GitHub Surf VS The Spool List

The Spool List's answer:

The Spool List is a marketplace for physical fabrication, not digital services. It connects people who need something custom made with makers who have idle machine capacity. It covers 17 disciplines in one place:

3D printing, laser cutting, CNC, resin, vinyl, leather, embroidery, woodworking and more Machine-first matching: jobs are matched to makers based on the machines they actually own and have validated, not just keyword profiles Local-first: makers appear on a live map and are matched by distance, so parts get made near the buyer Photo-to-3D: buyers can turn a photo into a 3D model to start a job Payment protected until the buyer confirms delivery, handled through Stripe

The Spool List's answer:

No buyer fees. Buyers pay the maker’s quote with nothing added on top. Built for every kind of making. Most platforms focus on one process, usually 3D printing, or on industrial manufacturing with minimum orders. The Spool List handles one-off and small-batch work across 17 disciplines. Real makers, real machines. Makers list the equipment they own, so you’re matched with someone who can actually do the job. Fair for makers. There’s a free plan, and commissions drop as low as 3–5% on higher tiers. That’s well below general-purpose freelance and craft marketplaces. Privacy by design. Buyer contact details stay hidden until the buyer chooses a maker, and maker locations are shown approximately, never exactly. Available everywhere. There are apps for iOS and Android, plus the web.

The Spool List's answer:

There are two sides:

Buyers: hobbyists, cosplayers, tabletop and miniature gamers, people who need replacement parts, designers and small businesses that need something custom made but don’t own the machines. Makers: owners of 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, embroidery machines and other fabrication equipment who want to earn from capacity they already have. They range from home hobbyists to small workshops and print farms.

The Spool List's answer:

I worked at an architect firm creating CAD models - unable to break through the crust of ebay or etsy - there is no dedicated platform for fabricators. so I’ve spent years watching good ideas stall because getting something physically made is slow, expensive or locked behind industrial minimum orders. At the same time, there are millions of capable machines sitting idle in garages and workshops.

AI is transforming digital work, but it can’t cut, print or stitch anything. Physical fabrication still needs real people with real machines. I started The Spool List in 2026 as a bootstrapped, solo-founded company to connect those two sides directly, locally, and across every type of making.

The Spool List's answer:

iOS: SwiftUI Android: Kotlin / Jetpack Compose Web: progressive web app (PWA) Backend: Node.js, Supabase (PostgreSQL + PostGIS), TypeScript edge functions Payments: Stripe Connect, RevenueCat Infrastructure: Cloudflare (CDN, DNS, R2 storage), Hetzner Maps: MapLibre GL with OpenFreeMap AI: photo-to-3D generation (TRELLIS.2, Tripo) and a proprietary maker-matching engine