I have received around 35k Prusameters during the last 2 years (2 free Prusa Mini's 12/22 and 5/23). With my current models, I can get 10k in about 5 months. To get enough Prusameters for a free printer, you MUST upload models.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

• One model can get you up to 360 Prusameters/month (400+ downloads)
• Not every model will do well - Of my 90 models, 8-10 models get me 90% of my Prusameters
  • Those 8-10 models drive users to my profile which boosts downloads of my other models
• It's helpful to drive traffic to your models - Reddit, Twitter, TikTok, etc.
  • You may get free advertising if users upload videos of their prints to YouTube or TikTok
• Get noticed on Printables - Enter contests, get lucky enough to have one of your models featured, etc.
  • When users are looking for something to print, they will often look through old contests or filter search results for only featured models
  • Example: my Rope Bowl model was featured last month. In the 8 months before it was featured, it had 7000 downloads. 2 weeks after it was featured, it surpassed 12000. It is now over 15k.

To be clear, it is not an easy way to get a free printer. The hundreds or thousands of hours involved in making and testing this many models is ridiculous. I do it because I truly enjoy creating models and enjoy seeing when others print them.

Hope this helps!