service offered in 7 different languages, which unlike other sites has a different business model, as it offers a subscription service on demand to access more than 6,000 models for printing. It has 42 categories, some of which are free when you sign up, but if you prefer to download models with more complexity or quality, 3DShook has an annual subscription of $ 25 dollars to download 40 models and access their CAD tools, or a premium option of $ 50 dollars that allows you to download up to 100 models from the catalog.

3DShook has over 40 STL file categories

12. 3DWarehouse

This website is a service offered by the Sketchup team, where the users can create and share models created with the software. This website is mainly dedicated to professionals, and is highly valued within sectors such as architecture or design, as it serves as a platform for the exchange of 3D models and as a possible source of income for some creators. In addition to the possibility of downloading models with different prices, the platform also allows add extensions to Sketchup to improve model quality.

 

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REC Wiki » Top Ten Sites for 3D Printing 3D Models

If you already have a 3D printer and 3D printing plastic, the only thing left to do is find digital models. Do-it-yourself 3D modeling is interesting, but mastering this skill will take a lot of time. In the meantime, we suggest looking for something interesting on the sites in our selection.

1. Thingiverse

The largest and most famous platform, Thingiverse is a project of the American company MakerBot, which has made a huge contribution to the development of amateur 3D printers. In recent years, MakerBot has been operating under the wing of Stratasys Corporation and focuses more on the professional segment of the additive market, but this has not affected the work of Thingiverse in any way. The name of the platform is a play on words meaning "The Universe of Things" (Thing + Universe). The site remains the largest repository of exclusively free 3D models with a focus on 3D printing and continues to grow. Thingiverse currently offers over one and a half million 3D models.

Thingiverse website: www.thingiverse.com/

2. Instructables

Instructables is more than just an online warehouse of 3D models. This platform is primarily aimed at do-it-yourselfers, and therefore Instructables hosts not just 3D models, but complex projects - often using electronics, mostly hobby, but often quite serious. Scientists also use the site, posting useful open source projects like smartphone-based 3D printed microscopes. The main feature of the site is that the projects are accompanied by detailed, step-by-step instructions - hence the name. Of course, additive technologies play an important role in many of the published projects, and the projects themselves are offered free of charge.

Instructables website: www.instructables.com

3. Cults

Popular site based in France. The platform works in a mixed way, offering both free and paid models. The paid section to a large extent influenced the rich assortment, since any user can make money on their creations. The site takes a commission, but approximately 80% of the cost of each 3D model sold goes into the authors' pocket. If you're not ready to pay for digital models, check out Cults anyway and browse the freebies - there are plenty of them. And don't let the name confuse you, it doesn't smell of any cultists there. Cults is just St. Luc is the opposite, while Saint Luke is considered the patron saint of artists.

Website: cults3d.com

4. MyMiniFactory

A London-based platform that also offers a mix of free and paid 3D models. Many of the paid works are posted by professional designers, and the administration often holds competitions among authors. The peculiarity of MyMiniFactory is that this site guarantees quality: the published 3D models are first tested for compatibility with 3D printers, then a trial 3D printing is carried out, and only then the model is placed in the public domain.

Jonathan Beck

One of the most famous MyMiniFactory-related endeavors is the Scan the World project. The author of this initiative was the British enthusiast Jonathan Beck, who in 2014 committed a major “robbery” of the London Museum. True, Jonathan took out not real exhibits, but about ten thousand photographs, on the basis of which he then recreated the appearance of the exhibits in digital form using photogrammetry. Since then, Beck has had many associates armed with cameras and 3D scanners and regularly adding 3D models of art and historical artifacts from around the world, including from some Russian museums. All models in the Scan the World collection are offered free of charge.

MyMiniFactory website: www.myminifactory.com

5. Prusa Printers

Strictly speaking, this is not a repository of 3D models as such, but the home site of Prusa Research, an enterprise of the Czech engineer Josef Prusa, whose name is familiar to all enthusiasts additive technologies. True, on this site, Josef and his team offer not only 3D printers and consumables of their own production, but also 3D models, and for free. Since this company deals only with additive technologies, all models in the catalog are optimized for 3D printing. The main share of published models falls on the users of the site, and Prusha's team regularly stimulates the authors with various competitions. An interesting feature of this site is that it allows you to publish not only 3D models, but also ready-made machine code. On the one hand, this is good, because users can immediately send a model for 3D printing without fiddling with a slicer. On the other hand, there is always a chance of incompatibility or outright sabotage, so be careful, and if in doubt, just download the STL files and prepare the code yourself.

Prusa Printers website: www.prusa3d.com

6. Pinshape

Another collection of 3D models, this time of Canadian origin. The first version of the site did not last long, only a couple of years, but immediately after the closure, the well-known American manufacturer of stereolithographic 3D printers Formlabs bought the resource. The platform continues to work to this day and contains tens of thousands of projects. Like most similar platforms, Pinshape offers both paid and free 3D models, and anyone can submit work.

Pinshape website: pinshape.com

7. YouMagine

Another project under the corporate umbrella. This site was founded by one of the co-founders of the Dutch company Ultimaker, which in turn is well known for a whole series of successful FDM 3D printers. Although this is not the largest resource (only about twenty thousand projects), it has two pluses. Firstly, only free 3D models are offered here. Secondly, the site is structured in such a way that it is easier for designers to improve their own and other people's work, collaborate and receive feedback. As a result, you can find a lot of serious projects here, such as OpenBionics 3D printed prostheses, but there is also enough entertainment content.

YouMagine website: www.youmagine.com

8. CGTrader

This Lithuanian site initially had nothing to do with 3D printing, being a platform for the exchange of graphic models for computer games, virtual reality and the like. However, with the growing popularity of additive technologies, a specialized section appeared on CGTrader for publishing 3D models with polygonal meshes optimized for 3D printing. There are not so many models for 3D printing, only about thirteen thousand, in addition, this resource is focused on paid content, although there are also free offers. On the other hand, this site is popular among professional designers, so you can find very interesting and high-quality work here.

CGTrader website: www.cgtrader.com

9. Sketchfab

Sketchfab, a Franco-American marketplace, is similar to CGTrader in that it publishes models for computer games, virtual reality, and 3D printing, as well as in terms of an abundance of professional work. With 3D printable models, things are a little more complicated: although there are many free models on the site, those optimized for 3D printing are in the paid section. On the other hand, nothing prevents you from downloading free options and using third-party mesh repair programs for 3D printing, such as Meshmixer or Netfabb.

Sketchfab website: sketchfab.com

10. 3Dtoday

Russian website and main portal for Russian speaking 3D printing enthusiasts. 3Dtoday is designed as an all-in-one platform with user blogs, catalogs and a marketplace, as well as a collection of 3D models categorized into different categories. Most of the 3D models are offered free of charge, however, there is also a paid section, replenished by portal users.

3Dtoday website: 3dtoday.ru

33 best sites with free 3D printable models

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