The number of 3D printing and additive manufacturing devices is set to grow to more than 2.7 million by 2030—an increase of over two million compared to 2020. 

These astronomical growth figures demonstrate the industry’s potential, driven largely by 3D printing companies at its core. They offer services such as rapid prototyping and custom production, enabling the efficient creation of complex parts and rapid iterations. 

In this article, we explain how 3D printing works and share some of the best 3D printing companies that provide quality, speed, and precision.

How Does 3D Printing Work in Manufacturing? 

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, involves building a 3-dimensional structure through layer-by-layer material deposition dictated by a 3D computer-aided design model. 

3D printing is best suited for prototypes, custom one-off parts, and designs with complex geometries. It’s an excellent choice for projects that require rapid iteration and short lead times.

 3D printing can be used for: 

  • Prototyping and product development
  • Custom and low-volume production 
  • Complex and lightweight structures
  • Medical implants and dental devices

Unlike traditional manufacturing methods, 3D printing doesn’t require tooling, so parts can be created in days instead of weeks. This enables design freedom, mass customization, and even on-the-fly changes during production—without causing delays or expensive tooling modifications. 

Best 3D Printing Companies 

Investing in a 3D printer can cost tens of thousands of dollars upfront—plus ongoing expenses for maintenance, materials, and training. Industrial-grade machines also require expertise, making them impractical for businesses or individuals with occasional needs. 

3D printing companies eliminate these hurdles, providing access to advanced technology and materials without the heavy investment. They handle complex designs, prototypes, and small production runs with precision and speed, ensuring professional results. Working with a 3D printing company can help you avoid high initial costs and the steep learning curve, focusing instead on your project’s success without the hassle of managing equipment. 

This list will cover companies that offer 3D printing services as well as those that sell their own 3D printers. Let’s take a look!

1. UPTIVE Advanced Manufacturing 

UPTIVE Advanced Manufacturing

UPTIVE Advanced Manufacturing is a leading provider of rapid manufacturing solutions that combines cutting-edge technology with personalized service. 

UPTIVE offers 3D printing services that deliver precision and speed while solving your critical business challenges across aerospace, automotive, medical industries, and more. It’s the second-largest HP Multi Jet Fusion service provider in the United States and operates 15 Markforged and 3 Stratasys printers to produce high-quality, customized parts. 

UPTIVE combines the best of traditional manufacturing methods and advanced additive manufacturing capabilities to deliver high-quality and functional prototypes. UPTIVE’s rapid prototyping services prioritize speed, customization, and precision, ensuring that each project is delivered with rapid turnaround times and tailored to your specific needs. By blending personalized service with advanced manufacturing technologies, UPTIVE guarantees high-quality results that meet immediate and long-term production goals.

Here’s how UPTIVE works: 

  • Start by submitting your design file. You can use an existing design from your CAD file or choose a different format.
  • Our team refines design details and adjusts key features to enhance functionality. This optimization ensures a higher chance of success while reducing the need for multiple iterations.
  • UPTIVE provides complete transparency, allowing clients to check in on their projects at any stage. You can monitor progress, provide input, and stay involved from start to finish.
  • We deliver high-quality, functional prototypes with speed and efficiency. This ensures you meet production timelines, accelerate your go-to-market process, and maintain optimal project workflows.

Capabilities: 

UPTIVE also offers various manufacturing services, including rapid prototyping, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, injection tooling and molding, and post-processing and finishing.

Start your prototyping project today with UPTIVE

2. 3D Systems Corporation

3d-systems-logo

3D Systems Corporation offers 3D printing products like 3D printers, 3D printing materials, and design software. 3D Systems offers a consulting service called The Application Innovation Group. It consists of engineers and experts who enable their customers to adopt technology and solve their additive manufacturing challenges with a tailored solution. 3D Systems also offers printer maintenance services for additive manufacturing and a visual and functional prototyping service for 3D printing.

Capabilities: 

  • Stereolithography 
  • Selective laser sintering

3. Autodesk

autodesk logo

Autodesk is a software company that offers products and services for product parts design. It focuses on the design and visualization step of prototyping and is widely used in architecture, engineering, and construction industries. It also provides tools for digital sculpting, modeling, animation, effects, rendering, and compositing for design visualization. Autodesk Solutions is used to create 3D design and design files for 3D printing. 

