PrintStash vs STL Shelf: which library fits your workflow?

These two look similar from a feature list and feel different in daily use. STL Shelf is a versioned design library you can either self-host or pay someone else to run. PrintStash is a self-hosted library built around what happens after slicing, with printers connected to it.

The short version: if you want a private catalogue of meshes with fast previews and no server to maintain, STL Shelf’s hosted plan is the easier answer. If the recurring question in your workshop is which G-code revision printed well, PrintStash is the only one of the two that records it.

Checked against STL Shelf’s repository, about page, and pricing page on August 3, 2026. PrintStash claims describe the shipped v0.12.1 release.

Head to head

Capability	PrintStash	STL Shelf
Hosting model	Self-hosted only	Hosted cloud service or self-hosted
License and price	AGPL-3.0, free, no tiers or caps	Apache 2.0 to self-host. Cloud: free 0.5 GB tier, Basic $10.99/month, Pro $35.99/month
File formats	STL, 3MF, OBJ, STEP/STP, G-code, BGCODE	STL, 3MF, OBJ, PLY
Versioning unit	G-code revisions on a source model, with outcome states and one recommended revision	Versions of a model’s design files
Slicer metadata	Parsed from OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, and Cura output	Not documented
Printer connections	Five providers. Moonraker/Klipper stable; PrusaLink, OctoPrint, Bambu LAN, Elegoo Centauri beta	None documented
Print history and cost	Jobs recorded per revision, cost and material trends, Spoolman with measured Moonraker consumption	Not part of the product
Storage	Local disk vault, S3-compatible, or shared volumes that index a folder in place	S3-compatible object storage required (Cloudflare R2, MinIO, AWS S3)
Database	SQLite by default, Postgres optional	PostgreSQL 14 or newer
Previews	Meshes in solid, X-ray, and wireframe modes; layer-by-layer G-code toolpath playback	Three.js interactive 3D previews
Team access	Accounts, collection roles, per-printer grants, API keys, audit log, optional OIDC/SSO	Team organizations with role-based access; 1 seat on Basic, 5 on Pro
Bulk operations	Bulk-edit up to 500 models, saved filter views, favorites	Individual and ZIP bulk downloads
Backup and export	On-demand full backup with manifest, plus a versioned metadata and library archive	Your bucket and Postgres are yours to back up when self-hosting

What STL Shelf does well

The hosted option is the real differentiator, and it is not a small one. Signing up removes Docker, Postgres, disk planning, TLS, upgrades, and backups from your life. Plenty of people who would enjoy a model library do not want a fourth service on the NAS, and for them the comparison ends here. PrintStash has no hosted version and no plans for one.

The scope is deliberately narrow and the stack is modern: TanStack Start on React 19, Bun, Postgres with Drizzle, Three.js previews, Better Auth for login, and Apache 2.0 on the code. Apache 2.0 is also the more permissive license of the two, which matters if you intend to embed or modify the software inside something commercial without inheriting AGPL obligations.

PLY support is a genuine gap on the PrintStash side. If your library includes scan output, STL Shelf indexes it and PrintStash does not.

Its versioning suits a designer rather than an operator. Upload a corrected mesh and the earlier one stays in the model’s history, so the current file is unambiguous and the old ones are still there. That is the right unit when what changes is geometry.

What PrintStash does well

Its versioning suits an operator rather than a designer. The unit is a G-code revision attached to the source model, carrying a label, notes, the settings parsed out of the file, and an outcome: needs_test, known_good, failed, or archived. Exactly one revision holds the recommended marker, and the first G-code you upload claims it, so a model never has zero or two answers to “print this one”. Select two revisions and their parsed slicer, material, and print settings appear side by side, which is how you work out whether the fix was the brim or the 5 degree temperature change.

Because the metadata is read out of the file, none of it has to live in a filename. Layer height, walls, infill, material, temperatures, nozzle, estimated duration, and filament use come from what OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, or Cura wrote, including binary .bgcode. Missing fields are normal, since slicers do not all emit the same comments.

