Prusa Research
❗This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
#appeals channel in either Zulip or Discord to request removal.An article may be flagged as a stub when it is missing major elements needed to make it useful to a reader. You can help by adding missing sections, verifiable sources, relevant company policies and communications, etc. to make the article more complete.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Legal Structure | Public |
| Industry | 3D printing |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://www.prusa3d.com/ |
Prusa Research a.s., commonly referred to as Prusa, is a Czech company that produces 3D printers and adjacent accessories. It was founded in 2012 by Josef Průša, a developer in the RepRap project which has a strong emphasis on open-source hardware. In the past, all printers produced by the company were open source, providing design plans which allowed users to modify and/or improve existing printers.[citation needed]
Consumer impact summary
[edit | edit source]User freedom
[edit | edit source]In the past, all of Prusa's printers alongside their design plans were made open source. Allowing users the freedom to modify and/or improve existing printers.[citation needed]
Despite the continous open-source marketing, starting from 2025, Prusa started releasing files under their[1] non-commercial "Open Community License",[2] which does not meet the OSI's open source definition,[3] nor Josef Pruša's endorsed open hardware definition.
Incidents
[edit | edit source]This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Prusa Research category.
Alleged violation of Marlin's GPLv3 licence (2021 - ongoing)
[edit | edit source]The main firmware for the Prusa Mini+ Buddy board is released under the GPLv3, as it is based on the GPLv3 Marlin firmware, however Prusa does not release the source code to the bootloader for this board. This allegedly violates the GPLv3 clause that requires the release of the source code for the entire work if they are combined to form a larger program in or on a storage or distribution medium, such as the flash memory of the STM32F407 microcontroller on the board.[4]
Non-open-source "Open Community Licence" (2025 - ongoing)
[edit | edit source]Despite marketing its printers as open source, in 2025 Prusa began releasing files under the non-commercial "Open Community License"[2] that it created.[1] This licence does not meet the OSI open source definition[3] nor the open source hardware definition endorsed by Josef Pruša, the founder of Prusa Research.[5] This has been criticised as misleading consumers who could believe they are purchasing a printer that is open source when it is not.[6]
Products
[edit | edit source]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Průša, Josef (19 Dec 2025). "Open-sourcing CORE One CAD Files Under the New Open Community License (OCL)". Prusa3D. Archived from the original on 19 Dec 2025. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Open Community License (OCL)". GitHub. Archived from the original on 5 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Open Source Definition". Open Source Initiative. 16 Feb 2024. Archived from the original on 1 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
- ↑ matthewlloyd (25 May 2021). "[QUESTION] Where is the source code for the actual bootloader shipped with the Prusa Mini+?". GitHub. Archived from the original on 7 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
- ↑ "Open Source Hardware (OSHW)". Freedom Defined. Archived from the original on 5 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
- ↑ "Prusa's "Open Community License" is neither open nor for the community... a lawyer explains why". Adafruit. 19 Mar 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)