Capabilities: Software solutions for design and simulation

4. Carbon, Inc.

Carbon

Carbon is a digital manufacturing company that manufactures and develops 3D printers using the continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) process. The company’s digital light synthesis technology combines advanced hardware, software, and materials to deliver mechanical properties and surface finishes. 

Carbon serves various industries, including automotive and healthcare, facilitating on-demand production and mass customization. However, their focus is on selling 3D printers rather than providing printing services, so you’ll need to partner with another company for your 3D printing needs.

Capabilities: 

  • Digital light synthesis technology
  • 3D printers (Series L1, M3, M2 & M1)

5. Desktop Metals

Desktop Metals logo

Desktop Metal is a technology company that offers 3D printing prototyping services. The technology company makes prototypes with metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. It provides a solution to print low-high-volume parts with triple ACT (Advanced Compaction Technology). 

Capabilities: 

  • Binder jetting
  • Digital light processing
  • X-Series, scalable 3D printers — the InnoventX™, X25Pro™ and X160Pro™

6. Formlabs

Formlabs logo

Formlabs is a 3D printing company that supplies stereolithography (SLA) and selective laser sintering 3D printers. Formlabs also supports large-format printing with Form 4L, a resin 3D printer that’s designed for large-scale production. Formlabs products can be used for rapid prototyping, tooling, end-use part production, and creating models and props. It also supports finishing work with a set of post-processing solutions specifically designed for SLA 3D printing.

Capabilities: 

  • SLA 3D printing
  • Selective laser sintering 3D printing

7. HP

hp logo

HP offers multi-jet fusion technology for 3D printing. This technology complements CNC machining, injection molding, additive manufacturing, and powder-based technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS) and binder jetting. 

However, despite the superior capabilities of MJF technology, HP doesn’t provide 3D printing services. If you want to produce prototypes or product parts using the MJF 3D printer, you can work with a 3D printing service provider like UPTIVE instead of investing heavily in new 3D printers.

Capabilities: Multi-jet fusion (MJF) technology

Start printing with HP MJF technology

8. Materialise NV

Materialise logo

Materialise offers mass customization, production tooling, rapid prototypes, small-series production, and spare parts. It serves various industries, from aerospace to automotive and eyewear. 

Materialise also offers its software, the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite, and the CO-AM software platform. It provides digital manufacturing services, including 3D printing and a fully connected software solution. Additionally, Materialise offers consultancy services for users who need help with design optimization and production.

Capabilities: 

  • Stereolithography
  • Selective laser sintering
  • Multi-jet fusion
  • Fused deposition modeling
  • Metal 3D printing
  • PolyJet

9. Nano Dimension

Nano Dimension

Nano Dimension has an AME (Additively Manufactured Electronics) platform that delivers 3D-printed electronics. It also features DeepCube, a deep neural network training system for advanced AI applications in manufacturing.

Capabilities: 

  • Digital light processing
  • SLA 3D printing

10. Optomec, Inc.

Optomec, Inc. logo

Optomec offers 3D printing services for metal and electronics using LENS technology and Aerosol Jet technology. Optomec additive manufacturing technology enables customers to print full 3D parts and add materials to existing 3D parts produced using conventional manufacturing methods, such as CNC machining or injection molding. It provides production-grade/production scale 3D printing of fully functional end-use devices in specific areas such as printed electronics and metals.

Capabilities: 

  • LENS systems
  • Aerosol jet systems

11. Protolabs

Protolabds logo

Protolabs offers digital manufacturing services, ranging from prototype development to final production. Its core services include injection molding, CNC machining, 3D printing, and sheet metal fabrication. Protolabs utilizes  SLA, SLS, and DMLS technologies to deliver precision parts for various applications.

Capabilities: 

  • Metal 3D printing
  • Stereolithography
  • Multi-jet fusion
  • SLS 3D printing
  • PolyJet

12. Markforged

Markforged logo

Markforged is an industrial additive manufacturing company that produces industrial 3D printers built for the factory floor. Its 3D printing machines are designed to create functional product parts for manufacturers and manufacturing applications. It also comes in the form of desktop composite printers and industrial component printers for heavy-duty manufacturing needs.

