In early July 2024, 3D printing service provider Shapeways filed for bankruptcy, marking what we all thought was the end of an era for the popular online platform renowned for its on-demand parts manufacturing. Luckily, before the month was over, the company Manuevo BV, led by two of the original founding members, were able to reacquire Shapeways assets and bring it back to life. By the end of 2024, Shapeways was up and running again.
In a volatile market, it’s always good to consider alternatives in the rapidly growing 3D printing services space. In this article, we highlight the best standout alternatives that have emerged in the time since Shapeways’ innovative launch in the late 2000s.
Although Shapeways has always been a trailblazer in its time, the landscape of online, on-demand manufacturing services has expanded significantly. We’ll explore the top options available today, giving you an overview of the current market and helping you find the best platform for your 3D printing needs.
While Shapeways is still one of the first big players in the market, there are quite a few alternative suppliers who offer similar services. We’ve identified a few considerations that are helpful to keep in mind when searching for other options:
- Viable alternative: As this article is all about alternatives to Shapeways, we selected similar services in terms of their capabilities, quality of services, and convenience.
- Easy to navigate: Quick manufacturing means easy to order, too. This is why we’ll compare the user interfaces and versatility of their online sites.
- Reach: Not all 3D printing services offer worldwide shipping, so we chose the ones that deliver worldwide.
Let’s dive in!
Craftcloud
Craftcloud is a 3D printing service that aims to deliver industrial-quality parts at the most competitive prices. It enables you to compare services from over 150+ manufacturing partners around the world and find the right one at the right price. You can select the best price, the fastest, or a manufacturing partner with the best combination of these traits.
Quotes are generated in real time based on your uploaded models and location. Using the platform is as simple as any other 3D printing service, but it has many more options available. For example, you find all metals you can choose from 25 metals, including steels, alloys, aluminum, titanium, and precious metals like sterling silver and gold. Depending on the material you select, you can also request particular finishes.
Unlike most other 3D printing networks, Craftcloud discloses the prices of each manufacturing partner, and you choose the one that best fits your criteria. Still, Craftcloud takes care of the entire process from order to delivery to ensure your parts are printed and shipped to your satisfaction, all with no additional fees and no minimum order value. Craftcloud’s manufacturing partners include some of the biggest in the industry, such as Materialise, Sculpteo, WeNext, and others.
Craftcloud offers one of the widest ranges of 3D printing technologies available: over 21 technologies, including FDM, SLS, MJF, SLA, and SLM. Besides 3D printing, Craftcloud offers services like CNC machining, laser cutting, vacuum casting, injection molding, and more.
Their FDM offering is extensive, offering many colors and materials, including engineering-grade materials. Prices for FDM vary, although we found them to be consistently amongst the most affordable.
The website is clean, easy to navigate, and super simple to change parameters and find the best price. The prices are open and transparent, which isn’t very common with other comparable services. It was optimized for mobile, too, which, in terms of convenience, is miles ahead of the other contenders.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLS, MJF, SLA, DLP, LCD, PolyJet, binder jetting, metal 3D printing, laser cutting, vacuum casting, injection molding, and others.
- Shipping: Worldwide
Xometry
Xometry is an on-demand manufacturing service that has an extensive network of industrial manufacturers, including over 2,000 in Europe alone. Having worked with industry giants like BMW, GE, and Bosch, it’s safe to say that Xometry has an industrial focus.
With such a large network of manufacturing partners, it comes as no surprise that the range of available services is quite wide. Seven different technologies are available in the 3D printing category. There are also various options for CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, molding, and casting.
Their website is intuitive. Unfortunately, it’s a little difficult to change materials or manufacturing type after you’ve gone all the way through, but it’s very clear to see what you’re getting, thanks to the single-page order overview.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLA, SLS, DMLS, MJF, PolyJet, Carbon DLS, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, injection and compression molding, vacuum and die casting
- Shipping: Worldwide
Protolabs Network
This 3D printing service has undergone many name changes. What began as a 3D printing network, the originally named 3D Hubs, which was mainly supported by local enthusiasts and occasional professionals, became just Hubs and then Protolabs Network by Hubs and now is just known as Protolabs Network. It’s capabilities include 3D printing, CNC machining, injection molding, and sheet metal fabrication. With its partners, it is capable of producing anywhere from one to 1,000 pieces.
The service bills itself as the “easiest way to source custom parts.” Orders are directed to manufacturers based on how well their expertise matches the order’s requirements.
