What stars, likes and saves tell you

Almost everything gets a good rating. MakerWorld print profiles, the ready-made settings files people print a model from, average 4.84 stars across 2,750,737 ratings in our sample. On Printables, 74.5% of rated models average a perfect 5.0. When nearly every score sits at the top, the score stops telling models apart.

Likes, saves and comments carry a bit more information, as long as you set them against downloads. The two sites count these things differently, so each one is described on its own here.

We studied 1,004,137 public models from MakerWorld and Printables, two of the biggest sites for sharing 3D printing files: 327,759 from MakerWorld and 676,378 from Printables. Every number here describes those models, not every model ever posted.

Stars on MakerWorld

MakerWorld puts ratings on print profiles, the slicer settings people print from, not on the model itself. 49.7% of print profiles have any rating. Among profiles with five or more, 93.2% average 4.5 stars or better and only 1.2% fall under 4.

So a profile a little under 5.0 isn't a weak one. 41.6% of profiles with five or more ratings sit between 4.5 and 4.9. What's unusual is anything under 4, and that's the one number worth reacting to before you print.

Stars on Printables

Printables rates the model. Only 24.7% of models have any rating, and 50.5% of the rated ones have exactly one. So for half the rated models, the average is one person's opinion. 74.5% of rated models average 5.0.

Give it five ratings and the picture spreads out. Among models with five or more, 41.7% still average 5.0, and 0.7% average under 4. Check the count before the stars.

Likes and comments

On Printables, 89.6% of free models have at least one like and 80.3% a save, but only 35.1% have a comment. Across all free models together, every 100 downloads come with 17.8 likes and 10.1 saves.

On MakerWorld the category matters. Among models six months to two years old, 3D Printer models get 29.9 likes per 100 downloads, the fewest of any category in our sample, and 119 comments per 1,000 downloads, also the most in our sample. Props & Cosplays sits at the other end, with 61.8 likes per 100.

So a 3D Printer model with few likes for its downloads is normal for its category. Judge likes against models like yours, not against Props & Cosplays.

Saves on MakerWorld

Saves on MakerWorld often run ahead of downloads. Of the 199,447 models we studied with at least 10 downloads, 59.1% have more saves than downloads. That holds from small models to big ones: 61.4% of models with 10 to 99 downloads and 55.6% of those with 1,000 or more.

A save is a bookmark. A big save count says people wanted to come back to a model. Downloads are closer to what they did, so when you size up a model, look there first.