Prusa Research, a 3D printer maker, writes about new printers, firmware features, licensing, and open-source in 3D printing.
Commenters cite its open-source article and debate whether Prusa is still open, comparing it with Bambu, Voron, and RatRig.
The author starts out discussing licenses and by the fourth paragraph has jumped to the standard "I've never used a prusa, but here's why they suck" talking points and then at the end of the article even points out that the license talk has nothing to do with their assertions.
> Prusa responded to this certainty by not diversifying their business model whatsoever. There has only ever been one Prusa product: their latest 3D printer model.
https://blog.prusa3d.com/prusa-pro-our-industrial-product-line-at-formnext-2023_85533/ https://blog.prusa3d.com/printables-store_87810/ https://blog.prusa3d.com/printables-clubs-are-live-you-can-now-support-the-creators-you-love-on-printables_81063/ https://blog.prusa3d.com/trilabs-industrial-3d-printers-one-year-later-moving-expansion-and-prusa-e-shop_72326/
These are just the first few pages of their blog, I could go on.
> Or, you can buy an Ender 3 off Amazon right now for $180 and you’ll get better than half of the value of an Mk4 at an 85% discount.
It's difficult to assume that the author is communicating in good faith when one reads something as obviously wrong as this. If you can't spot the difference between a Ender 3 and an MK4, you shouldn't be writing about 3d printers.
> Prusa’s naive strategy is causing their position to fall like a rock.
Are Prusa's financials available somewhere that I'm not aware of? They seem to be doing fine considering they can't make printers fast enough to keep up with demand.
> and the fact that it doesn't remove assembly as a manufacturing step
Prusa is working on a Pick & Place Toolhead for the Prusa XL to enable at least some very specific assembly steps to be done on this 3D printer:
> https://blog.prusa3d.com/xl-in-2026-new-toolheads-lower-price_129707/
"One Print, Multiple Components: Pick & Place Tool
Some technical prints require additional components, such as magnets, threaded inserts, or bearings, to be placed during the build. Without automation, this typically means you have to pause the print and insert the part(s) by hand. Although PrusaSlicer made this process easier a while ago, The Pick & Place toolhead can do it for you, completely autonomously. This reduces manual intervention and improves placement accuracy.
We’ve co-developed the toolhead with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and it’s designed for models that combine 3D-printed models with off-the-shelf components. We’re currently targeting late 2026 with its implementation."
>Well we don’t really know that an accelerometer is needed for input shaping for a nozzle that is only accelerating across a single plane.
Input shaping requires an accelerometer for calibration. On a bedslinger like the Mk4, you need two sets of measurements - one for the toolhead and one for the bed, because both are moving and both can experience different resonances. The Prusa solution is to pre-calibrate input shaping from the factory; this is less than ideal, because printer resonances can be substantially affected by the surface that the printer is sitting on. The user could re-calibrate input shaping, but that would require them to connect their own accelerometer module to the motherboard and find some means of jury-rigging it in place.
https://blog.prusa3d.com/announcing-original-prusa-mk4_76585/#inputshaper
Prusa is still the most 'open source-ish' choice, but they're no longer a polar opposite to Bambu, in 2023 they started making efforts to stop commercialization of their designs, stopped sharing source/design material for their PCBs, etc.
Then in 2025 they changed their 'open community license' to say users may not:
“Sell complete machines or remixes based on these files, unless you have a separate agreement…” and “The Restriction: You cannot commercially exploit the design files…”
https://blog.prusa3d.com/core-one-cad-files-release-under-the-new-open-community-license-ocl_127290/
Maybe this is more a comment on how open source has had to change in the face of commercial exploitation of the vulnerabilities traditional open source licenses create for the businesses doing the R&D.
> Prusa are trying to make an open source hardware company work and I guess this is what it looks like.
https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-state-of-open-source-in-3d-printing-in-2023_76659/ sure sounds like they no longer intend to be an "open source hardware company".
For example:
> Parts that can be considered consumables (e.g., thermistors, heater blocks, fans, printing plates, etc.) can be manufactured and sold commercially after the verification by the licensor based on the presentation of samples.
That is very much against the concept of open source.
It's cool that you support plotters. I don't have a plotter, but I DO have a 3D printer, and those can also do some pretty cool 2D visualizations.
There's a good ecosystem for Lithophanes [0][1] and maps [2][3]. This would be a cool addition to that.
[0] https://all3dp.com/2/how-to-3d-print-your-own-lithophane/
[1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU13fzqAu4BTAhOSHJgHRqg
[2] https://blog.prusa3d.com/how-to-print-maps-terrains-and-landscapes-on-a-3d-printer_29117/
[3] https://map2stl.com/