Best 3D Printer for Print Farms in 2026: Fleet Picks

Prusa Research is a Prague company founded in 2012 by Josef Průša, who came from the open-source RepRap project. It designs and builds the Original Prusa and Prusa CORE printers, makes Prusament filament, develops the PrusaSlicer slicer and runs the Printables model site. Printers are built in Prague and at its US site in Delaware, sold assembled or as kits, and used by hobbyists, schools, businesses and print farms.

成立: 2012 · 总部: Prague, Czech Republic · 所有权: Prusa Research a.s., founded and led by Josef Průša · 人员: More than 1,200 people (company site, 2026) · 网站: www.prusa3d.com

Prusa is the most open of the large brands: GPL firmware, an open slicer, full local control without an account and spare parts for everything. Hardware design files now come under Prusa's own Open Community License, which allows personal and in-house business use but not selling machines.

• 七月 2026: Printed Solid, the Delaware company Prusa Research bought in 2022, was renamed Prusa USA. Its Wilmington site builds the MK4S and CORE One+, makes filament and is Prusa's US service centre. [9]
• 十二月 2025: Prusa released the full CAD files of the CORE One under its new Open Community License (OCL). OCL allows modifying, sharing mods and in-house commercial use, and grants patent and repair rights, but bars selling machines built from the files without an agreement, so it is not a standard open-source licence. Prusa said it is also filing patents on its designs. [5]
• 十月 2025: Prusa launched OpenPrintTag, a published NFC standard for smart filament spools that any brand can use without licence fees, starting with redesigned Prusament spools. [6]
• 十一月 2024: Prusa announced the CORE One, its first fully enclosed CoreXY printer with active chamber temperature control. [10]
• 三月 2023: Josef Průša wrote that open source in 3D printing was under strain from cloners and licence violations. With the MK4, Prusa released firmware sources and models of the plastic parts but held back the electronics plans, planning to publish them later under a new licence. [11]

QIDI Tech is a Chinese 3D printer maker formed in 2014. It sells enclosed, Klipper-based CoreXY printers such as the compact Q2 and the larger Plus4 and Max4, and develops the open-source QIDI Studio slicer and the QIDI Link app.

成立: 2014 · 网站: qidi3d.com

QIDI is mostly open: its printers are standard Klipper machines you can run fully on the local network, with published source and plenty of spare parts. The phone app and the store-only privacy policy are the weak spots.

• 八月 2026: QIDI published the firmware repository for the Max4 on GitHub under GPL-3.0. [2]
• 一月 2026: QIDI published the Q2's Klipper-based firmware on GitHub under GPL-3.0, with update packages and an issue tracker. [1]

Snapmaker is a Shenzhen company founded in 2016, built around machines that swap tool heads; its Original, 2.0 and U1 machines were launched on Kickstarter. It sells the U1, a CoreXY printer with four tool heads that change in about five seconds for multi-colour printing, and the Artisan, which combines 3D printing, laser engraving and CNC carving. Its buyers are makers, hobbyists and small workshops.

成立: 2016 · 总部: Shenzhen, China · 所有权: Shenzhen Snapmaker Technologies Co., Ltd.; its main products were crowdfunded on Kickstarter · 网站: www.snapmaker.com

Snapmaker is mostly open: the U1 runs Klipper with a local Fluidd interface and published source, and nearly every part is sold separately. Its proprietary hotends and RFID system are the closed parts.

• 八月 2026: Snapmaker published the Artisan's Marlin-based controller firmware on GitHub under GPL-3.0. [4]
• 2026年3月30日: Snapmaker published its modified Klipper, Moonraker and Fluidd for the U1 on GitHub under GPL-3.0, on the last day of the deadline it had set itself. [1][2]
• 十二月 2025: Snapmaker says all U1 Kickstarter orders shipped by 23 December 2025, ahead of its schedule. It says it delivered all three of its Kickstarter campaigns. [12]
• 九月 2025: The U1 Kickstarter raised $20.2 million from more than 20,000 backers by 30 September 2025, the most for any 3D printer on the platform. Snapmaker gives the final total as $20.6 million from 20,680 backers. [11][12]

Creality is a Shenzhen 3D printer maker founded in 2014. Its low-cost Ender series, launched in 2017, made desktop 3D printing affordable for many hobbyists. It now sells Klipper-based K-series CoreXY printers, Ender and CR open-frame printers, the Hi and SPARKX beginner lines, the CFS multi-material system, 3D scanners and laser engravers, and runs the Creality Cloud model platform. It listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2026.

