# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > RepRap Format Printer Forum >  RepRap Vs. MakerBot

## MattSteiner

Can anyone tell me what the advantages of a RepRap model printer would be over one of the MakerBot models?  I've been debating which I should get for a late christmas gift, and really can't make up my mind.  Would you say a RepRap requires someone more advanced in 3D Printing?

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## brisinger

Depends what you want. The Makerbot is essentially to all intents and purposes a trade built system based on a reprap. As far as a reprap is concerned the sky and your imagination is the limit with it being open source. Essentially no two repraps are the same because it's an evolving product. The reprap I built is slightly based on the Prusa i3 but I have made alterations as it's evolving.

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## jimc

why go for the big name? bigger doesnt mean better. spend some time on the makerbot google group before you go that route. see what the people that own them have to say. imo there are far better printers at a better price point. that said though, if your a do it yourself person that likes to build things then the reprap is prob more for you. if not then there are alot of out of the box printers out there. now more than ever. there are atleast 2 new printers per day being posted on here.

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## JohnA136

My son and I have been involved with and building printers since 2010.  We have almost as many RepRaps as Makerbots. Most are used constantly.  Right now we use the RepRaps for PLA and the MakerBots for Abs (Due to the enclosed boxes.)  I am also a big fan of the new Ultimaker 2.  If I were going to recommend a printer to a friend, I would seriously have them look at that!

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## jimc

john i saw the new ultimaker at the ny makerfaire. that looked like a real nice machine. not crazy about a bowden extruder but other than that its definitely a nice piece.

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## JohnA136

Jim, I am sure you saw my son and I in the 3D Printing Village at Maker Faire NY.  I was a little sketchy of the bowden extruder at first but we had an Ultimaker last year and it printed beautifully.  I can not wait to get my hands on an Ultimaker 2.

ulti-clearvase.jpg

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## jimc

probably john but that place was a mad house. thousands and thousands of people. that tent was like a dance club on a sat night. lol

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## BurnItDownBaby

I simply believe that if you want to be someone that is contantly upgrading your printer, so that yours doesn't become outdate, then the RepRap is for you.  If you are a person that is not that tech savvy, and just wants to get started printing, go for the MakerBot.  They have great tech support and the product is nice.

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## jimc

i have no makerbot experience at all so take this for what its worth. but according to about 90% of the people on their own official forum they have terrible support and the printers need hundreds of dollars worth of aftermarket upgrades just to get them to work properly.

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## JohnA136

Jim, MakerBot has sold thousands and thousands of MakerBots! The number of people on that forum (my son and I are two of them!) is but a tiny percentage.  Most people who bought MakerBots don't ever visit.  Almost all the forums I belong to (cars, bots, guns, tech, etc.) are dominated by complainers.  When they are having problems, they seek out ways of expressing their discontent!

I also agree with BurnItDownBaby, the repraps are perhaps easier to keep current with the large online support group. I love my Prusa i3, and if I have an issue, I just ask Joe Prusa for an answer.

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## jimc

yes john and sorry, i dont want to come off as being all negative and be a makerbot basher or anything of the sort. as i said i do not own one so take that info for what its worth. there just seems to be far more discontent on that forum than others. there are alot of really knowledgable people over there which is why i visit it. the whole tone of that forum seems negative concerning the machines and company themselves. i just dont see that on most other forums. i do know that there are a ton of cry babies out there though that love to troll the forums and spread their crap.

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## KDog

I don't have any experience with makerbot either but I do have an opinion.  Please do not support this company.  Their reputation was built on open source which they have now turned their back on.  While I can't really blame them for selling out (LOTS of MONEY!), I will recommend that you do not purchase their printers.  Purchase a RepRap, kit or assembled, and support open source.  You are furthering the field and helping other folks support their hobby and furthering the RepRap technology.  As far as recommendations, Printrbot is a great company to buy your first printer from.  Relatively inexpensive and a great support community.Cheers,KDog

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## RepRapOwner

Go for RepRap.  It's so much more fun when you can upgrade your printer, personalize it, and make it do pretty much exactly what you want it to do.  It will take a little time learning, the ins and outs, but it is well worth it.

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## 3dman

> Go for RepRap.  It's so much more fun when you can upgrade your printer, personalize it, and make it do pretty much exactly what you want it to do.  It will take a little time learning, the ins and outs, but it is well worth it.


That's really an opinion.  Some people don't want to customize/personalize their printers.  They just want something that works pretty much right out of the box.  To them, I would highly suggest the MakerBot line.

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## DrLuigi

> That's really an opinion.  Some people don't want to customize/personalize their printers.  They just want something that works pretty much right out of the box.  To them, I would highly suggest the MakerBot line.


Well i would prefer a Ultimaker above Replicator,
Ultimaker 1 or 2, depending on how much money you can spend,


Or if you want the replicator 2x then that would be fun ^^

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## BlackDragon

Here's the short of it:
The MakerBot is "out of the box" ready.  Plug it is and start printing.  The down side it that you really can't upgrade it.

