--- title: Shapeways Reviews meta_title: 'Shapeways Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 11 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Shapeways works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.0 review_count: 11 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-14' parent_category: name: CAD & PLM url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad-plm --- # Shapeways Reviews **Vendor:** shapeways **Category:** [Additive Manufacturing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/additive-manufacturing) **Average Rating:** 4.0/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 11 ## About Shapeways Shapeways is the leading platform redefining product creation through services to design, make, and sell using 3D printing. ## Shapeways Reviews ### 1. If you need something 3D printed or want to sell something you design, Shapeways are a good choice **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Steve K. | CSO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 26, 2023 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Easy tools for uploading 3D designs and exploring other designs and ensuring they are printable **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** The costs for certain materials can be very expensive **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Shapeways allows me to upload 3D models that I can print for in-house use or upload models for others to print (and it's possible to put a markup on them). Though it's possible to 3D print at home or locally, Shapeways supports many types of material that are not printable on consumer printers such as metal. This means Shapeways can be used for uploading jewellery designs and such like. ### 2. "Best for customizing 3D-Print" **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** varma s. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 29, 2023 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Shapeways provides a wide range of features and designs that allow users to bring precision and customization. Shapeways provides high standards to ensure the 3D design meets a professional standard. It is collaborative. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** Although Shapeways has a wide range of features, it is limited to highly specialized designs. The pricing can be a challenge for budget-conscious individuals or small businesses. It sometimes causes inconvenience for users. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Shapeways simplify the process of designing 3D design. It eliminates the need to invest more for individuals and businesses for expertise design. Shapeways provide access to advanced manufacturing capabilities. It also opens new creativity and innovation. ### 3. Best 3-D printing software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mikaela P. | Infection Prevention Project Manager, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 16, 2023 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** One of the things that sets Shapeways apart from other 3D printing services is the variety of materials and finishes that they offer. Customers can choose from a range of plastics, metals, and ceramics, each with their own unique properties and aesthetics. Additionally, Shapeways offers a range of finishing options, including polishing, sandblasting, and painting, which can add a professional touch to any project. The ordering process is straightforward and easy to use! Shapeways also offers a range of shipping options, including standard and expedited shipping, as well as the option to pick up orders from a Shapeways location. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** One potential downside of Shapeways is that the pricing can be on the higher side, particularly for more complex or intricate designs. However, the quality of the finished product and the range of materials and finishes available may make it worth the extra cost for certain projects. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** For me, Shapeways solved several problems in the past depending on my needs. As an entrepreneur and a product designer, I used their services to turn my digital designs into physical prototypes or end-use parts, which saved me time and money compared to traditional manufacturing methods. ### 4. " **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** samyuktha R. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 02, 2023 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Shapeways help in creating innovative 3D prints for creators. Shapeways provide high standards for designers that help them make exceptional 3D prints. It is excellent software that allows customizing your designs. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** Shapeways can be a bit pricey for small designers. Some designers may find the features challenging to handle and use. It can sometimes cause technical errors while designing. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Shapeways help in customizing by providing various features to create a unique design. It allows you to focus on ideas while it takes care of manufacturing. Shapeways help you to invest less in expertise. ### 5. Super efficient 3D printing software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mikir P. | M, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 22, 2022 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Shapeways offers best-in-use 3D printing services for a variety of applications. The custom designing feature and the ease of optimization are the most attractive features of the software. The software integration is seamless and pricing is convenient as well. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** There is nothing in particular that I dislike about the program. **Recommendations to others considering Shapeways:** It is a very convenient 3D printing software. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am designing various jigs for my production line. With Shapeways, I can achieve adequate design precision and helps improve operational performance. ### 6. Can’t find any better **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 26, 2022 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Convenient and very easy to use. Great support **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** I would have liked a few extra features but I appreciate the simplicity **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** All of my 3d printing needs! ### 7. My review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Boris L. | Design Enablement Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 12, 2021 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Intuitive user interface Easy ordering form Versatile choice of materials Pick-up service Eindhoven **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** Increasing prices No pick-up policy due to COVID-19 **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Fixing stuff at home ### 8. An invaluable and inventive 3D printing tool for the medical industry **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mihir S. | Research Assistant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2021 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** The type and strength of the fabrics used for 3d printing are highly impressive. This program can be used to design products ranging from nanomaterials to heavy-duty prosthetics, without compromising on the quality. It also contains novel features to design and study protein macromolecules to understand the underlying mechanism of action. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** There is nothing in particular that I dislike about this product. It is priced appropriately for the services it offers. **Recommendations to others considering Shapeways:** For fellow researchers, I would certainly suggest this program to design molecular interaction and structural pathways **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used Shape Ways to design and study small molecule inhibitors of my target compound in breast cancer models. I was thoroughly impressed by the wide number of options it provides to design the molecule. ### 9. Very useful **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Laniesha R. | Vice President of Business Administration and Technology , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 07, 2019 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** How reliable the software is and how much it helps with 3D images and advertisement. **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** Not always getting the results I want because sometimes the advertisement will come out differently than expected. You have to be Very specific about the advertisement you want either regular or 3-D printing **Recommendations to others considering Shapeways:** Use this for all your website and 3d modeling needs. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Getting my website to work better and having marketing be more presentable for the business. ### 10. Shapeways do not take responsibility for defect parts **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Guy T. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2020 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** The range of materials and accessibility **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** After 3 years of ordering parts from shapeways for my business, they sent one of my orders with defect parts. Another 10 frustrating days of emailing customer service without shapeways taking responsibility about this case, left me with very unhappy clients of mine that I needed to compensate. including one poor guy, who ordered a wedding ring and needed to rush and find a replacement just before his wedding. I am now checking for a substitute provider. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used them as my manufacturing facility ### 11. Great when your standard FDM printer isn't up to the job **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Warehousing | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 20, 2019 **What do you like best about Shapeways?** Easy to upload/generate instant quote of parts in a wide variety of materials. High quality parts delivered quickly with status updates during manufacturing, **What do you dislike about Shapeways?** Not worth the cost if you have access to 3D printers up to the task. **Recommendations to others considering Shapeways:** If you need detailed parts with high quality surface finish Shapeways is hard to beat. With a large variety of materials and quick turn time, there's nothing quite like Shapeways as a serious tool for Engineers, artists and hobbyists alike. **What problems is Shapeways solving and how is that benefiting you?** Complex prototype parts delivered much quicker than traditional methods. Self service quoting/ordering is a huge plus when working off hours. A wide variety of materials/post processing options available to suit most any need. ## Shapeways Discussions - [Is shapeways safe to buy from?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-shapeways-safe-to-buy-from) - 1 comment - [View Shapeways pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/shapeways-shapeways/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-21+13%3A22%3A17+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=ee869b12-1308-4498-9c5e-02c006875373&secure%5Btoken%5D=609b1d00338d7f540216ba11ae6577deb8fb3d1097e09ea1ad12170b9708ab55&format=llm_user) ## Shapeways Features **File Support - Additive Manufacturing** - STL Compatible - 3MF Compatible - OBJ Compatible **File Editing - Additive Manufacturing** - Mesh Repair - File Editing **Software Integrations - Additive Manufacturing** - Standalone Slicer - Inetgrated 3D Modeling **Software Type - Additive Manufacturing** - Cloud-based Platform - Downloadable Application **Generative AI - Additive Manufacturing** - AI Text-to-Image - AI Text-to-3D **Building Preparation - Additive Manufacturing** - Material Management - Building Simulation - Slicing Optimization ## Top Shapeways Alternatives - [Onshape](https://www.g2.com/products/onshape/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (682 reviews) - [SOLIDWORKS](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (629 reviews) - [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (509 reviews)