Tested: The Best Cheap 3D Printing Services for Prototypes and One-Off Parts
From one-offs to small batches, these online services print your parts for less. Here’s how to weigh price against shipping and lead time.
Affordable 3D printing services fall into two camps: industrial grade production, with engineering-grade materials and minimum orders, and low-cost services that thrive on large volumes for one-offs and quick prototypes. Manufacturers in China, like PCBWay, still offer some of the most competitive per-part prices around. For buyers in the U.S., though, shipping costs and import duties can eat into those savings and make the final bill harder to predict. Companies like Craftcloud, lets users compare prices by region and worldwide to help find the best deal for your budget.
Here, we aim to feature the most affordable 3D printing services, but it’s not the only consideration we kept in mind when making the list. We asked for quotes from a variety of manufacturers, and the following information was noted for each (and can help in making the call on which one to opt for):
- Lowest prices: High-quality prices are the top aspect. We compared services based on the cost of printing a set of printed parts that’s needed to assemble a phone holder for a bicycle.
- The material choice was PLA (FDM) due to its low cost, sufficient durability, and wide availability.
- We checked the cost of 1 print, as well as of a batch order of 10.
- Various printing capabilities: It’s helpful to have a range of options when you want to print something. Therefore, we took a look at the types of printing options available, including material selection and additional finishing or marking services.
- Fast processing time: Everyone wants to get their prints in a timely fashion, so we compared the time frame from when the order was taken to the time it was expected to ship. Many services also offered an expedited option for an additional fee.
- Wide reach: What’s the point of 3D printing something if it can’t be delivered to your doorstep? All of the services listed ship worldwide.
We Put 5 Companies to the Test
From the following companies, we ordered a sample print to test out each company’s process and gather quotes. (We didn’t actually receive the parts, because that would have been wasteful.) The part we ordered was a medium-sized functional part — a phone holder that attaches to a bike’s handlebars we found at MakerWorld by designer Nominal Cycling Gear — that represents a typical prototype order. It could stand in for almost any part. Our goal was to secure the cheapest possible price, so we chose FDM 3D printing in PLA with no finishing (we opted not to add the optional TPU parts included in the design). We collected the price for one and the price for 10, regardless of delivery time.
Our shipping destination for the part was the U.S.A.
Craftcloud
Craftcloud is more than just an affordable 3D printing service. Users can compare 3D printing services worldwide and order directly via the global platform, selecting the lowest possible price or the lowest local price from their part of the world.
By taking our U.S. location into account, Craftcloud displayed real-time prices from manufacturers in North America who can print our design with the material of our choice and deliver it directly. The possibilities are vast, with more than 200 material options, and various finishes and colors.
Craftcloud maintains that every manufacturing partner on the platform undergoes a thorough screening process, with their performance continuously evaluated to ensure quality. The service is fully transparent, giving customers visibility into who handles their orders while also recognizing partners on the site. Despite this, Craftcloud manages the entire process. Trustpilot gives the company a score of 4.5, with 82% of customers rating their experience as “excellent” at the time of our publication date.
In addition to this broad range of manufacturer choices, users enjoy IP-protected orders, a responsive customer care team, and the ability to communicate directly with service providers. Business customers also have access to specialized features that support their internal processes.
If you’re new to 3D printing, Craftcloud offers recommendations to guide you through the process and explore the exciting world of 3D printing.
3D printing capabilities include: 31 different technologies, including FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, DMLS/SLM, LCD, DLP, MSLA, and PolyJet, with over 200 types of materials to choose from. Other manufacturing services include CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, casting, and molding.
Xometry
Xometry is not known for its low prices, but as one of the larger services in the world that still offers PLA material, we knew we needed to include it. Xometry is an on-demand manufacturing service that has an extensive network of industrial manufacturers. Having worked with industry giants like BMW, GE, and Bosch, it’s safe to say that Xometry has an industrial focus.