The RepRaps are typically built by the owner, so you learn a lot about the technology, while you are building it.  You can modify it, print replacement parts for it, and even make a whole new config, if you get creative.

It's kind of a "who are you?" situation. (as BurnIt explained it)

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## Hall_of_Famer

BlackDragon put this very nicely.  If I could add something...  If you wish to have a really nice 3D Printer that you will learn to upgrade quite easily, and that you don't have to worry about spending a ton of money every few years, the RepRap is for you.  If you are more interested in having a solid printer that does what it says it will do, has a great support service, and is ready to print as soon as you get it home, then MakerBot is for you.

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## KDog

Again, I don't have a Makerbot but I've hear that, in general, they are ready to go straight out of the box.  However, peruse their forums and you will see many posts about problems after a few weeks or months.  These will be the same problems that all 3d printers have.  There is no magic to makerbot.  They are just another printer company selling the exact same technology as everyone else.

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## JohnA136

> BlackDragon put this very nicely.  If I could add something...  If you wish to have a really nice 3D Printer that you will learn to upgrade quite easily, and that you don't have to worry about spending a ton of money every few years, the RepRap is for you.  If you are more interested in having a solid printer that does what it says it will do, has a great support service, and is ready to print as soon as you get it home, then MakerBot is for you.


We have several generations of both MakerBots and RepRaps and I agree with HOF and BD, the Makerbots will work fine for you out of the box, but will need tweaking or upgrades relatively soon. The RepRaps you can assemble yourself and save some initial bucks and you will know all the mechanics.

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## BurnItDownBaby

> We have several generations of both MakerBots and RepRaps and I agree with HOF and BD, the Makerbots will work fine for you out of the box, but will need tweaking or upgrades relatively soon. The RepRaps you can assemble yourself and save some initial bucks and you will know all the mechanics.


Regardless, both printers will need upgrading, or replacing eventually.  With the RepRap, you have to be more on top of things though.

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## dream3d

In my opinion, Makerbots are great for beginners who want to learn about the printing process as quickly as possible.  They require minimal tuning out of the box in order to create great prints.  They're great plug and play devices.  On the the other hand owning a RepRap requires a significantly higher knowledge technical skills in order to calibrate the printers.  RepRaps can take longer to start making good prints, but the knowledge you gain about the printing process and how the printers operate is invaluable.  It's kind of like Mac vs. PC.  The only thing that matters is how involved you want to get with understanding the machine.

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## navkram

Here is my 2 cents, I have a Orion From seemecnc.com its a delta, comes fully assembled  base on the Rostock MAX kit just smaller. Steve and John are great people to work with and has a very helpful forum. It also comes with sdcard with a couple files on it, I actually set it on my desk scrolled through the sd card menu and clicked print and I could not ask for a better first print. and its open source.

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## KDog

I'll throw my 2 cents in again for open source and a kit.  Newer kits like the prusa i3 are not very hard to put together and the amount you learn while doing so is invaluable to learning to print.  You may be able to print right away with your Makerbot but if you are not handy enough to build a reprap then you are not going to be happy when your $2000+ closed source printer starts to go south.  I really don't see the appeal of a Makerbot at all but I'm certainly biased towards open source printing.  

BTW, I do see the appeal of Macs over PCs but I did spend many years working on PCs before switching to Macs so I do know what to do when my Mac breaks down.

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## MeoWorks

> I'll throw my 2 cents in again for open source and a kit.  Newer kits like the prusa i3 are not very hard to put together and the amount you learn while doing so is invaluable to learning to print.  You may be able to print right away with your Makerbot but if you are not handy enough to build a reprap then you are not going to be happy when your $2000+ closed source printer starts to go south.  I really don't see the appeal of a Makerbot at all but I'm certainly biased towards open source printing.  
> 
> BTW, I do see the appeal of Macs over PCs but I did spend many years working on PCs before switching to Macs so I do know what to do when my Mac breaks down.


Took the words right out of my mouth, even down to the Mac VS PCs part  :Smile: .  Good post KDog!

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## TopThiniverse

I agree, that some of the RepRap kits can be quite easy to assemble.  However, owning a RepRap is more of a hobby within itself.  You not only have the hobby of 3D Printing, but also a separate hobby of RepRapping.

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## AbracadabraMan

> I agree, that some of the RepRap kits can be quite easy to assemble.  However, owning a RepRap is more of a hobby within itself.  You not only have the hobby of 3D Printing, but also a separate hobby of RepRapping.


I don't know if I agree with this.  I know several people that own RepRaps and only do so because they wanted an affordable 3D Printer.  They are not into the RepRapper community at all.  They could care less about upgrading, or doing anything related to a hobby.

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## ScharkAlvin

Makerbot took the design work from RepRap, and then commericialized it.  They have also closed source their design.  Personally, I would not buy one from them.  I've read some reviews that pointed out problems with the current Replicator printers where they went nuts and started "vomiting spaghetti" (clogged extruder?).  Mind you just my opinion, but there are other 3D printer companies that are keeping the code open source, and I would patronize them before I bought a Makerbot.

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