What happens after you upload

Most models start slow and stay slow for a while. A MakerWorld model that's a week old has a median of 1 download, and 41.1% of models that age have none at all. On Printables, counting free models only, the week-old median is 2.

Then it keeps going. Slowly, but it doesn't stop.

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.

Downloads by age

Take the models in our sample that are a month old today: their median is 3 downloads on MakerWorld. Six months old, 11. A year, 20. Two years, 43. Models that have been up for three years sit at 67.

Printables, counting free models only, has the same shape: 5 at a month, 23 at a year, 66 at three years. The two sites count downloads differently, so set each curve against itself.

A caveat. These are different models at each age, not one model followed over time. A model posted three years ago went up on a smaller site with fewer models next to it. Still, the shape is clear enough: the typical model keeps picking up a trickle of downloads for years. The share of MakerWorld models with zero downloads drops from 41.1% at a week to 4.9% at a year.

A MakerWorld model with 1 download after a week is sitting right on the median. So is a free Printables model with 2.

Day of the week

Sort models by the weekday they went up and look at median downloads per day. On MakerWorld it sits between 0.053 and 0.058 whatever the day. On Printables, between 0.058 and 0.061. Over a year that's a difference of about 2 downloads on MakerWorld.

What does change by day is how crowded it is. Among the MakerWorld models in that comparison, 38,604 went up on a Sunday and 31,213 on a Thursday. Printables peaks on Sunday too, with 43,482. More company on the new list, and the same downloads either way.

Hour of the day

Uploads pile up in the afternoon and evening, UTC. MakerWorld is busiest from 14:00 to 21:00 UTC and Printables from 15:00 to 21:00. Both are quietest around 05:00 UTC.

Downloads per day by publish hour move a little more than by weekday, and the two sites don't agree. On MakerWorld the median runs from 0.048 to 0.061, highest for models posted around 20:00 UTC. On Printables it runs from 0.057 to 0.068, highest around 06:00 UTC. The two sites peak at different hours, so I wouldn't plan an upload around either.

Post when the model's ready. The clock that matters is the one measured in months.