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Prusa Research a.s.

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Prusa Research a.s.
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 was the world's second largest 3D printer manufacturer in 2020.

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 — their design plans were fully available online and anyone could use them.

Consumer impact summary

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Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):

  • User freedom
  • User privacy
  • Business model
  • Market control

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.


Incidents

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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 a.s. category.

Alleged violation of Marlin's GPLv3 licence (2021—ongoing)

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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.[1]

Non-open-source "Open Community Licence" (2025—ongoing)

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Despite marketing its printers as open source, in 2025 Prusa began releasing files under the non-commercial "Open Community License"[2] that it created.[3] This licence does not meet the OSI open source definition[4] 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]

References

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  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Open Community License (OCL)". GitHub. Archived from the original on 5 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "The Open Source Definition". Open Source Initiative. 16 Feb 2024. Archived from the original on 1 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
  5. ↑ "Open Source Hardware (OSHW)". Freedom Defined. Archived from the original on 5 Jul 2026. Retrieved 6 Jul 2026.
  6. ↑ "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)
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