Compare
Several tools turn a piece of a real map into something a 3D printer can make, and they are not built for the same person. Here is what each one does, read off its own website on , including where another tool is the better choice.
“Not stated” means the tool’s own site does not say, not that it cannot. Scroll sideways on a small screen.
| Feature | GeoFilament | Map2Model | TerraPrinter | Mini Skyline | Maps3D | PrintPal 1:1 | TouchTerrain | Terrain2STL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to frame and preview; €3–€8 per model, once | Free | Free; donations welcome | Free | $5 per map, or $20 a month | Included with a PrintPal subscription | Free; source on GitHub | Free; donations welcome |
| No account needed | Partly: Only to buy | Yes: No account, no watermark | Yes: Accounts optional | Yes: No sign-up, no watermark | Yes: Not for a single map | No: Needed for the subscription | Not stated: Not stated | Not stated: Not stated |
| Buildings | Yes: OpenStreetMap; missing heights estimated, roofs shaped | Yes: OpenStreetMap footprints and heights | Yes: OpenStreetMap, with real roof shapes | Yes: Overture footprints; tagged or uniform heights | Yes: Overture Maps worldwide; measured LOD2 in some countries | Yes: OpenStreetMap footprints and heights | No: Terrain models only | No: Terrain models only |
| Real terrain | Yes: Real elevation data | Yes: Mapterhorn elevation | Yes: Copernicus DEM, plus bathymetry | Yes: Mapterhorn elevation | Yes: Copernicus GLO-30; LiDAR down to 25 cm in some countries | Yes: Terrain Tiles on AWS | Yes: Earth Engine DEMs, 10 m in the continental US | Yes: SRTM, about 90 m |
| Trees | Yes: Individual tree canopies | Not stated: Greenery as a colour; trees not stated | Yes: Low-poly trees over parks | Yes: Placed trees, several styles | Yes: Canopy height and OpenStreetMap trees | Not stated: Not stated | No: Terrain models only | No: Terrain models only |
| Multi-colour 3MF | Yes: 4 filaments, plus a fifth for houses you mark | Yes: A part per layer, for AMS or MMU | Yes: An object per colour, for 6–10+ colour printers | Yes: Named, coloured parts | Yes: A colour body per feature, for AMS or MMU | Yes: A part per layer, one AMS slot each | Not stated: Not stated | Not stated: Not stated |
| Formats | 3MF, STL, OBJ | 3MF, STL | STL, 3MF, OBJ, GLB | 3MF only | 8, incl. 3MF, STL, OBJ, DXF, SKP, IFC | 3MF, STL | STL, OBJ, GeoTIFF | STL |
| Largest model | Up to 100 cm (5 km of ground at 1:5,000), split over up to 16 plates | About 25 km² recommended for cities | 120 × 120 km of ground | 50 km², or 500 km² in up to 20 pieces | Not stated: Not stated; one price for any area | 4 km across with buildings; 50 km terrain only | 10-megapixel rasters on the web app; multi-tile | Not stated: Not stated |
| Where it is built | In your browser | In your browser | In your browser | In your browser | Not stated: Not stated | In your browser | On its server, or locally | On its server |
| Selling your prints | Partly: Personal use; a commercial licence on request | Partly: Needs a separate licence | Not stated: Not stated | Partly: Per export, with a Mini Skyline credit | Yes: Private or commercial use | Yes: Allowed, with an OpenStreetMap credit | Not stated: Not stated | Not stated: Not stated |
For a finished piece: a known landmark, your own house in red, a plate cut to fit a frame.
It costs money where several of the others are free, and the standard licence is for personal prints. What you pay for is the finish — monuments built to their real dimensions, a fixed scale, and a model you can reprint as often as you like.
The best free choice for a quick multi-colour city print, with no sign-up.
Free with no account and no watermark, built in the browser, and its 3MF carries terrain, buildings, water, roads and greenery as separate coloured parts. Selling prints needs a licence from them.
Checked against www.map2model.de, www.map2model.de/faq, www.map2model.de/commercial-use
The best free choice for very large areas and printers with many colours.
Free, with optional accounts, no watermark and no paywalled exports. Areas up to 120 × 120 km, real roof shapes from OpenStreetMap, trees over parks, ocean bathymetry, and four export formats.
Checked against terraprinter.com
A strong free choice if you want to sell what you print.
Free with no sign-up and built in the browser. Each export records whether its data is cleared for sale, and commercial use needs a Mini Skyline credit. Large areas split into up to 20 pieces; 3MF only.
Checked against miniskyline.com, miniskyline.com/faq, miniskyline.com/output-use
For CAD and BIM formats, or commercial work at a flat price per map.
Eight export formats, from 3MF and STL to DXF, SketchUp and IFC, one price whatever the area, and private or commercial use. Measured LOD2 buildings and LiDAR elevation where a country publishes them. $5 a map with no account, or $20 a month for unlimited exports.
Checked against maps3d.io/3d-printing, maps3d.io/pricing, maps3d.io/about, maps3d.io/dataset, maps3d.io/topography
If you already subscribe to PrintPal and want true-to-scale plates you can sell.
Built in the browser, with terrain, roads, buildings, water and parks as separate AMS parts in a 3MF, and prints you may sell with an OpenStreetMap credit. Generating needs an active PrintPal subscription.
Checked against printpal.io/tools/scale-map-generator
For mountains and scientific elevation data, with its source on GitHub.
A free terrain tool from Iowa State University, with its source on GitHub, a choice of elevation datasets (10 m in the continental US, 30 m worldwide, bathymetry), GPX tracks and multi-tile prints. It makes terrain, not cities.
Checked against touchterrain.geol.iastate.edu, github.com/ChHarding/TouchTerrain_for_CAGEO
For the quickest plain terrain STL of anywhere on Earth.
A free, simple service that turns SRTM elevation (about 90 m) into an STL, with an option to lower the sea. Its source is public. It makes terrain, not cities.
Checked against jthatch.com/Terrain2STL, github.com/ThatcherC/Terrain2STL
Every statement about another tool comes from that tool’s own pages, linked above, as they read on 28 September 2026. Nothing is taken from reviews or from trying to reverse-engineer a tool, and where a site does not say, the table says so. Tools change: if something here has gone out of date or is wrong, write to info@mochi.is and it will be corrected.