Their website is intuitive. In order to get your instant quote, you first create an account or log in with an e-mail address, then upload your files, and choose a material and printing technology. Once uploaded, it’s relatively easy to make changes to your printing speculations, by editing the configuration of each part. It’s also very clear to see what you’re getting, thanks to the single-page order overview, which includes three options for pricing: lowest price, standard delivery, and fastest delivery. However, despite the allure of free US shipping, their good prices were not top of our budget list.
3D printing capabilities include: FDM, SLA, SLS, DMLS, MJF, PolyJet, Carbon DLS. Other manufacturing services offered are: CNC machining, sheet and tube fabrication, injection molding, and high volume metal production.
Protolabs Network
Based on location and required expertise, Protolabs Network’s global network of manufacturing partners provides users with the flexibility to adaptively select what best suits their specific requirements. It boasts about 250 highly vetted supply partners spread globally, and it acts as the digital platform for the already impressive Protolabs company.
Their website is very easy to use: select a printing technology, upload a part, and it generates a series of price quotes for economy, standard, and expedited lead time. It even has options for lead times of 1 business day and 1 business day shipping at added cost, if you’re really in a time crunch. Before generating a price, their site runs a design for manufacturing (DFM) analysis to check for errors in your print file. For larger orders, their costs are competitive, but for small ones, a minimum order surcharge will be incurred and your price rounded up to $90.
3D printing capabilities include: FDM, industrial FDM, SLA, industrial SLA, SLS, and MJF. Other manufacturing services include: CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding.
PCBWay
The popular PCB manufacturer PCBWay has upped its game and introduced the option to order 3D prints directly from its website. Alongside various circuit boards and SMT assembly options, you can now have your model 3D printed in over 44 different materials. SLA, DLP, FDM, SLM, SLS, PolyJet manufacturing are the main technologies offered.
In addition to 3D printing, PCBWay offers a wide range of prototyping and manufacturing processes like CNC machining, vacuum casting, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding. There are also options to add metal inserts to the parts, mark prints with serial numbers, or even assemble them. And to make your part even more aesthetic, the surface finishes offered include electroplating, spray painting, and sanding.
Once you upload your part or parts, you’re asked a series of questions about whether it contains threads or inserts, to which it asks you to upload technical drawings to ensure accuracy of the part. If you decline, you’ll have to trust that your design will print the way it was intended to.
Their prices are competitive, especially if you look for cheaper shipping carriers. For our purposes, we chose the cheaper of the carriers we knew—USPS, DHL, and FedEx—so that all of the printing services tested for this article maintained the same constraints. However, the company lists a disclaimer saying quoted price is for reference only and the official amount “will be generated after manual review by engineer in according to the complexity of the part structure and process requirements.“
3D printing capabilities include SLA, DLP, FDM, SLM, SLS, and PolyJet. Other manufacturing services include CNC and EDM (electrical discharge) machining, sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, quality control, and surface finishing.
Shapeways
Even with its 2024 bankruptcy hiccup, Shapeways is still one of the biggest players in the 3D printing services market. Founded in 2007 in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Shapeways was one of the pioneers of additive manufacturing and is widely trusted for its services.
Like the other services we tested, Shapeways asks you to upload your print file and select a printing technology and material before it generates a quote. The price per part, regardless of size or complexity, stayed at a flat $5.79 whether we ordered 1, 10, or 99, which is great for small orders and prototypes. That flat rate makes Shapeways competitive for one-offs, but it adds up quickly: our quote for 10 sets came in at nearly four times the price of our lowest quote. For orders of 100 or more, the site displays an automated message saying the team needs to review the order before it can generate a quote. Shipping stayed at $24.96 no matter where in the US we wanted the parts delivered, but tax, as you’d expect, varied by state. Delivery time was also the longest of any of the services we tested, at over a month. Even with their higher priced rush delivery charge, delivery time was still 19 days.
3D printing capabilities include FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, SAF, Material Jetting, and Lost Wax Casting. Other manufacturing services include CNC machining, quality checks and inspections, spray painting, vapor smoothing, custom design services, assembly, and white-label shipping.
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