Meshory vs PrintStash
PrintStash is a free, self-hosted vault built around G-code revisions and Klipper integration; Meshory is a desktop app with no server to run.
PrintStash is a free, AGPL-3.0 self-hosted file manager for 3D printing: one Docker Compose file on your own server, NAS or Raspberry Pi, SQLite and local disk by default, with Postgres and S3-compatible storage available. It indexes STL, 3MF, OBJ, STEP and G-code where they already sit, renders meshes in the browser in solid, X-ray and wireframe, and plays G-code back layer by layer.
Its organising idea is the G-code revision. A sliced file stays attached to the model it came from, carrying the slicer metadata PrintStash parsed out of it (slicer and version, printer profile, nozzle, layer height, infill, material), and a status tag of Printed OK, Recommended or Needs Test. A side-by-side compare view diffs two revisions. That is a different product from Meshory, which organises meshes and leaves the slicing history to your slicer.
All PrintStash facts verified against www.printstash.org as of August 26, 2026. We make Meshory, so read accordingly, and tell us if anything here has gone stale.
The short version.
| Feature | Meshory | PrintStash |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | Self-hosted web app (one Docker Compose file), any OS in a browser |
| Price | $34.99 one-time (early access) | Free: AGPL-3.0 open source |
| Scans files in place | Yes: watches your folders; files are never moved or uploaded | Yes: “indexes files in place — no copying” |
| Thumbnails | Automatic: a background worker pool renders STL, 3MF, OBJ, FBX and STEP | Automatic mesh thumbnails, plus slicer-embedded G-code previews |
| 3D viewer | STL, 3MF, OBJ, FBX, STEP/STP (incl. multi-plate Bambu 3MF); no G-code preview | STL, 3MF, OBJ and STEP in solid/X-ray/wireframe, plus layer-by-layer G-code playback |
| ZIP / archive handling | Browse inside ZIP, RAR and 7Z archives and preview models without extracting | ZIP import with per-file selection; browsing ZIPs in place isn’t documented |
| Bundled photos & PDFs | Photos viewed inline, PDFs in an embedded viewer, inside archives too | Attach Markdown notes, PDFs and images to a model |
| Collections & favorites | Collections, tags & favorites on top of your folders | Nested collections, flat tags, saved views, per-user favorites |
| Per-model notes | Free-text notes on every model | Yes: on the model and on each G-code revision |
| Duplicate finder | Exact + geometry-aware matching (archives and NAS included), plus a review queue for near-copies | Content-hash grouping of identical files |
| AI tagging & search | AI tagging + semantic search with your own OpenRouter key | None documented |
| Slicer hand-off | 15+ slicers auto-detected, one click from library to slicer | Inbound only: an OrcaSlicer hook pushes G-code in; opening a model in a slicer isn’t documented |
| Print & filament tracking | Filament library (brand, material, color) assignable per model; no G-code revisions or printer link-up | Status-tagged G-code revisions, plus measured filament and actual duration pulled back from Moonraker |
| NAS / network drives | Indexed and browsable immediately; duplicate analysis is a separate pass you start | Runs on the NAS itself; NFS and SMB volumes supported |
| Account required | No account: a license key, nothing else | Self-managed accounts; optional OIDC/SSO, API keys, per-printer grants |
| Open source | No | Yes (AGPL-3.0) |
| Maturity | Early access; indexes a 118,270-model library over a NAS in about 90 seconds | v0.12.1 (Aug 2026): pre-1.0, releasing every few weeks |
The differences that matter.
A server you administer versus an app you install
PrintStash is a containerised web app: a Compose file, volumes, a port, and a reverse proxy if you want it reachable. It runs happily on 1 CPU core and 1 GB of RAM, Raspberry Pi included, which makes it cheap to host, but it is still a service you keep running and updated. Meshory is a signed desktop installer for macOS, Windows and Linux: point it at your folders and the scan starts, offline, with nothing listening on your network.
G-code revisions: PrintStash wins this outright
PrintStash keeps every sliced file linked to its source model, parses the slicer’s own metadata out of it, tags each revision Printed OK / Recommended / Needs Test, and diffs two revisions side by side. Meshory has none of this: it indexes and views meshes, and its filament library records brand, material and color per model. If you iterate on slicer settings and want to know which profile actually printed well six months ago, that is PrintStash’s core job and not Meshory’s.
Printers: Moonraker write-back versus no printer link at all
PrintStash talks to printers. Moonraker/Klipper is its stable integration and pulls measured filament use and actual duration back onto the revision after a job; OctoPrint, PrusaLink, Bambu LAN and Elegoo Centauri are in beta. Meshory does not connect to printers. It hands off to slicers instead (15+ auto-detected, one click from library to slicer), which is the opposite direction of travel: PrintStash receives G-code from an OrcaSlicer hook, and opening a model in a slicer isn’t part of its documented scope.
Where Meshory is ahead: formats, archives and finding things
Meshory views FBX as well as STL, 3MF, OBJ and STEP, opens multi-plate Bambu 3MF projects plate by plate, and treats ZIP, RAR and 7Z archives as browsable folders without extracting them; PrintStash imports ZIPs with per-file selection instead. Meshory also groups duplicates by geometry as well as content hash, so the same mesh re-exported under a different name still groups, and adds AI tagging and semantic search with your own OpenRouter key. PrintStash documents content-hash dedup and no AI features.
Choose PrintStash if…
- You iterate on slicer profiles and want sliced files, their settings and their outcomes kept as revisions against each model
- You run Klipper and want measured filament and print duration written back automatically after a job
- Several people share the library and you want per-printer grants, OIDC/SSO, API keys and audit logs
- You already run Docker (or a Raspberry Pi with a spare gigabyte) and prefer free AGPL software you can inspect
- You want the G-code itself rendered and stepped through layer by layer
Choose Meshory if…
- You want a library manager working in minutes, with no container, port or reverse proxy to maintain
- Your models live across local drives and NAS mounts rather than one server’s storage
- You want to browse ZIP, RAR and 7Z bundles (Patreon drops, Kickstarter archives) without extracting them
- You want geometry-aware duplicate grouping and AI tagging with semantic search over a large, messy library
Meshory vs PrintStash: common questions
Does Meshory track G-code and print history like PrintStash?
No, and this is the clearest gap between the two. PrintStash attaches sliced files to their source model as status-tagged revisions with parsed slicer metadata, compares revisions side by side, and pulls measured filament and duration back from Moonraker. Meshory records a filament library (brand, material, color) per model and hands off to slicers; spool and printer tracking are on the roadmap. If print tracking is your reason for wanting a manager, PrintStash is the better fit.
Is PrintStash hard to run?
It is a single Docker Compose file, and the project states it runs on one CPU core and 1 GB of RAM, on linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 including a Raspberry Pi. If Compose files and volumes are familiar, it is an evening. If they aren’t, that is the wall. Meshory is a normal desktop installer with no server component.
Which one handles .bgcode?
PrintStash extracts metadata from .bgcode output (printer profile, nozzle, material, temperatures, print time and filament use) alongside the ASCII G-code it plays back layer by layer. Meshory doesn’t preview G-code in any form; it indexes and renders meshes. Neither claim comes from us: PrintStash’s capabilities page states its G-code scope, and Meshory’s viewer covers STL, 3MF, OBJ, FBX and STEP.
Is PrintStash really free?
Yes. The self-hosted core is AGPL-3.0 and the project describes it as “free forever”, with no paywall or usage limits. Meshory is a $34.99 one-time license with a 14-day full-featured trial. If cost is the deciding factor, PrintStash costs nothing but your server.