MakerWorld Points Explained
MakerWorld pays designers in points. You earn them when people download your models, print them, and boost them. You spend them in the Bambu Lab points shop on gift cards and gear, and Exclusive Model points can also be cashed out. Here's how each part works, what's official, and what's an estimate.
Want a number for your own model? Use the MakerWorld Points Calculator. For a whole profile, try the Designer Points Estimator.
Boosts: 12 points each
A boost is the one official, fixed number. Every boost on your model earns you 12 points, or 15 points if the model is in the Exclusive Model Program. That comes straight from MakerWorld's FAQ.
Downloads and prints
Downloads and prints earn points too, but MakerWorld stopped publishing the exact formula in June 2025. Bambu Lab said on its forum that it was hiding the formula to stop people gaming it. Since then the only public numbers are the last table MakerWorld published, which is what our calculator uses:
- First 50 downloads: 15 points for every 10
- Downloads 51 to 500: 12 points for every 25
- Downloads 501 to 1,000: 20 points for every 50
- Over 1,000: 30 points for every 100
- A print counts as 2 downloads
Treat anything built on that table as an estimate, ours included. Creators have reported further changes in 2026, such as newer downloads counting for less as a model gets older, but MakerWorld hasn't published numbers for any of it.
The Exclusive Model Program
Exclusive models are only published on MakerWorld. In return, boosts pay 15 points instead of 12, and the points from an Exclusive model can be cashed out instead of only spent in the shop. Our calculator also applies a 25% bonus to download points in Exclusive mode. That part is a community estimate, not an official rate.
What points are worth
There are two ways to turn points into money.
- Gift cards in the points shop. Creators report 490 points for a $40 Bambu Lab gift card, about $0.08 a point. The shop needs a login, so we can't confirm this ourselves, but it has held steady across reports through October 2026.
- Cash, for Exclusive points only. Bambu Lab announced cash payouts at $0.066 a point once you have $100 worth.
Gift cards come out ahead per point. Cash is worth it if you don't want to spend at Bambu Lab.
A worked example
Say a model has 12 boosts, 1,250 downloads and 300 prints.
- Boosts: 12 x 12 = 144 points
- Downloads: 1,250 plus 300 prints counted twice makes 1,850 effective downloads, which is 731 points on the table above
- Total: about 875 points, roughly 1.8 gift cards or $71 in Bambu Lab credit
The same model as an Exclusive comes to about 1,094 points.
How to earn more points
- Get people to print, not just download. A print is worth two downloads, so a tested print profile and clear photos of a real print matter.
- Ask for the boost. Boosts are the only fixed payout, and a short line in your description asking printers to boost if it worked helps.
- Publish originals. Remixes and copies of popular models compete with the original and rarely get boosted.
- Consider Exclusive for your best models. If a model will live on MakerWorld anyway, the higher boost rate and cash option add up.
Quick answers
How many points per download on MakerWorld? MakerWorld no longer publishes it. Under the last published table, the first 50 downloads earn 15 points per 10, and the rate drops after that.
How many points is a boost? 12 points, or 15 on an Exclusive model.
How much is a MakerWorld point worth? About $0.08 in gift cards (490 points for $40), or $0.066 in cash for Exclusive points.
Last checked November 2, 2026. Sources: MakerWorld FAQ, the Bambu Lab forum post on the points system upgrade (June 2025), and the Bambu Lab blog post on Exclusive Model cash rewards (October 2024).