Operating out of France, Cults is a 3D printer file marketplace where designers sell or share their STL files. The quality of Cults’ 1,500,000-plus 3D printer models is usually high. According to the company, 500,000+ models are free to download.

Users can follow their favorite designers and get instant updates when a new creation is posted. Cults also offer curated collections based on popular big-name brands (for example, IKEA hacks, toys, video games, pegboards, memes, or bike accessories). A neat touch: the website supports English, French, Spanish, Russian, and German languages. Recently, Cults started hosting 3D model contests for their users.

What we like: Cults offers a vast selection of exciting models – it’s definitely a go-to site.

What we don’t like: The search result pages look quite messy due to an excessive use of animated GIFs.

Download 3D printer files at: Cults3D

With its iconic 3D printer design, Prusa Research defined a new standard for FDM 3D printers. Covering all bases, the company also offers its open-source software (PrusaSlicer), a filament brand (Prusament), plus its well-sorted file repository Printables (formerly prusaprinters.org).

Its free models, which now number more than 480,000, can be downloaded as STL files. They are usable on all FDM machines. Some models provide pre-sliced G-code for Prusa machines.

The site was launched in 2019 and is growing fast in size while maintaining a high-quality standard. The website offers topic-centered 3D design contests and official brand accounts from Paramount Pictures, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, World of Warships, etc. Since December 2023, users have also been able to sell their models through the site.

What we like: Printables is a friendly space for the maker community and offers the latest and greatest models. Competitions and designer memberships let the creative potential of the community shine.

What we don’t like: Nothing so far.

Download 3D printer files at: Printables

MyMiniFactory is a community space and sharing site for some 154,000 3D printer files,. It strongly emphasizes gaming, tabletop role-playing, anime, and fan art. MyMiniFactory has close ties with iMakr, an online store that sells 3D printers and accessories.

Established in 2013, the site offers free and paid 3D printer files made by professional designers, guaranteeing that they’ve been quality tested. It also regularly provides challenges for 3D designers and hosts an extensive collection of free STL files of significant cultural importance called “Scan the World.”

Since 2018, creators have been able to promote their work and earn revenue from their talents in MyMiniFactory’s premium store. A new addition is “Tribes,” a Patreon-style subscription service where creators give their supporters access to exclusive content via a tier-based model.

What we like: This is the place to go if you’re into tabletop and roleplaying games. Kudos also awarded for hosting the “Scan the World” cultural artifacts database.

What we don’t like: Even though there are models besides gaming, MyMiniFactory is a bit of a one-trick pony.

Download 3D printer files at: MyMiniFactory

Pinshape, founded in 2013 and acquired by professional 3D printer manufacturer Formlabs in 2016, is a 3D marketplace “connecting makers and designers.” You can find plenty of free STL files to download from more than 61,800 designs, but it also functions as a platform to buy and sell premium 3D printer models.

This is a great place if you’re looking for free STL files for toys and games, miniatures, jewelry and fashion, home appliances, gadgets, people and creatures, and art. They also offer a small section for educators.

What we like: If you dig deeper, you can find interesting models…

What we don’t like: The competition offers more, and a better user experience to boot.

Download 3D printer files at: Pinshape

Let’s be honest: Ameede can’t compete with the slick style of the biggest 3D model repositories. Image previews all come in Smurf blue, the layout is crude, there’s no proper sorting option for the models, and the info provided per item is thin. So, why should you visit? Because the models themselves are interesting. Out of the 31,800 indexed items, 19,080 are tagged as 3D printable.

As of today, all models are free for download, but only after registration with Ameede.

What we like: Besides 3D printing, Ameede also offers selections for CNC milling and laser cutting.

What we don’t like: It doesn’t look pleasant, and its usability is sub-par.

Download free 3D files at: Ameede.net

YouMagine is a 3D design storefront and file repository. It was founded by the Ultimaker co-founders.

Although the maker-centric file repository hasn’t changed in years, it still has its fans. YouMagine has some solidly designed items for every FDM machine. You can browse more than 18,730 free 3D printer models and interesting handpicked collections. As a maker, you can sell or share your creations.

What we like: It offers a dedicated storefront section for creators.

What we don’t like: It lacks many features and models the competition offers.

Download 3D printer files at: YouMagine

Threeding is an online marketplace for paid and free 3D printer models. The platform enables individuals and businesses to buy, sell, or exchange 3D printing designs. There are over 12,700+ STL files to download, and 2,200+ are free.

The site also offers a 3D printing service to have your 3D printer models fabricated and shipped.

What we like: Although the number of 3D printing files is relatively small, the quality is good.

What we don’t like: There aren’t many new models.

Download 3D printer files at: Threeding

CGTrader is a marketplace where you can buy and sell 3D designs and textures for gaming, AR/VR, advertising, animation, movies, and 3D printing. The platform also serves as a matchmaking platform to connect 3D designers with potential clients. Of the staggering 1.8 million 3D models available, only 18,100 models are marked as 3D printable. Many files are freely available for download after creating an account with the site.

What we like: The AI search works fast and reliably, so you should find what you want.

What we don’t like: Not all models tagged as 3D printable can actually be printed.

Download 3D printer files at: CGTrader

GrabCAD wants to “help mechanical engineers build great products faster.” The GrabCAD Community Library offers tools that help users collaborate in developing their 5,980,000 designs, a small portion of which includes 3D printer models. Not necessarily the first port of call for a wide selection of everyday printables, GrabCAD is still handy for complex parts from designers and engineers flexing their modeling muscles.

Besides 10,000 free STL files, the site offers the free 3D printing software GrabCAD Workbench and the professional 3D printing service GrabCAD Print.

What we like: GrabCAD offers plenty of models, tools, and groups for CAD designers.

