Building Quot3D - 6 weeks from idea to working product (3D printing quote automation)

Hey IH!

I run a small 3D printing business and got tired of spending hours manually quoting jobs. So I started building Quot3D - an embeddable widget that
gives customers instant, accurate quotes from STL files.

Where I'm at after 6 weeks:

• Working product deployed and running on my own print shop site
• Testing with real customer uploads (dogfooding before public launch)
• Full admin dashboard for materials, printers, pricing rules
• Currently pre-launch, looking for beta testers

The key differentiator: Unlike calculators that estimate based on volume alone, Quot3D uses actual slicer profiles. Quotes match what your slicer would
actually produce - print time, material, supports, everything.

Supported profile formats: OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer, Creality Print

The slicer rabbit hole: I originally tried calling OrcaSlicer's CLI, but it was slow (30-45 seconds) and required a full GUI installation (136 MB). So
I built slic3d - a custom headless slicer with my own clean room slicing library (libslic3d). The result: a 1.9 MB binary that's 70x smaller, runs in
~10-15 seconds, has zero GUI dependencies, and outputs clean JSON. Probably the most interesting engineering challenge of the project.

Why closed source (for now): I've seen too many indie projects get cloned overnight and undercut before they can gain traction. As a solo founder, I
need to protect the runway to actually build a sustainable business. Maybe open source later once there's a moat, but right now I'm focused on serving
customers well and proving the business model.

Tech stack:

• Frontend: React + TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Express.js, PostgreSQL, Prisma
• Infrastructure: Hetzner VPS, Cloudflare Pages, Supabase (auth + database)
• Custom: slic3d - 1.9 MB headless slicer built on clean room libslic3d

What's next:

• Find 5-10 beta users from other print shops
• Iterate based on real feedback
• Public launch in January

Planned pricing: Free tier (12 quotes/mo), Starter $29/mo, Professional $79/mo

If you run a 3D printing business or know someone who does, I'm looking for early feedback: https://get-quot3d.com

Happy to answer questions about the build, slic3d, or the 3D printing business!