OpenStuds and BrickVault: How They Fit Together
Same wider world, two different doors: a big community marketplace here, a smaller curated shop at BrickVault.
1
OpenStuds: open marketplace
OpenStuds is where designers upload their own instructions, set a price, and show up next to a lot of other builders. Lots of themes, lots of creators, new stuff showing up regularly. If you want volume and a wide audience, this is the home for that.
2
BrickVault: curated, not for everyone
BrickVault is our sister site. They focus on fewer releases, picked and polished by hand. You can’t just register and flood the catalog like here. Slots are limited and chosen for fit and quality. Think premium shelf, not open mic. It’s additive: BrickVault doesn’t replace what OpenStuds does.
3
Shopping as a builder
Dig around OpenStuds when you want variety and to stumble on new designers. Use BrickVault when you want that tighter, hand-curated lineup. Lots of people use both.
4
Selling as a designer
On OpenStuds you finish seller onboarding and list your own MOCs. BrickVault doesn’t work like that. Not everyone gets a spot, and there’s no self-serve “add to catalog” for the main store. If you want them to look at your work, start at their Sell your designs (BrickVault) page: you introduce yourself, share links to your builds, and they take it from there (site, YouTube, terms). Same family either way; OpenStuds just says “BrickVault” in a few places because we’re tied together.
Trying for BrickVault?
Their entry point is brickvault.toys: Sell your designs . Getting listed there is by curation, not the same open signup flow as OpenStuds.
New to building? Get started with brick MOCs or What Are MOCs? for buyers.