Xometry, but for the printer in your garage
Xometry is excellent at what it's built for: industrial parts and procurement teams. It is not built for a hobbyist with two printers — and there's no shame in either direction.
Makers regularly ask whether they can put a personal Bambu or Prusa to work on Xometry. Realistically: no. Xometry's supplier network is for registered businesses — their onboarding involves a W-9, test parts, and a documented quality-control process, and certifications like ISO 9001 are valued.
That's not a criticism; it's the product working as designed. Industrial buyers need certified, repeatable suppliers. But if you're a hobbyist whose printer sits idle 20 hours a day, you need something built for you instead.
Assista3d vs Xometry, honestly
| Assista3d | Xometry | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can join | Any maker with a printer. No business entity required. | Registered businesses; onboarding includes test parts and a documented quality-control process. |
| Platform economics | 0% fee. You keep the full price you set. | Take rates aren't published. Makers on machinist forums report losing 30-40% of a job's price to platform margins — treat that as anecdote, not a stated fact. |
| Who sets the price | You do. | The platform prices the job and offers it to suppliers, who accept or pass. |
| Typical job | A neighbor's bracket, prop, or prototype in PLA or PETG, picked up locally. | Industrial orders — CNC, sheet metal, injection molding, pro-grade additive — often with tolerance and certification requirements. |
| Fulfillment | Local pickup. No shipping. | You ship every job to spec, on deadline. |
| Customer traffic today | Early and growing — we say so plainly. | Large, established industrial demand. |
Xometry does not publish its take rates, so this page never states one as fact — the 30-40% figure is what makers themselves report on machinist forums, and your experience could differ. Supplier requirements are from Xometry's own partner-network pages, checked July 2026.
Where Xometry genuinely wins
- Certified industrial parts: metals, tight tolerances, ISO/AS9100 supply chains. Nobody local competes with that, and we won't pretend otherwise.
- If you already run a registered shop with quality systems and spare capacity, Xometry can genuinely fill idle machine time.
- Big-company procurement: POs, compliance paperwork, one vendor for many processes.
Where Assista3d wins
- You can join with nothing but a printer and a free application — no LLC, no test-part gauntlet.
- 0% platform fee, and you set your own prices instead of accepting the platform's.
- Local pickup means no packing to industrial spec and no shipping deadlines.
- Your storefront, QR flyer, and instant-quote link are yours — useful even with zero network traffic.
Who should use which
Use Xometry if…
- Registered manufacturing businesses with quality systems looking to fill capacity.
- Buyers who need certified industrial parts, metals, or tight-tolerance work.
Use Assista3d if…
- Hobbyists and side-hustle makers with consumer FDM printers.
- Customers who need everyday plastic parts fast, from someone nearby.
If you're a real shop, run both: Xometry for industrial capacity-filling, a free Assista3d storefront for local walk-up work your big customers would never send you.
Your town is probably still open
A free storefront, your prices, local pickup, and a 0% platform fee — today and for years to come. Here's exactly how we plan to keep it that way.