While we work with open systems at Vision Miner, Markforged has a closed system that is hard to beat -- if you've got the extra cash. We basically say, if you have a ton of money and don't want to learn new things, go for the Markforged. If you want to learn your machine inside and out, save money, and have a plethora more options -- go with something open source.

On the Markforged, though, it's quite impressive the systems they've released the last few years, and their focus on manufacturing is helping the entire industry at large -- with plenty of use-case examples, you can really get an idea how this technology is being used in real-world applications.

Again, a great buy on an unlimited budget. However, the Onyx material is not only expensive, but not as strong as the open-material market's current offerings, such as 3DXTech's CarbonX Nylon. You're also limited to a single nozzle -- no support structures with this printer. Furthermore, because of the closed system, you're limited to their materials -- at their cost. Want to do a test run in a less expensive material? Nope, not going to happen.

With open materials systems, you do have to learn a lot more -- it's not ALL cost savings -- you need to learn the machine itself, a slicer program like Simplify3D or Cura, and each material you switch to will require some tuning -- figuring out the correct basic settings for your machine. While straightforward, this is not always easy.