Looking for 3D Filament Profiles alternatives?
3D Filament Profiles is a genuinely impressive thing: a huge, free, community-built filament catalogue, self-branded the world's largest, plus a personal spool inventory, HueForge-focused colour tooling and a deep hardware reference. If you want the biggest browsable list of filaments to look things up in, and you're happy to keep your own inventory by hand, it's a great free resource.
But it doesn't touch your printer. To keep a spool accurate you weigh it or log each print yourself, every time. SimplyPrint's filament manager works the other way around: it's connected to your printers, reads the G-code of every print, and deducts filament from the assigned spool on its own, with no weighing and no manual subtracting. Here's a fair, side-by-side look, first purely as a filament manager, then as the whole platform.
There's a lot more to the SimplyPrint filament manager
Automatic usage tracking, NFC across every standard, Bambu & Creality AMS auto-import, direct Dymo & Zebra label printing, drying, storage locations, a mobile app and the Open Filament Database. See it all, with screenshots, on one page.
Explore the filament manager
Compare 3D Filament Profiles vs SimplyPrint:
3D Filament Profiles is a free, community-driven filament catalogue and a manual personal inventory, with strong HueForge colour tooling and a broad hardware reference. It's a fine fit if you mainly want a place to browse filaments and keep your own spool list by hand, and you don't need your tool to talk to the printer.
SimplyPrint is a connected filament manager: it reads the G-code of every print and deducts filament automatically, so there's nothing to weigh or subtract, across any printer brand. It adds native NFC read and write, Bambu and Creality AMS auto-import, native iOS and Android apps, direct Dymo and Zebra label printing, and the open, MIT-licensed Open Filament Database (174 brands), which you can download, embed and edit in the browser. And the filament manager is free on every plan. If you want the biggest catalogue to browse and don't mind logging usage yourself, that's 3D Filament Profiles; if you want tracking that just happens off your printer, that's SimplyPrint.
Comparing purely as a filament manager, the deep, head-to-head view.
A filament manager that tracks usage for you
This is the heart of it. 3D Filament Profiles doesn't connect to your printers, so keeping a spool accurate means weighing it or logging each print yourself. SimplyPrint is connected to them, so your inventory stays right on its own.
A bigger catalogue, or an open one
Credit where it's due: 3D Filament Profiles has a far larger filament catalogue than we do, and it grows daily. Our database is a different proposition: smaller, but genuinely open, downloadable and wired into tracking.
Where 3D Filament Profiles is the better pick
It's a well-made, genuinely useful resource, and for some people it's the right call. Credit where it's due:
3D Filament Profiles does two jobs, a filament catalogue and a manual inventory, and does the catalogue part very well. SimplyPrint includes a connected filament manager and surrounds it with the rest of a print operation: a print queue, a full cloud slicer, AI failure and bed detection, a maintenance system, teams and permissions, native mobile apps and more, in one hosted platform that's free to start. In the table below, their column is the catalogue and manual inventory; ours is the whole platform.
The same filament comparison, plus everything else SimplyPrint does that a catalogue and manual log doesn't.
A filament manager that tracks usage for you
This is the heart of it. 3D Filament Profiles doesn't connect to your printers, so keeping a spool accurate means weighing it or logging each print yourself. SimplyPrint is connected to them, so your inventory stays right on its own.
A bigger catalogue, or an open one
Credit where it's due: 3D Filament Profiles has a far larger filament catalogue than we do, and it grows daily. Our database is a different proposition: smaller, but genuinely open, downloadable and wired into tracking.
Where 3D Filament Profiles is the better pick
It's a well-made, genuinely useful resource, and for some people it's the right call. Credit where it's due:
3D Filament Profiles and SimplyPrint comparison
Nothing is black-and-white, and there are always pros and cons to consider when choosing a 3D printing cloud solution!
And we're not here to simply tell you, that SimplyPrint is the best - we want you to make an informed decision, and of course there are pros of using 3D Filament Profiles as well!
Pros of using 3D Filament Profiles
3D Filament Profiles has real strengths, and they're worth being honest about:- A huge, fast-growing catalogue: a large community-built filament database, self-branded the world's largest, with thousands of filaments across hundreds of brands and growing daily.
- Strong colour & HueForge tooling: community-voted TD (Transmission Distance) values, hex and RGB matching, colour cards and a swatch system, a niche it serves better than most.
- A broad hardware reference: spec catalogues for printers, AMS units, build plates and dryers, with verified-versus-community status and live vendor pricing.
- Genuinely free and community-driven: no paywall, browsable without an account, and easy to contribute to through the UI, with an active Discord, Reddit and GitHub community.
- It does print labels and scan codes: direct thermal printing to Phomemo, Niimbot and Brother, plus QR and UPC barcode scanning from a phone or Bluetooth scanner.
Cons of using 3D Filament Profiles
Where 3D Filament Profiles falls short if you want tracking that just happens:- It isn't connected to your printers: it never measures usage itself. To keep a spool accurate you weigh it or log each print by hand; there's no G-code deduction and no live link to the printer.
- No NFC, no AMS link and no native app: there's no NFC anywhere, the AMS pages are a hardware spec reference rather than a live integration, and it's a responsive web app and PWA with no native iOS or Android app.
- The data is hosted-only: your inventory lives in their cloud. You can export your own spools, but the catalogue is proprietary, with no licence, official bulk export or public API, so you can't own or run the platform yourself.
- Fixed-schema fields, not arbitrary ones: per-spool settings like nozzle and bed temperature and notes are built in, but you can't define your own free-form custom fields.
