Prusa Research
 | |
| Company type | a.s. |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | |
| Revenue | 2,182,857,000 Czech koruna (2020)  |
| 396,548,000 Czech koruna (2020) | |
| 270,538,000 Czech koruna (2020) | |
| Total assets | 883,921,000 Czech koruna (2020) |
Number of employees | 35 (2020) |
Prusa Research is a Czech company that produces 3D printers, and was the world's second largest 3D printer manufacturer in 2020.[1]
It was founded in 2012 by Josef Průša, a developer in the RepRap project which has a strong emphasis on open-source hardware. In the past, all printers produced by the company were open source – their design plans were fully available online and anyone could use them, for example to improve an existing printer.[2] Some examples are the Prusa i3, Prusa Mini and Prusa XL.
As of 2023, the company started partially abandoning this open-source concept due to competition from others[3] (including their open-source software being used by competitor Bambu Lab[4][5]), and in 2024 launched their second CoreXY printer Prusa Core One which is no longer fully open-source.[6]
Prusa Research currently offers the Original Prusa MK4S, Original Prusa XL, Original Prusa MINI+ and the latest Prusa CORE One printer, which, like the XL, uses CoreXY kinematics. In addition to these FDM printers, Prusa Research also offers the Original Prusa SL1S SLA printer. With Trilab, the company is further developing the Prusa PRO product line.[8] This includes the Prusa Pro HT90 and Prusa Pro SLX printer models.
Accessories for the printers can be purchased in the form of the Enclosure, the Prusa CW1S washing and curing station for SLA printing, and the MMU3 multimaterial upgrade.
The company offers upgrades for almost all of its printers - for example, you can upgrade the Prusa i3 MK3S+ to the Prusa i3 MK4.
Software
[edit]Prusa Research also develops its own software.
PrusaSlicer
[edit]Prusa Research software products includes the open-source PrusaSlicer (GNU Affero General Public License v3.0[9]), based on Alessandro Ranellucci's Slic3r, a well-known 3D model preparation program that is no longer being updated with new features and settings. In PrusaSlicer, profiles can be created for any 3D printer on the market, meaning that one does not need to own a Prusa printer to use the program.
Prusa launched Prusa Connect. An online managment system for printers and print farms. It allows to control the machine and send printjobs and files remotly. The predeccesor of PrusaConnect is PrusaLink which was a LAN only based system. As of 2025 you can connect the Prusa CORE One, MK4 and higher, Prusa MINI, Prusa XL, Prusa HT90, Prusa CW1S and with the help of a Raspberry Pi even the older models such as the MK2 and derivatives and the MK3 lineup. The Prusa Connect also works in collaboration with the app.
Along with the introduction of the Prusa MK4S series, Prusa also released its native mobile app for monitoring and basic control of its PrusaConnect connected printers. It is also used for initial printer setup and belt maintenance. The app also features Printables integration and the ability to print models directly from a mobile phone with the newly introduced EasyPrint feature.
Printables.com is an online library of 3D models developed by Prusa, where users can share their models, alternations of other models called Remixes and publish their printed results under the author's original model. It thus competes directly with platforms such as MakerWorld from Bambu Lab or Thingiverse. The EasyPrint feature is now available for Prusa printers, enabling cloud slicing for printing from mobile devices or less powerful computers.
References
[edit]- ^ "Když české techno okouzluje svět". Vol. 33, no. 45. p. 17.
- ^ "The Make: 3D Printer Buyer's Guide".
- ^ Průša, Josef (2023-03-29). "The state of open-source in 3D printing in 2023". Original Prusa 3D Printers. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ Sher, Davide (2023-11-22). "Fabbaloo reports on Prusa-Bambu Lab fight over open source licenses". VoxelMatters - The heart of additive manufacturing. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ "The Life and Death of Open Source Companies". Armin Ronacher's Thoughts and Writings. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ By (2024-11-20). "With Core ONE, Prusa's Open Source Hardware Dream Quietly Dies". Hackaday. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ "3D printers | Original Prusa 3D printers directly from Josef Prusa". Prusa3D by Josef Prusa. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
- ^ "Prusa Research míří do oblasti průmyslového 3D tisku, kupuje českou firmu Trilab | 3D tiskárny Original Prusa přímo od Josefa Průši". Prusa3D by Josef Prusa (in Czech). Retrieved 2025-03-31.
- ^ "PrusaSlicer/LICENSE at master · prusa3d/PrusaSlicer". GitHub. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ^ "Prusa Connect: Secure remote 3D printing from anywhere". connect.prusa3d.com. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
- ^ "PRUSA.app | Original Prusa 3D printers directly from Josef Prusa". www.prusa.app. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
- ^ Průša, Josef (2022-03-30). "PrusaPrinters.org is now Printables.com - The Ultimate Database of 3D Models for Everyone!". Original Prusa 3D Printers. Retrieved 2025-03-31.