What's the Difference Between a Fab Lab and a Makerspace?
The short answer
"Makerspace" is the broad umbrella term: any shared workshop where members or students get access to tools they wouldn't own individually. "Fab lab" is a specific model within that umbrella — a fabrication laboratory following a template that came out of MIT, with a roughly standardized equipment set and a connection to a global network. "Hackerspace" is the oldest of the three terms and historically leaned toward electronics, software, and community self-governance.
In everyday American usage the words blur together, and that's usually fine. But if you're writing a grant proposal, joining a network, or trying to understand what a space near you actually offers, the distinctions matter.
Where "fab lab" comes from
The fab lab concept originated at MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, which explored what happens when digital fabrication tools — machines driven by design files rather than hand skill alone — are put in the hands of ordinary communities. The model that emerged pairs a defined capability set (typically including things like laser cutting, CNC machining, 3D printing, precision milling for circuit boards, and molding) with a shared inventory and shared processes, so that a project designed in one lab can be fabricated in another.
That portability is the point. Fab labs form a deliberate global network, and the Fablabs.io directory maintained by the community lists registered labs around the world — a useful way to check whether a space calling itself a fab lab is actually part of the network, and to find one near you.
The Fab Foundation, the nonprofit that grew out of the MIT program, publishes guidance on what it takes to start a lab that meets the model — including the expectation of a fairly complete equipment suite, which is why fab labs sit at the expensive end of the makerspace spectrum.
What "makerspace" implies
A makerspace carries no standard equipment list. A school makerspace might be a cart of craft cutters and 3D printers; a community makerspace might have a full wood shop, welding bay, and textile studio. What defines it is shared access, some form of training or supervision, and a mission around learning and making rather than production. The Nation of Makers resource library collects operating documents from spaces across this whole range, which is a good way to see how varied the category really is.
Practical implications when choosing or planning
- Joining a network vs. going independent. A fab lab charter connects you to shared curricula and a global community, but implies a bigger equipment commitment. An independent makerspace can start with whatever its community needs first.
- Equipment expectations. If a funder or partner hears "fab lab," they may expect the fuller capability set described in the Fab Foundation's guidance. Use "makerspace" if your plan is more modest.
- Culture. Hackerspaces tend toward member self-governance; school and library makerspaces tend toward staffed supervision; fab labs often sit inside institutions like universities or economic-development programs.
If you're budgeting a space of any flavor, our startup cost guide and the estimator on the home page walk through the cost drivers common to all three.