Their FDM offering is pretty good, although not as extensive as Craftcloud’s. They split the materials into two use cases: prototyping and industrial applications. For the former, you’ll find the usual suspects like PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, and TPU. For the latter, industrial-grade nylon, PEI, ASA, and ABS are available for manufacturing.
Beyond FDM, Protolabs Network offers a few other types of 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding. On their website, it’s possible to upload a file for a quick quote. It’s straightforward and intuitive to navigate and submit. Prices are dynamically updated based on material and location, with turnaround times clearly specified, helping customers make informed decisions. However, a minimum order value surcharge for smaller orders may deter consumers or single-item purchasers.
The main appeal lies in its extensive network of local manufacturers and additional services for professional clients, including various post-printing surface finishes like polishing.
The only caveat is that the website is not very well optimized for mobile. While it’s easy to change between materials types of manufacturing, and select other parameters on a desktop, this is difficult on mobile devices.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, CNC machining, injection molding, sheet metal fabrication
- Shipping: Worldwide
Materialise OnSite
Materialise OnSite is a Belgium-based company with offices and facilities in the US. Its services are broken out into a few different manufacturing arms, which makes it a bit difficult to navigate which one you might need. The likely reason behind this lack of ease-of-use is the massive range of what Materialise OnSite can print. From its healthcare wing, which prints human surgical guides and implants like jaw bone replacement, to its aerospace division that can fabricate certified-to-fly parts, to its quick self-service prototyping service called i.materialise, if Materialise OnSite can’t print it, no one can.
One of the strengths of Materialise OnSite is the design and consultancy services it provides to its business customers. If you’re not sure your product can or should be 3D printed, Materialise OnSite can help you analyze the real costs and potential savings.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, PolyJet, metal 3D printing, vacuum casting
- Shipping: Worldwide
WeNext
Based in Shenzhen, China, WeNext specializes in producing resin and nylon prints. As one of the leading online manufacturing service platforms in the Asia-Pacific region, it serves over 200,000 customers and has access to more than 800 machines through its partner network. In addition to resin and nylon prints, the company offers metal 3D printing, plastic and metal CNC manufacturing, and vacuum casting of various popular plastic materials.
With efficient international shipping, including expedited delivery within 24 hours, WeNext is expanding its reach to the global market. It presents a cost-effective alternative to some of the more widely recognized services on this list.
WeNext’s printing service can be accessed via Craftcloud.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLM, SLA, SLS, MJF, metal 3D printing, CNC machining, vacuum casting
- Shipping: Worldwide
Sculpteo
Compared to other services on this list, Sculpteo offers a slightly reduced range of manufacturing services. With the exception of laser cutting and engraving, the bulk of their service offering revolves around 3D printing, and most of the main types are represented.
Along with their manufacturing services, Sculpteo’s in-house designers and engineers offer design and consultancy services to support customers at any stage of their projects. Special attention is being paid to optimizing parts for additive manufacturing. The company also offers customers a recycling service for parts printed in PA11 and PA12. Old parts are used to manufacture new parts!
Sculpteo is rated highly among the semi-professional hobbyist and freelancer communities, with YouTubers such as QuirkyCubes highly rating their capabilities, speed of delivery, and part quality, even for complex interlocking parts.
Their website is well-designed and easy to use. You can quickly get an instant quote, and it’s simple to change different materials and manufacturing methods.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLA, DLP, LCD, SLS, binder jetting, PolyJet, HP Jet Fusion, metal 3D printing, lost wax casting, laser cutting and engraving
- Shipping: Worldwide
Quickparts
Quickparts is a handy service offering many of the same services as Shapeways, though their 3D printing technologies are more narrowly focused. In addition, they offer both rapid and functional prototyping services as well as low-volume production.
Speed is of the utmost importance, as evidenced in their name, and they boast one of the fastest lead times for injection molding: five business days. Users can get a “QuickQuote”, but first, they must sign up for an account. The website is easy to navigate, simple, but also informative.
During ordering, it’s very easy to modify between methods and materials. They provide a clear one-page overview, which is really useful.
- Capabilities: FDM, SLA, SLS, DLP, metal 3D printing, CNC machining, urethane and metal casting, sheet metal fabrication, lost wax casting patterns
- Shipping: Worldwide
License: The text of "7 Shapeways Alternatives We Recommend" by All3DP Pro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.