MyMiniFactory acquires Thingiverse to save 3D printing file sharing from AI — Thingverse has eight million users and 2.5 million 'things'
3 weeks ago
17
(Image credit: MyMiniFactory)
MyMiniFactory has announced the surprise acquisition of the world’s oldest and largest 3D printing file-sharing site, Thingiverse. Originally launched in 2008 by MakerBot, Thingiverse boasts over 8 million users and a repository of well over 2.5 million “things.”
Thingiverse has weathered more than its fair share of storms over the years. Launched by MakerBot as an open source community project, it started as a place where makers could store and share digital designs regardless of what 3D printer they owned. Stratasys acquired it in 2013 through the purchase of MakerBot, and in 2022, ownership transitioned to Ultimaker following the merger of Ultimaker and MakerBot.
MyMiniFactory has now acquired 100% of Thingiverse from UltiMaker and will take over both the operations and the necessary cleanup of the digital site. Many believe the platform began to stagnate after the Stratasys acquisition, with search functionality failing, thumbnails vanishing, and the customizer tool spitting out increasingly buggy results. In 2021, a data breach was the final straw for many users, who terminated their accounts and looked for new, more secure places to download files.
While popular file sharing sites like Thingiverse, Printables, and MakerWorld have been operated by 3D printer manufacturers as a bonus perk for their customers, MyMiniFactory stands apart. Founded in 2012 in London, MMF focuses on curation and guaranteed printability, with every file vetted by humans before going live.
Rees Calder, the newly appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Thingiverse, said in an interview that Thingiverse will join MMF as a “SoulCrafted” company while remaining a standalone platform. SoulCrafted is an MMF initiative introduced in 2025, championing the importance of human-made designs, curation, and a sustainable economic model for human digital artists.
"This is about what kind of internet and future we want," said Romain Kidd, new CEO of Thingiverse. "AI-generated content is everywhere now and is a threat to the livelihoods of real creators everywhere. We know from launching SoulCrafted that there's real demand for spaces where human work is valued and protected. Thingiverse will be one of those spaces."
MyMiniFactory is proud to protect creator-first economics in the world of 3D printing, having distributed over $100 million directly to its community by facilitating the sale of 3D models. Thousands of independent creators run small businesses on MMF, supported by nearly a million paying customers.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
This does not mean Thingiverse will automatically become a paid model site. Calder emphasized the desire to restore Thingiverse to its former glory, but said they will take time to listen to users and include them in the journey. He also admitted to having a relatively small team, so it may take a bit of time to clean up all the old, unusable files from abandoned accounts.
Calder noted that while advertising will likely remain on the platform, they plan to seek out relevant sponsors rather than depending on random ads from Google. Once the infrastructure is stabilized, they will introduce a business model allowing creators to monetize their human-created designs directly on Thingiverse. Currently, many designers use the site simply as a promotional tool to attract customers to paid platforms elsewhere.
The combined MyMiniFactory and Thingiverse team will host a live Q&A on February 17th at 5pm UTC to share their vision and hear from the community. MyMiniFactory wants to reiterate that this is a combined effort, and the future of Thingiverse will be built with the community in order to bring them the platform they deserve.
In addition to the Q&A, people are encouraged to have their say directly on Thingiverse via the official Thingiverse group, which can be found here. All feedback and ideas will be considered as the roadmap is developed and the future of the platform is realised.
"Thingiverse belongs to the people who use it," said Kidd. "We want them involved in what happens next."
Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering 3D printing. Denise has been crafting with PCs since she discovered Print Shop had clip art on her Apple IIe. She loves reviewing 3D printers because she can mix all her passions: printing, photography, and writing.
3 weeks ago
17
English (US) ·