3D Filament Profiles vs. SimplyPrint
Side-by-side list comparison of details and features in 3D Filament Profiles and SimplyPrint
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|---|---|---|
| Filament management | ||
| Free to use | ||
| Open-source / self-hostable ? | ||
| Filament database ? | ~29,000 filaments, 960+ brands (self-branded 'world's largest') | Open Filament Database |
| Open, community-built database ? | ||
| Add filament without code or GitHub ? | ||
| Connects directly to your printer ? | ||
| Automatic usage tracking (no manual subtracting) ? | Manual (weigh or log each print) | |
| AMS auto-import (Bambu / Creality / Anycubic) ? | Bambu, Creality, Anycubic + more | |
| Read filament NFC tags | ||
| Write filament NFC tags | ||
| Label printing (direct to Dymo / Zebra) | Dymo & Zebra | |
| Barcode / QR scanning | ||
| Drying tracking | ||
| Storage locations | Flat 'My Locations' + QR (nesting not documented) | |
| Cost & spend tracking | ||
| Custom fields | Fixed-schema settings + notes | |
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | ||
| Multi-user / team access | ||
| Import your existing spools ? | ||
| Developer API for filament data ? | ||
| Compare | Learn more | Learn more |
SimplyPrint prices are shown in USD; see our pricing page for your local currency. Competitor prices are shown as they publish them.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Filament management | ||
| Free to use | ||
| Open-source / self-hostable ? | ||
| Filament database ? | ~29,000 filaments, 960+ brands (self-branded 'world's largest') | Open Filament Database |
| Open, community-built database ? | ||
| Add filament without code or GitHub ? | ||
| Connects directly to your printer ? | ||
| Automatic usage tracking (no manual subtracting) ? | Manual (weigh or log each print) | |
| AMS auto-import (Bambu / Creality / Anycubic) ? | Bambu, Creality, Anycubic + more | |
| Read filament NFC tags | ||
| Write filament NFC tags | ||
| Label printing (direct to Dymo / Zebra) | Dymo & Zebra | |
| Barcode / QR scanning | ||
| Drying tracking | ||
| Storage locations | Flat 'My Locations' + QR (nesting not documented) | |
| Cost & spend tracking | ||
| Custom fields | Fixed-schema settings + notes | |
| Mobile app (iOS & Android) | ||
| Multi-user / team access | ||
| Import your existing spools ? | ||
| Developer API for filament data ? | ||
| General | ||
| Has free plan | ||
| Free printers | 2 | |
| Max cost | Free | Free, or from $4/printer/mo |
| Free cloud storage | 1GB | |
| Usage based cost | ||
| Unlimited printing | ||
| Supports all printers | ||
| Features | ||
| Remote access | ||
| Knows your printer | ||
| Cloud files | ||
| Print queue | ||
| Livestream | ||
| Gcode analysis | ||
| A.I failure detection | ||
| AI Bed Check (is the bed clear?) | ||
| AutoPrint / continuous printing | ||
| Maintenance & servicing system | ||
| Custom fields | ||
| Staggered Start (for power draw) | ||
| Schedule prints | ||
| Print job history | ||
| Print remotely | ||
| Built-in slicer | ||
| Multi-printer friendly | ||
| Multi-print | ||
| Multi-stream | ||
| Statistics | ||
| API | ||
| Slicer smart-rotation | ||
| Smart filament change | ||
| Bed level helper | ||
| Organization | ||
| Multiple users | ||
| User groups / ranks | ||
| User permissions | ||
| School plan | ||
| Shared files & folders | ||
| Shared slicer profiles | ||
| Hub | ||
| Custom domains | ||
| SSO (single sign-on) | ||
| Notifications | ||
| Email notifications | ||
| Push (mobile / app) notifications | ||
| SMS / text message notifications | ||
| Apps | ||
| Android app | ||
| iOS app | ||
| "PWA" (installable web-application) | ||
| Security & privacy | ||
| Account 2-factor authentication | ||
| Privacy-minded analytics & data-gathering ? | ||
| Support | ||
| Live-chat support | ||
| Phone support | ||
| Email support | ||
| Firmware & gateway support | ||
| OctoPrint install | ||
| Native Moonraker support | ||
| Mainsail install | ||
| Fluidd install | ||
| Klipper support | ||
| Duet3D integration | ||
| Direct Prusa support (MK4, XL and up / new main boards) | ||
| Direct Bambu Lab printer integration | ||
| Support for custom integrations | ||
| Enterprise & partners | ||
| OEM | ||
| Partner program (reseller / distributor) | ||
| Affiliate program | ||
| On-prem / self-hosting ? | Contact us | |
| Compare | Learn more | Learn more |
SimplyPrint prices are shown in USD; see our pricing page for your local currency. Competitor prices are shown as they publish them.
Contact us if you think we made a mistake in our comparison!
3D Filament Profiles vs. SimplyPrint: frequently asked questions
Is SimplyPrint or 3D Filament Profiles better for filament tracking?
Does 3D Filament Profiles track filament usage automatically?
Does 3D Filament Profiles have a bigger filament database than SimplyPrint?
Can I import my 3D Filament Profiles spools into SimplyPrint?
Does 3D Filament Profiles work with the Bambu Lab AMS or NFC tags?
Does 3D Filament Profiles print labels and scan barcodes?
Do I have to keep my filament inventory by hand with these tools?
Conclusion
Why SimplyPrint is the Top 3D Filament Profiles Alternative
We made SimplyPrint due to the fact, that nothing else on the market quite fit our needs. We wanted a platform that was easy to use, but still had all the features we needed. We wanted a feature-rich platform, intuitive and easy to use, with a great user experience and actual innovation within the 3D print management software space.
In summary, we - humble and unbiased as we are 😉 - believe that the SimplyPrint platform is a great 3D Filament Profiles alternative!
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