Markforged focuses on producing industrial 3D printers designed for advanced manufacturing. However, they don’t provide 3D printing services, so if you want to create parts using a Markforged printer, you’ll need to work with a service provider. 

Capabilities: 

  • Industrial composite 3D printers
  • Metal 3D printing

Create Markforged printed parts with UPTIVE

13. Redwire Corporation

Redwire Corporation logo

Redwire Corporation is a technology company specializing in space innovation. It has a space 3D Bio-Fabrication Facility (BFF) that houses a 3D bioprinter for producing human tissue and other biological structures in microgravity. Unlike other commercially available 3D printers, Redwire’s printing solution is permanently installed on the International Space Station.

Capabilities: 

  • Solar arrays and deployable structures
  • RF systems and satellite payloads
  • GN&C components and avionics

14. Shapeways Holdings, Inc.

shapeways logo

Shapeways is a 3D printing service provider that offers solutions for advanced manufacturing. These services include producing production parts with customized models for 3D printing, rapid prototyping for product development, and e-commerce integrations that allow users to launch their business through Shapeways’ marketplace.

Capabilities: 

  • HP multi-jet fusion
  • EOS SLS 3D printing
  • ExOne binder jetting

15. Ultimaker BV

Ultimaker

UltiMaker is a 3D printer manufacturer that offers specialized 3D printers for engineering applications and 3D printing software: UltiMaker Cura, Digital Factory, and Cloud Print. It also makes fused filament fabrication 3D printers and sells branded 3D printing materials.

Capabilities: Fused deposition modeling 

16. Velo 3D

velo 3d logo

Velo3D offers a metal additive manufacturing platform designed to create complex parts in the aerospace, defense, energy, and automotive industries. The platform includes Flow print preparation software, which supports manufacturing, allowing engineers to analyze parts and assign tailored solutions for precise, mission-critical builds.

Capabilities: 

  • Fully integrated metal AM solution
  • Flow print preparation software

18. Stratasys

Stratasys logo

Stratasys is a 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions provider. They offer a range of products and services to support the product lifecycle, from rapid prototyping to the serial production of end-use parts. Stratasys’ portfolio includes 3D printers, materials, and software to streamline production workflows. 

While Stratasys doesn’t provide 3D printing services, you can use a service provider like UPTIVE to 3D print with their printers instead of investing in your own.

Capabilities: 

  • FDM technology
  • PolyJet technology
  • SAF technology
  • SLA technology

Learn more about printing with Stratasys 3D printers

19.  XYZprinting

XYZPrinting, Inc.

XYZprinting provides 3D printing solutions across multiple technologies, including selective laser sintering, high-speed Light curing, and fused filament fabrication (FFF). Its SLS printers deliver precise, durable, and cost-effective parts for aerospace, automotive, and medical industries. XYZprinting offers SLS 3D printing services in the United States and Canada. 

Capabilities: 

  • SLS 3D printing
  • FFF 3D printing
  • Digital light processing

Work With the Best 3D Printing Company For Your Product

3D printing has become the go-to technology for companies that need to bring prototypes to market quickly. Its ability to create intricate designs, handle short production runs, and turn ideas into physical parts almost overnight makes it a powerful tool. For manufacturers, this speed and flexibility are key to staying competitive, especially when product timelines are tighter than ever.

Investing in industrial 3D printing equipment can be a steep hill to climb. Between the high upfront costs, ongoing maintenance, and the technical expertise required, managing the process in-house doesn’t always make sense.

That’s why so many companies choose to work with 3D printing service providers instead of just buying a 3D printer. Selecting a company that prioritizes quality and customer satisfaction is key.

UPTIVE stands out as a reliable partner in 3D-printed parts production, using advanced techniques such as selective laser sintering, stereolithography, and direct metal laser sintering for metal parts. They also enhance the production process with thorough finishing and post-processing services, ensuring your product or part performs at its best.

Partnering with UPTIVE gives you access to a team that understands the complexities of additive manufacturing and is dedicated to helping you achieve your goals efficiently and effectively. With advanced technologies and an experienced team, UPTIVE is well-equipped to support your journey into the future of manufacturing.

Speak with our 3D printing experts