Then there is the printer. PrintStash sends a revision to a machine, optionally starts it, shows live status, pauses or cancels, syncs the printer’s own file inventory where supported, and records the finished job against the revision. Moonraker returns measured duration and filament use, which feeds cost trends and optional Spoolman consumption write-back. Read the compatibility matrix before planning around this, because only Moonraker is stable and the beta providers each have gaps: Bambu LAN has no remote inventory, Elegoo Centauri upload still needs broader hardware validation, and measured consumption is Moonraker-only.

Storage flexibility is the other practical difference. STL Shelf requires an S3-compatible bucket. PrintStash defaults to local disk with SQLite, supports S3 when you want it, and can index a local or NAS folder in place as a shared volume, mirroring the folder structure and writing new uploads back without overwriting existing paths. Removing a model or the volume never touches the source bytes. If your files currently sit on a NAS share that your slicer opens directly, that difference decides whether you have to reorganize anything at all.

Choose STL Shelf if

You want someone else to run it. You are cataloguing designs rather than tracking prints, and version history on the mesh is the history you need. Your library includes PLY files. You need Apache 2.0 rather than AGPL for licensing reasons. Or your team needs a handful of seats and a vendor, and $35.99 a month is cheaper than your time.

Choose PrintStash if

You reslice the same parts and want the library to remember which slice worked. You want to send prints from the same page and keep the job history there. Your files live on a NAS folder that should keep working with other tools. You want cost per print, measured filament, or a queue across several printers. Or you would rather not pay per gigabyte for a library that will only grow, and you accept that hosting it is your job. It is designed for a trusted network, so exposing it means TLS, a hardened reverse proxy, and care with secrets.

Questions that come up

Does STL Shelf handle G-code?

No. Its README lists STL, 3MF, OBJ, and PLY, and there is no mention of G-code, slicer metadata, or printer integration in its public documentation. That is a scope decision rather than an oversight: STL Shelf is a design library, and the sliced output of a design is not something it models. If you want both, you would be exporting from a slicer into a separate folder or another tool. PrintStash stores G-code and BGCODE alongside the source mesh and treats each slice as a revision of that model.

Is the free STL Shelf tier enough to migrate into?

Not for a real library. The free cloud plan is capped at 0.5 GB, 10 models, and one seat, which is enough to judge the interface and previews but not to hold a collection. Basic at $10.99 a month gives 25 GB, 300 models, and one seat; Pro at $35.99 gives 200 GB, unlimited models, and five seats, with 10 percent off annually. Those limits apply to the hosted service only. Self-hosting under Apache 2.0 has no such caps, but then you are supplying Postgres, Bun, and a bucket yourself.

Can I keep my files on a NAS with either one?

PrintStash yes, STL Shelf with extra work. PrintStash adds an existing local or NAS folder as a shared volume, hashes and indexes the files where they are, mirrors the structure in the interface, and writes new uploads back without overwriting anything. STL Shelf expects an S3-compatible bucket, so keeping files on a NAS means running MinIO in front of that storage or copying the library into object storage. If other tools open those paths directly, indexing in place is the less disruptive option.

Which is easier to keep running for years?

The hosted STL Shelf plan, because it is not your problem. Between the two self-hosted options, PrintStash asks for less: prebuilt images from GHCR, two containers, SQLite and local disk by default, one secret to set, and a setup wizard for the first admin account. Self-hosted STL Shelf needs Postgres 14+, Bun 1.1+, and bucket credentials before first launch. Whichever you pick, rehearse a restore early. PrintStash creates full backups on demand with a manifest and can verify an archive’s structure before you rely on it, and scheduling those backups needs an external caller.

Sources

• STL Shelf repository, about, and pricing. Checked August 3, 2026.
• PrintStash capabilities, printer compatibility, core concepts, and known limitations.

For the three-way comparison including Manyfold, read PrintStash vs Manyfold vs STL Shelf. The alternatives overview separates libraries from monitoring and farm platforms, and the 2026 roundup covers more self-hosted options.