Case Study: Pinshape (3D printing marketplace) achieves lightning-fast search and increased transactions with Algolia

Collaborative 3D Printing Made Possible by Pinshape, Search Powered by Algolia

Pinshape is a Vancouver-based marketplace and community for 3D printing designers and makers, hosting over 10,000 print-ready designs and step-by-step instructions. As a resource-constrained startup, Pinshape needed a fast, reliable search experience to help users quickly find designs—something their self-managed Elasticsearch setup demanded too much time and engineering effort to tune.

Replacing that stack with Algolia delivered a much faster, more usable search: load times improved ~160%, filters and autocomplete became instant, and built-in analytics revealed user intent. Searches rose 91.23%, transactions increased, and Pinshape estimates Algolia saved at least two months of development—turning search from a chore into a key driver of engagement and repeat visits.

Pinshape