Comparison

Thangs vs 3DCDesign

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Thangs

Explore the largest 3D model search engine with over 15 million models. Discover new creators and connect with a growing community for CAD, 3D printing, AR, and VR applications. Find or upload tens of thousands of models weekly across various 3D formats.

Highlights
  • Largest 3D search engine
  • Over 15 million 3D models
  • Discover 3D creators
  • Support for 30+ 3D formats
  • Filters for 3D printing
  • Connect with creators
Features
Read full description

Whether a 3D printing enthusiast, CAD engineer, or AR VR consumer - Thangs is the first stop on your 3D journey: * Search: Largest 3D search engine on the planet, with over 15M models * Discover: Fastest growing community of 3D creators, with thousands of new models uploaded every week * Connect: Find your next favorite creator, follow them and be notified every time they upload new models With support for over 30 3D formats, Thangs users uploads tens of thousands of 3D models a week that span CAD, 3D printing, AR and VR use cases. If it isn’t on Thangs, use Thangs to search over 13M models across all major platforms. Powerful filters allow 3D printers to see only models which are available for 3D printing or additive manufacturing. Metaverse, Omniverse, or 3D printing in real life - Thangs exists to connect 3D creators with 3D consumers.

About

3DCDesign

Manage your 3D printing workflow locally. Track printer profiles, print jobs, materials, and customer records. Access resources for planning and troubleshooting prints, with tools for estimates and reports.

Highlights
  • Printer profile management
  • Material inventory tracking
  • Print job logging
  • Cost and speed estimates
  • Local gallery organization
  • Printer references and guides
  • Optional local printer connections
Features
Read full description

3DCDesign is a print log, spool tracker and cost calculator for 3D printing at home. Your records are kept on your device, with no account, no ads and no tracking. If you start selling prints, it handles quotes, customers and invoices too. Start in three steps Choose your printer from more than 300 models and your filament from more than 60 brands, and say whether you sell prints. Or try a sample workshop first. Know when a print should be done Start a print with its time estimate and a Live Activity counts down on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. When the time is up, a notification lets you mark it done, mark it failed or snooze it. Home Screen widgets show the active print, today's list and low filament. Log every print Log a print in one quick sheet, or pick its sliced file (.gcode, .bgcode or .gcode.3mf) to fill in the time, filament and preview. Add photos and notes, and give a failed print a reason. Know every spool Stock goes down as you log prints, with a full history. Restock by filament, not by spool: group spools of one filament into a product with one total and one restock level. Planning a print checks there is enough filament, and 3DCDesign estimates how long each filament will last at your pace. Scan OpenPrintTag or OpenSpool NFC tags, import spools from a Spoolman export and print QR labels. Optional notifications tell you when a filament runs low or a spool may need drying. Know what each print costs Price a print from material, machine time, electricity, labor, packaging, shipping, fees and waste. Choose markup, target margin or a flat rate and see your cost floor. Measure STL, 3MF and OBJ models for size and estimated weight. Fix prints and learn Print Doctor has 25 guides for common filament and resin problems, with the slicer settings to change. Hobby calculators, a material guide and a 120-term glossary work offline. Look after your printers Keep maintenance schedules, service history and reminders for each printer. See status from your own Moonraker/Klipper, OctoPrint or PrusaLink host on your network; controls stay off until you turn them on, and every command is confirmed. Everything works offline too. Free backups that check themselves Creating, previewing and restoring backups is free, with or without your Gallery photos and videos. New backups test themselves, automatic backups can go to a folder you choose, and a restore keeps a safety copy you can go back to for 24 hours. When you start selling Choose selling in Settings and Home shows today's agenda, money owed and active prints. Quotes and invoices carry your business details, logo and a payment QR code. Free: receipts for invoice payments and deposits, invoice drafts with a watermarked preview, what-if pricing and up to 25 active customers. Emails and texts open in your own mail or messaging app; 3DCDesign never sends anything itself. Business Premium (optional subscription) A monthly or annual subscription for sellers that adds: - Issuing and correcting invoices - Purchase orders - Customer Pro tools: statements, price lists, follow-up templates and reorders - Accountant export, with QuickBooks Online, Xero and Wave layouts - Saved what-if scenarios - More than 25 active customers, for workspaces created after this limit began Backups and every record you make stay free. Private by design No sign-in, ads, analytics or tracking. Your records, photos and backups are not uploaded to us. They leave the app only when you export, share, back up, send an email or text from your own mail app, or connect to your own printer. Your phone's own device backup may also include them. Privacy Policy: https://3dcdesign.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Thangs4 screens
3DCDesign4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: 3DCDesign at 5.0 against Thangs's 3.0. Thangs's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. 3DCDesign sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Thangs asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

3DCDesign holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thangs has 117 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Thangs ships an update weekly, 3DCDesign every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Thangs versus 3DCDesign: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThangs3DCDesign
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (117 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings117 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB230 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPhysna, IncEarl Hayes

Customer experience

Thangs

All ratings117 ratings
Positive46.2%
Neutral5.1%
Negative48.7%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive23.8%
Neutral9.5%
Negative66.7%

3DCDesign

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Thangs

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App freezes on splash screen and never loads
  • Image preview loading failures
  • 2FA login code submission button hidden behind keyboard
  • Email/password login not functional
  • App crashes within minutes of use
Show 7 more
  • Scrolling broken on search results
  • Touch input unresponsive on right side of screen
  • Blank pages on iPad
  • App incompatible with latest iOS versions
  • Duplicate content in news feed
  • Search results missing known models from Thingiverse
  • Inconsistent app behavior between landscape and portrait modes

Requested features

10 requests
  • Direct download functionality from mobile app
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to view liked models on mobile
  • Zoom functionality for model images
  • Save to collections feature
Show 5 more
  • AR (augmented reality) model viewing
  • Improved search result relevance
  • Back button navigation
  • Landscape/portrait mode consistency
  • Remove redirect pages for direct downloads

3DCDesign

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Thangs

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

3DCDesign

Subscriptions2
  • 3DCDesign App - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • 3DCDesign App - Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Thangs free?
Thangs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 3DCDesign free?
3DCDesign is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Thangs or 3DCDesign?
3DCDesign is rated higher. Thangs averages 3.0 out of 5 from 117 ratings, while 3DCDesign averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Thangs or 3DCDesign have ads?
Neither Thangs nor 3DCDesign shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Thangs or 3DCDesign?
Thangs ships an update weekly, and 3DCDesign every 2 months. Most recently, Thangs was updated on October 24, 2026 and 3DCDesign on October 25, 2026.

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