成立: 2014 · 总部: Shenzhen, China · 所有权: Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (3388.HK) since 2026; founder Jack Chen is chief executive · 网站: www.creality.com

Creality sits in the middle: its Klipper-based printers can be run locally with Fluidd and open slicers, and it publishes firmware source, but usually months after launch, and it dropped root access on its 2025 K1 revisions.

• 五月 2026: Creality listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (3388.HK), raising about HK$1.27 billion net. Its prospectus showed 2025 revenue of RMB 3.13 billion and a net loss of RMB 182.4 million, after a profit in 2024. [16][5]
• 十一月 2025: Creality's wiki states that the 2025 revisions of the K1C and K1 Max do not support root access, which earlier K1 printers offered through an official option and guide. [4][17][3]
• 九月 2025: Creality published the Klipper source for its K2 series and for the Hi on GitHub under GPL-3.0. [2][18]
• 八月 2023: About three months after the K1 series launched, Creality published its K1 Klipper source on GitHub, followed by a repository with a root guide and Fluidd and Mainsail install instructions. [1][3][5]

Bambu Lab is a Shenzhen company founded in 2020 by former DJI engineers. It makes FDM printers in four families (A, P, X and H), the AMS multi-material units, the Bambu Studio slicer, the Bambu Handy app and the MakerWorld model site, and designs them to be used together. Its printers are used by beginners, hobbyists, schools and print farms.

成立: 2020 · 总部: Shenzhen, China · 所有权: Privately held; founded by CEO Ye Tao and other former DJI staff, with venture investors (BGR, 2026) · 网站: bambulab.com

Bambu Lab works like Apple: printer, slicer, app, cloud and multi-material system come from one company and are made to work together. Filament and slicer choice stay open, but the firmware is closed and signed, and since 2025 third-party control needs Bambu Connect or the unsupported Developer Mode.

• 九月 2026: A US federal jury in Texas found that Bambu Lab's X1, P1 and A1 printers infringe Stratasys patents on prime towers and bed levelling, and awarded Stratasys $27.6 million. No injunction was placed on the printers. Bambu told Tom's Hardware it disagrees with the verdict and intends to seek post-trial review and appeal. Stratasys had filed two suits in 2024; more patents are still to be decided. [14]
• 五月 2026: Bambu Lab pressed the developer of 'OrcaSlicer-bambulab', a fork that restored direct cloud printing from OrcaSlicer, to remove it, according to Manufactur3D. On 7 May Bambu said the fork impersonated the official Bambu Studio client to its cloud, which its user agreement does not allow, and that modifying and sharing its AGPL code remains fine. The developer disputed the claims. [15][16][17]
• 十月 2025: Bambu Lab opened a Trust Center with a security white paper and listed ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701 and TRUSTe privacy certifications. A year later it said its bug bounty had worked with over 100 researchers and that it had added a public security update log. [2][11]
• 2025年1月20日: After criticism from users and print farms, Bambu Lab announced an optional Developer Mode for X1, P1, A1 and A1 mini that leaves MQTT, FTP and the live stream open for third-party software in LAN mode, without official support. It also said LAN mode via Bambu Connect needs neither internet nor an account, and that third-party filament would not be restricted. [7]
• 2025年1月16日: Bambu Lab announced firmware with 'authorization control', first for the X1: starting prints, moving axes, changing temperatures and binding the printer now require Bambu-approved software, also in LAN mode. On updated printers, third-party slicers and accessories such as the Panda Touch could no longer control the printer except through Bambu Connect; reading status still worked. Bambu cited security and up to 30 million unauthorised cloud requests a day; older firmware stayed optional. [6]
• 三月 2024: After the X1Plus jailbreak, Bambu Lab published a one-off rootable firmware for the X1 series for owners who give up their warranty support. It said it does not support X1Plus, and that firmware after it would block rooting again. [4]
• 二月 2024: Bambu Lab extended its A1 heatbed-cable callback to a recall of all A1 printers and asked owners to stop using them. It reported electrical faults in under 0.1% of units and offered a full refund plus an $80 voucher, or a redesigned heatbed plus a $120 voucher and six extra months of warranty. The A1 mini was not affected. [18][19]
• 一月 2024: Community developers rooted the X1 series through a security flaw in its firmware (up to version 1.07) and released the X1Plus custom firmware. Bambu Lab closed the flaw in later firmware. [22]
• 八月 2023: During a Bambu cloud outage on 15 August 2023, some printers started print jobs without user action, because jobs stuck in the cloud were resent when service returned. Bambu apologised, took responsibility and said it would add checks before a print starts. [12]
• 五月 2022: Before its first printers shipped, Bambu Lab said its firmware would stay closed and in-house to remain competitive, and promised to open-source everything if the company ever could not survive. [1]