Questions
Everything people ask us.
Short answers. If you want the long version, everything is documented in the open.
- What is TigerTag?
- A tiny NFC chip in a spool of filament that carries its identity: brand, material, colour, diameter, print settings. You tap it with your phone and everything is filled in — no account, no cloud.
- Do I need to buy anything to start?
- No. Any NFC phone reads a TigerTag, and the apps are free. The chips are the only consumable — and any NTAG 213/215/216 bought anywhere works.
- Does it work with my printer?
- Yes — with any of them. Your phone or a reader does the reading, and the apps hand the data to the printer, so no RFID reader is needed in the machine. Tiger Studio drives six brands live: Bambu Lab, Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo, FlashForge and Snapmaker.
- Is it free?
- Yes. Reading is free and works offline, the apps cost nothing, the protocol is open and the registry is public. There is no subscription and nothing is locked behind an account.
- Do I need an account or the cloud?
- No. A TigerTag carries everything on the chip itself, so it works with no account, no network and no server. The cloud only adds optional comfort: sync between your devices, sharing, backup.
- Which filament brands already ship it?
- Eight, and counting: Rosa3D, eSun, Sunlu, Landu, Jamg He, R3D, Filforme and Nanovia. More than 2,500,000 chips are already in the field — they announced it themselves, on their own channels. The public catalogue already lists 2 740 referenced materials.
- What if my spool has no tag?
- Add one yourself with any blank NTAG, or track the spool with no chip at all — the apps let you keep a fully digital spool and turn it into a real tag later.
- What happens when the spool is empty?
- The tag isn't finished. Rewrite it for a refill, or turn it into an ordinary NFC tag — a link, a contact card, a home-automation trigger. Two reusable chips per kilo printed, instead of e-waste.
- Is TigerTag open?
- Yes. The protocol is published with an irrevocable right to implement it, the data format and the SDKs are public on GitHub, and the tag reader designs are free to print. Nobody has to ask us for permission — including the brands that ship it.
- I make filament. How do I ship TigerTag?
- A production line goes live in about five days, and a chip is written in roughly one second. The carrier is already manufactured and in stock — there is no R&D on your side. Talk to us.
Still curious?
The full FAQ — chips, apps, printers, developers, manufacturers — is documented in the open, and the community is on Discord.