3D modeling is one of the best ways to prototype, design, and visualize a project. As the field has grown, people have created sites, collections, file shares, and more to find all types of models. Of course, not all the sources are the same and some of these sites aren’t the best for finding models specifically of furniture.

As such, we compiled this list with the following considerations in mind:

• Wide range: How big is their library of furniture specific files?
• Broad focus: Who are the sites’ target users?
• Cost: Can you download and customize, or do you have to buy?
• User-friendliness: What’s the navigation and site experience like?

Just one more thing before we get to the list! We have to address the elephant in the room: What if we actually want to 3D print furniture?

While many of these files are not meant for 3D printing, you still may want to try some of the designs you’ve found. If you don’t want to tackle this printing project on your own, head over to Craftcloud.

After uploading a file and choosing print materials, finish, and color, you’ll get an instant quote and comparison of printing options. If you can’t find a 3D model that fits your furniture ideas, Craftcloud has design services that can take your 2D sketch or concept and turn it into a 3D file, saving you time and money!

Now, without further ado, here’s our list!

3DFurniture is the perfect site to kick off the list: a platform with a large library of 3D models of furniture. Started in 2010 by architects and interior designers, the goal was to create a site that offers fairly priced assets that professionals could rely on for relevant and unique options.

The site is, simply put, a treasure trove for 3D furniture. You can search for brands, furniture styles, types, and more. Navigating is easy, and the content is only furniture!

Most models run about $5, and there are membership options that’ll give you access to all models on the site for free, which can be of huge value to designers.

• Range: Huge, focused solely on furniture
• Focus: Architects and design professionals
• Cost: Most models run $5, with some free models and a subscription option
• User-friendliness: Excellent, very easy to find specific furniture

Design Connected started in 2006 with two architects who wanted to find a way to advance and share 3D visualization with the design community. It has since grown into one of the largest collection of photorealistic 3D models online.

Each model is promised to be accurate to dimensions and scale. While geared toward architects and interior designers who are 3D modeling homes or workspaces for clients, this site offers hobbyists a great deal of excellent, quality designs, both free and paid.

When you access the site, you’ll see that there are two options for viewing models: products and freebies. To see the free models, head over to freebies, and filter what you’re looking for. As this is a furniture and design-oriented site,  you have almost zero clutter of other model types. This makes searching and filtering furniture a breeze.

If you find a paid model that you absolutely have to have, licensing it is actually cheaper than your standard stock photo. You can even download textures, materials, and more for use with professional CAD software. With so many free options and a large library to search, you’ll likely find the furniture models you’re looking for on Design Connected.

• Range: Huge, everything focused on furniture and design
• Focus: Professional designers and architects
• Cost: Free and paid options, with most models €2 to €20 (~$2 to $24), a subscription option for prepaid downloads
• User-friendliness: Easy

TurboSquid was founded by a group of 3D professionals who have roots in the earliest days of 3D modeling and design. Started as a way to upload and share 3D models of literally anything, TurboSquid has become a go-to site for professionals of all types and disciplines.

While many files are media focused, and as such carry a hefty price tag, you can just filter for the free models. A quick search of furniture-specific keywords pulls up hundreds of options ready for download, giving you a wide range to work with.

Navigating the site is perhaps most similar to searching for stock photos. Files are uploaded with tags, categories, and good keyword-search indexing. Simply search for your desired piece of furniture, and you’ll have plenty of files to screen through for your project.

Files are available in a number of formats, with a prominent focus on those doing asset modeling. Most users should not have an issue finding a file type and porting it over to their needs.

• Range: Huge
• Focus: Professionals
• Cost: Both free and paid downloads, with paid options often costing $100+
• User-friendliness: Like navigating a stock-image site

Syncronia is an Italian site and design-sharing platform focused on architects and designers looking for files to include in their professional projects. The platform prominently features a partnership with Autodesk, and each file is downloadable in OBJ and BIM formats.

The site provides a large number of files and catalogs to browse through, with branded model files and interesting scenes. It can feel a bit like furniture shopping in a large department store, with so many options and an overwhelming amount of information.

When you find a model you like, you get a detailed description of the design and links to the collection it’s a part of. This makes assembling sensible, well-designed 3D furniture sets a breeze.

Navigating on the site is easy, with product tabs and filters allowing you to quickly navigate to room-specific furniture. The collection options that many models have enables you to quickly find comparable items that add to your design ideas.

The file types available for download may be a bit limiting to users depending on what their project is, so make sure it’s compatible with the software you’re working with.

• Range: Large library of models
• Focus: Professional designers and architects
• Cost: All free downloads
• User-friendliness: Like shopping at a department store

Pond5 is similar to TurboSquid, but has a greater focus on video assets and related content. They have a huge library of 3D models and assets that are of excellent quality for CGI purposes!

While most files on the site are video production-related, there’s a big selection of 3D assets related to furniture. Not only that, but some of the assets are also paired with collections for scene design, which makes it easy to find matching furniture models.

