Manufacturer · USA
Formlabs: all devices
Formlabs is a US manufacturer of SLA resin printers (Form series) and SLS powder printers (Fuse series), together with its own resins, wash and cure stations and the free software PreForm. The brand is known mainly in professional settings, such as dental technology, product development and small-batch production, and is priced well above typical hobby resin printers. Formlabs is of interest to small businesses that demand reliability and a wide choice of materials; for pure hobby use, the machines and consumables are expensive.
In the wiki: 2 Devices in 1 Category.
Resin printers
| Model | Price | Price range |
|---|---|---|
| Formlabs Form 4 | €3,123.75 | over €3,000 |
| Formlabs Form 4L | €8,478.75 | over €3,000 |
Resin printers from Formlabs in detail · All Resin printers at a glance
Pros and cons of Formlabs
Pros
- Mature ecosystem of printer, resins, post-processing and software
- Large selection of specialist resins, for example for dental and engineering applications
- German-language EU shop and branch in Berlin
- Extensive knowledge base and official forum
Cons
- High price for devices and consumables, hardly economical for hobby use
- Manufacturer's warranty only 1 year, longer cover costs extra
- Expensive repairs after the warranty ends, older models sometimes no longer repairable
- System designed around its own resins and cartridges
Facts
| Headquarters | Somerville/Boston, USA; EU company Formlabs GmbH in Berlin |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 by three MIT graduates |
| Products | SLA resin printers (Form 4, Form 4L), SLS printers (Fuse), resins, washing and curing stations |
| Software | PreForm (free, proprietary to the manufacturer) |
| Warranty | 1 year on new printers, extendable to up to 5 years with the Pro Service Plan |
| Employees | Over 750 (according to the manufacturer) |
| Trustpilot | 2.8 out of 5 (8 reviews, as of 10/2026) |
History
Formlabs was founded in September 2011 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by three MIT Media Lab students and raised just under USD 2.95 million on Kickstarter in 2012 for the Form 1, one of the first desktop stereolithography printers. Shortly afterwards, 3D Systems sued the company for patent infringement; the case ended with a settlement in 2014. Next came the Form 2 with resin cartridges (2015, the year the Berlin office opened), the Fuse 1 SLS printer (2017), the Form 3 and Form 3L (2019), and the Form 4, Form 4L and the dental variants 4B/4BL (2024). In July 2024, Formlabs acquired the start-up Micronics from Wisconsin, which was developing a compact SLS printer. According to Wikipedia, Formlabs has completed several funding rounds, most recently a Series E of USD 150 million in 2021, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, at a valuation of USD 2 billion; according to the manufacturer, more than 750 people work at sites in North America, Europe (Berlin, Budapest) and Asia.
Customer support and warranty
Support runs through a request form in the Formlabs support centre, an extensive knowledge base and an official forum; according to the manufacturer, telephone and priority email support are part of the paid Pro Service Plan. There is a German-language shop for Europe, and according to the manufacturer the Pro Service Plan is available in German, among other languages. According to the shipping page, the manufacturer's warranty on new printers is one year, with Formlabs covering the shipping costs; with the Pro Service Plan the coverage can be extended to one, three or five years, including an advance replacement unit. The statutory warranty in the EU remains unaffected. On Trustpilot, formlabs.com has 2.8 out of 5 stars from only 8 reviews (as of October 2026), 6 of them with one star; the main criticisms are missing repairs for older devices and expensive resin, and according to Trustpilot there is no reply from the company to negative reviews.
Environment and commitment
According to the company page, community work focuses on access, education and equal opportunity; no concrete programmes or figures are named there. It is documented that in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Formlabs produced 3D-printed nasal swabs together with Northwell Health and the University of South Florida. The company page gives no information on sustainability.
Criticism and problems
No major documented problems found. We are not aware of any recalls or authority notices for Formlabs devices (as of 10/2026). Known is the patent dispute with 3D Systems (2012 to 2014, ended by settlement). User reports (Trustpilot, official forum) criticise that repairs after the one-year warranty expires are expensive (forum example from 2023: mainboard replacement on the Form 3+ for around 1,000 euros), that older models are no longer repaired, and that the cartridge system with its own resins causes high running costs. The Trustpilot sample is very small at 8 reviews and not representative.
Sources (8)
Research as of 10/2026. Information on support and reviews changes; please report errors via the Contact form.
Official help and wiki: Formlabs Support