If you print minis, you know the problem: STL files are scattered across your laptop, an external drive, and maybe a couple of cloud folders with nonsensical names like ‘New Folder 2.” You buy a file from a Patreon drop, forget you already own it, and buy it again a few months later. Then one day a drive gets corrupted, and half your collection is just gone.
That’s the exact mess The Vault by Minarium is built to fix.
What is The Vault by Minarium?
The Vault by Minarium is not a marketplace. It’s not a file-sharing site either. It’s a private, personal library made specifically for people who collect 3D-printable tabletop miniatures.
Think of it as the opposite of a messy folder structure. Instead of digging through downloads named “final_final_v2,” you get one organized place to store, tag, and find everything you own.
And it’s private by default. There are no public links, no sharing features, and nothing planned that would change that. Whatever you upload stays yours.
Everything in One Place
Once you’re in The Vault, finding a file comes down to a single search bar instead of three cloud drives and a desktop folder you’re afraid to open.
You can upload compressed archives straight from your computer, ZIP, RAR, or 7Z, and The Vault stores the original files inside them. No need to unzip anything first.
The whole thing is meant to be visual too. Instead of staring at a wall of filenames, you get a browsable directory that actually looks like a collection instead of a junk drawer.
Never Buy the Same File Twice
Here’s a small feature that solves a genuinely annoying problem: duplicate detection.
When you upload a file, The Vault checks it against what you already have. If it catches a duplicate filename, it flags it before the upload finishes, and rejected duplicates don’t count against your storage. So you’re not wasting space, and you’re not left wondering if you already own that mini you just downloaded.
Organizing Your Library, Your Way
The Vault doesn’t try to force your collection into some rigid system. You set it up the way that makes sense to you.
That means custom categories, custom tags, and keyword search across your entire library. Add your own preview images too, if you want a specific look on each item.
One detail worth calling out: when you upload an archive, The Vault automatically pulls the image sitting in the root folder and uses it as the thumbnail on your listing card. So if the archive already has a cover image in it, you don’t have to manually set a thumbnail yourself. It just shows up.
Privacy Is the Whole Point
A lot of cloud storage tools treat privacy as an afterthought. The Vault treats it as the entire foundation.
There’s no sharing links, no public exposure, and no plans to add either down the road. Minarium also doesn’t use your files to train AI models. And in this first version, The Vault doesn’t inspect what’s inside your archives at all. It only reads the limited metadata it needs to actually run the service.
If you’re the type who worries about where your files end up, this is built with that in mind.
Storage Plans
The Vault launches with a straightforward set of plans:
- Free: 15 GB, no credit card required
- 200 GB: $3/month
- 1 TB: $8/month
- 3 TB: $15/month
The free plan is really meant as a way to try things out. Get a portion of your collection organized, see if the workflow clicks for you, then decide if you want more room.
What Happens If You Downgrade
Life happens, and sometimes you need to drop to a smaller plan. If you downgrade below your current storage usage, The Vault gives you a 60-day window to trim things down yourself. If you don’t get to it in time, the largest files are removed first until your account fits the new limit.
Nothing disappears overnight. You get a real heads up.
Where This Fits Into Minarium
Minarium started as a marketplace for 3D-printable tabletop miniatures. The Vault is the next step: helping collectors manage the files they already own, whether those files came from Minarium or somewhere else entirely.
The long-term goal is for Minarium to be the one place hobbyists go to discover, buy, store, and organize their entire mini collection, instead of juggling five different tools that don’t talk to each other.
Know What You Own
At the end of the day, that’s the whole point of The Vault. Your collection, safe, private, and actually organized for once.
If you’ve got a backlog of STL files sitting in random folders right now, the free 15 GB plan is a low-risk way to see what it feels like to have all of it in one place.