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UltiMaker is the company formed in 2022 when the Dutch printer maker Ultimaker, founded in 2011, merged with MakerBot. It sells professional desktop and industrial printers (the S series, Factor 4, MakerBot Method and Sketch) to businesses, engineering teams and schools, and develops the open-source Cura slicer and the Digital Factory cloud platform.

Gegründet: 2011 · Hauptsitz: Zaltbommel, Netherlands, and New York, USA · Eigentümerschaft: Privately held; at the 2022 merger NPM Capital held the majority and Stratasys a minority stake · Website: ultimaker.com

UltiMaker is mixed: Cura and material choice are open, and printers can be used on the local network, but the printer firmware is closed and most management features sit in its Digital Factory cloud.

Firmware und angepasste Firmware
●●●●●		 The printers' own software is not published: UltiMaker's GitHub has its Linux kernel configuration and Cura, but no printer firmware. We found no documented way to run custom firmware on current S-series or Method printers. [1][2]
Lokale Steuerung und Integrationen
●●●●●		 Cura can add an S-series printer on the local network, by discovery or IP, without signing in, and start prints. UltiMaker says most features are only available through its Digital Factory cloud, and the API it documents publicly is that cloud API; we found no public documentation for controlling the printers locally. [3][12]
Filament, Slicer und Teile von Drittanbietern
●●●●●		 Cura is open source and widely used with other brands, and UltiMaker lists over 300 materials, including third-party ones, for the S series. Print cores and the Material Station are UltiMaker's own parts. [2][4]
Reparaturen und Ersatzteile
●●●●●		 UltiMaker publishes maintenance schedules for the S series and sells part bundles and maintenance kits, and gives an expected printer lifetime of five years at 1,500 printing hours a year. [5]
Daten und Datenschutz
●●●●●		 Local printing needs no account; Digital Factory needs one. UltiMaker's privacy policy says data is stored and processed in the EEA or the United States depending on the user's region. [6][3]
Community und Dokumentation
●●●●●		 Cura is developed in public on GitHub with a large open issue tracker, and UltiMaker runs a community forum and support knowledge base. Printer internals are not documented publicly. [2][3]
Vorteile
  • Cura is open source and works with printers from many brands.
  • Wide material choice on the S series, including third-party materials.
  • Printers can be used on the local network without an account.
  • Published maintenance schedules and maintenance kits for long service life.
Nachteile
  • Printer firmware is closed.
  • Most fleet and management features need the Digital Factory cloud, with paid tiers.
  • MakerBot CloudPrint was shut down in 2025, forcing users to move platforms.
  • Print cores and the Material Station are UltiMaker-only parts.
Erfolgsbilanz
  • 21. Mai 2026: UltiMaker launched the Factor 4 Plus, an industrial printer up to twice as fast as the Factor 4, with TRACE print validation for production and defence customers. [7]
  • Februar 2026: UltiMaker sold the Thingiverse model platform to MyMiniFactory and archived its Thingiverse forum. [8]
  • Dezember 2025: UltiMaker shut down MakerBot CloudPrint in early December 2025. Users had to reconnect printers to Digital Factory, with a free year of its premium tier offered to former CloudPrint users; the Replicator+ cannot be networked in Digital Factory. [9]
  • Mai 2022: Ultimaker and Stratasys' MakerBot announced a merger backed by $62.4 million from NPM Capital and Stratasys, with co-CEOs from both companies and headquarters in the Netherlands and New York. The combined company took the UltiMaker name. [10][11]
Recherchiert anhand von 12 Quellen, zuletzt geprüft am 18. Oktober 2026. Quellen anzeigen
  1. Ultimaker/um-kernel on GitHub github.com
  2. Ultimaker/Cura on GitHub github.com
  3. How to add a printer to UltiMaker Cura | UltiMaker Support support.ultimaker.com
  4. UltiMaker: Professional and Industrial 3D Printing Solutions ultimaker.com
  5. Extend Your S Series 3D Printer Life with a Maintenance Kit ultimaker.com
  6. Privacy Policy - UltiMaker ultimaker.com
  7. Introducing UltiMaker Factor 4 Plus: Industrial 3D Printing ultimaker.com
  8. Breaking: MyMiniFactory Acquires the Thingiverse Platform ultimaker.com
  9. CloudPrint Has Been Retired - Here's How to Move Forward with Digital Factory ultimaker.com
  10. Makerbot and Ultimaker merge to form new desktop 3D printing power - 3D Printing Industry 3dprintingindustry.com
  11. MakerBot and Ultimaker Announce Merger | Tom's Hardware tomshardware.com
  12. docs.api.ultimaker.com