What we don’t like: 10,000 models are tagged as 3D printable, but not all can be printed.

Download 3D printer files at: GrabCAD.

Free3D is a good entry point if you want royalty-free 3D models you can use in animation or game design. Alongside an extensive collection of more than 560,000 premium models, the website also maintains a small collection of (7,360+) STL files that are tagged as free and 3D printable. That’s not a ton, but you can find some gems there.

What we like: A clearly structured website with a good selection of free 3D models.

What we don’t like: Some models, even though tagged as not printable by the designers, appear in the 3D printing section.

Download 3D printer files at: Free3D

One of the oldest websites to feature on this list, TurboSquid, now owned by Shutterstock, is easy to navigate and offers more than 5,980,000 free and premium 3D models. Geared toward digital content creation rather than 3D printing (think AR, VR, or video games), there is still a small selection of free 3D printable models at TurboSquid. Being able to filter by file type helps in finding them – tick the STL checkbox to show more than 3,400 free 3D printable designs.

What we like: A huge selection of 3D models for all occasions…

What we don’t like: … but only a handful for 3D printing.

Download 3D printer files at: TurboSquid

Instructables is a fantastic, open and vivid community portal where users share their DIY projects, including things made with the help of 3D printing. Featured on the thousands of project pages are the tutorials and instructions on how to build each creation, together with the 3D printer files to download where relevant. Plus, most of the designers are helpful enough to answer questions submitted by the public.

What we like: So many exciting projects! This is a treasure trove for any maker.

What we don’t like: We can’t seem to find any negative thing without being nitpicky. Check it out!

Download 3D printer files at: Instructables

NIH 3D is a fantastic and popular resource for the science community. It’s a platform for sharing, distributing, and downloading 3D printer files that are scientifically accurate or medically applicable.

Collections include roughly 13,200+ free STL files for scientific objects, a “heart library,” and a “molecule of the month.” It also houses a section for free 3D printable prosthetics, a 3D pollen library, and a heart collection.

What we like: It’s a great scientific resource.

What we don’t like: There’s nothing wrong with it.

Download 3D printer files at: NIH 3D Print Exchange

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. To put that in some perspective, it’s home to more than 142 million exhibits. So far, more than 9,500 have been scanned and made available to the public, and 3,110 are 3D printable. You can browse or use the many collections to find your desired models.

What we like: It’s a nice service, easy to use and to navigate.

What we don’t like: The topic selection seems a bit random, and there could be more information on the pieces.

Download 3D printer files at: Smithsonian

The site looks as gray and boring as moon dust, but don’t let that fool you. This is a fun repository of 128 3D printer models created by none other than NASA. Their STL files are made available for free for educational purposes so that you can fabricate landmark objects in the history of space exploration, like the Apollo landing sites, the Curiosity Rover, comets, or the James Webb Space Telescope.

What we like: If you’re a space buff, you’ll love these 3D prints.

What we don’t like: Besides the dull presentation, new models appear as often as space missions – once in a blue moon.

Download 3D printer files at: NASA 3D Resources

African Fossils is devoted to educating the public on prehistoric topics using modern technology. More than 180 high-quality fossils have been scanned using photometry with a mounted SLA camera. Though not specifically catering to 3D printing, the files are easily used by scientists and enthusiasts. Almost all of them are also viewable through an in-browser 3D interface.

African Fossils categorizes its scans into hominids, animals, and tools and allows users to filter selections by fossil age. Want to print accurate human skulls through the ages? This is the place to look.

What we like: There’s plenty of interesting archeological information for every available file.

What we don’t like: No updates, unfortunately.

Download 3D printer files at: African Fossils

Toymakr3D is an Indonesian company selling toy models you can 3D print. The designs are detailed and highly articulated, so your robot, Transformer, atomic dragon, or mecha monster can strike a pose if you want them to (great for stop-motion pictures, by the way). The coloring can be done by using different filaments.

So far, the choice of models is limited, but a generous 67 of the 84 models can be downloaded for free.

What we like: Free bot toys to play with, that’s cool.

What we don’t like: Nothing.

Download 3D printer files at: Toymakr3D

Yeggi is a search engine crawling popular 3D printing websites for 5.5 million indexed 3D printer models. You can also access popular searches to get an idea of trends the community is currently interested in, and registered users can add search results to a personalized list.

The user interface isn’t going to win prizes anytime soon, but it’s an incredibly effective tool for finding free STL files. There’s also a section for the newest free 3D printer files.

What we like: If you’re looking for a 3D printing file and know exactly what you’re looking for, you will find it on Yeggi.

What we don’t like: The site looks a bit old-fashioned.

Download 3D printer files at: Yeggi

The name is pretty self-explanatory, right? STLFinder is another search engine for 3D printer files that will crawl the internet, bringing up detailed results for free STL files and 3D printer models. You can also create an account to bookmark your favorite 3D printer files for future reference. After logging in, you can search through the millions of 3D printer models it has indexed.

What we like: Good search results. Also, an app for Android is available.

What we don’t like: It’s just a bare search with just one search filter for paid and unpaid models.

Download 3D printer files at: STLFinder

Thangs may look like just another 3D model search engine, but it has some nice tricks up its sleeve. First of all, it has amassed more than 15 million 3D files. Thanks to a sophisticated AI search algorithm, you can find geometrically related 3D models. And with just a mouse click, any object can be rendered in a chosen position.

You can also invite friends and collaborators to work together on projects. Or you can download their free 3D backup, sharing, and collaboration tool, Thangs Sync. Besides an iOS and Android app, and a Blender plugin, the website offers memberships, so you can support your favorite designers.

What we like: A smart, feature-rich site with plenty of interesting STL files.

What we don’t like: Nothing so far.

Search for 3D printer files at: Thangs