Navigating the site is exactly like TurboSquid as it has a very stock asset feel. Filtering options are easy with slider bars, and every asset that has a collection associated with it has the related models included. Prices are quite reasonable for paid models ($20 to $50), but don’t be deceived, some professional assets quickly reach much higher prices.

• Range: Huge, focused on video design
• Focus: Professional editors and production
• Cost: Most models run $20 to $50, but there are both free and very expensive assets
• User-friendliness: Like navigating a stock-image site

FlyingArchitecture is an architecture design studio with a 3D model and scene web store. Founded by an architecture student as a blog in 2008, users quickly demonstrated an interest in 3D design and visualizations.

A 3D asset library was set up, and the student was eventually joined by a team of artists and designers creating the online studio. FlyingArchitecture focuses on sharing content as well as providing studio and tutorial services to spread 3D modeling and the ability to do so.

When you access the site, you’ll find their design services prominently featured alongside the store, which is where the asset library is featured. In the library, you’ll find an array of tags to quickly sort and filter through the available downloads. Some assets require payment, and the free ones are marked as such.

• Range: Large library of models, but a limited number that are furniture
• Focus: Professional designers and architects
• Cost: Limited free options, mostly paid options from €2 to €50 (~$2 to $59)
• User-Friendliness: Easy tag filtering, but not robust

Cults was founded in 2014 in Paris and is the first fully independent online 3D model library and share service. The name comes from St. Luc (Cults spelled backward), the patron saint of artists and sculptors. They have built a site focused on sharing designers’ and artists’ work across many different categories.

The focus of Cults’ library is on art and functional prints. When browsing, it’s easy to navigate to furniture-specific models via the home and architecture tabs. More users are artists or makers of some sort and have uploaded a treasure trove of furniture-specific models and described them well on the site.

All in all, Cults is easy to navigate, search, and filter. Some makers upload paid models, so if you’re only interested in free models, you can filter for that.

Also keep in mind that you can download the files for printing, either on your own or via a service partner.

• Range: Huge, literally thousands of options
• Focus: Art and maker focused, excellent furniture options
• Cost: Most files are free, paid models are $5 to $20+
• User-friendliness: Excellent search function, very helpful categories and tags

GrabCAD began in 2009 as a site focused on connecting engineers who were designing with CAD software. It has since expanded, growing its library, while keeping its target audience of professionals and designers.

Even with a large digital library of design files, you’ll still find an engineering focus. However, there’s a huge library of furniture related files. Some of these files have some excellent mechanical designs (like levers for adjustment), and others are very detailed professional looking models.

When you access the site, you’ll find the library to have a huge list of the recent uploads and active files. The search function is basic and very dependent on user titles, descriptions, and tags, which aren’t always the best. As you look around the site, you’ll also find a detailed selection of models uploaded by professional designers and detail-oriented creatives.

All files are free to download. Though some searches will reveal a limited number of options, there’s a large enough library of files to make it worth checking out.

• Range: Limited, but worthwhile
• Focus: Engineering, architectural, and design professionals
• Cost: Free downloads
• User-friendliness: Sometimes difficult

Thingiverse is an open-source 3D model sharing platform maintained by the MakerBot crew. Thingiverse is well known to almost every 3D print enthusiast or professional as a great place to snag almost any type of 3D model for printing. It’s also where most of us start out in our early days of searching for online models.

It’s worth mentioning that because many users design simple, functional models to share, some of what you find isn’t actually prints, but only designs that aren’t necessarily intended to be 3D printed.

Most files on the site are user generated, meaning that individuals with a large range of skills and intentions are contributing models to the platform. This can be great if you’re looking for something unique, but it can also translate to a lot of irrelevant models in your searches. Another consequence of sharing user-made content is that you might not find what you’re looking for if it’s very specific.

Navigating the site is best done with search queries. If you find a designer with models that are relevant to your interests, you might consider navigating through their profile to see if they have a specific model.

• Range: Broad, but may be limited due to solely user-generated content
• Focus: Hobbyists
• Cost: free, open-source downloads, but check commercialization guidelines
• User-friendliness: Very search dependent, and at times sluggish

Hum3D services over 80 countries with 3D models and assets that are uploaded by designers and artists, and then verified by a review process. This ensures that you’re getting quality and usable models that can be quickly added to your workflow.

The site has a little bit of everything, from furniture to automotive options. Its library of models is huge, so you’re likely to find something that’ll work for you. Navigating the site is easy with their category filters, but the site can slow to respond and the filters tedious to apply. The search function might help you find your interests faster.

Most models are listed for at least some kind of payment. However, most are not expensive and costs less than $50.

• Range: Huge, focused across many categories
• Focus: Hobbyists and 3D design professionals
• Cost: Most models run under $50, but there are both free and very expensive assets as well
• User-friendliness: Slow to respond and tedious