Generic organizers rattle around. Pre-cut foam does not fit. Everything you buy at Target or Amazon is designed for someone else's drawer. There are three real options to fix this. We make one of them, so we are not neutral — but we will be honest about where each one wins and where it loses.
Option 1: Generic acrylic / bamboo trays
What it is: Expandable drawer dividers, acrylic organizer sets, bamboo trays. The stuff you find on Amazon in the "drawer organization" search.
Price: $15–$50 per drawer.
Pros: Available right now from any home store. No measuring required. Returns are easy if it does not work.
Cons: Alex drawers are 26.5 cm wide (10.4 in). Most expandable dividers start at 11 in minimum. Acrylic sets are built for 12 in+ drawers. Nothing is sized for Alex specifically. Everything slides around because it is smaller than the drawer. You end up with dead space where organizers do not quite reach. Zero customization — your mascara, pens, and sockets all live in the same rectangle.
Who it is for: Someone who wants a 5-minute fix for a secondary drawer they rarely open. Not a long-term answer for a drawer you use daily.
Option 2: Gridfinity (3D-printed modular system)
What it is: An open-source modular organizer system built on a 42 mm × 42 mm grid. Thousands of community-designed bins + baseplates on Printables and MakerWorld. Snap-together, mix-and-match. Gridfinity for the IKEA Alex specifically has baseplates you can download for free.
Price: $0 for the files, $300–$800 for a 3D printer, $25–$50 per kg of PLA filament, and a weekend of your time per drawer.
Pros: Enormous library of free designs. Modular — you can rearrange forever. If you already have a printer, incremental cost is just the filament ($5–$15 per drawer). Open source — you own the designs.
Cons: You need a 3D printer. The whole value proposition evaporates if you do not have one. A good printer is $400+ and takes a weekend of learning before your first clean print. Locked to a 42 mm grid. Great for standard sizes; bad if you have a tool, bottle, or palette that does not fit a multiple of 42 mm. You print the baseplate separately from each bin. For an Alex drawer, that is typically 1 baseplate print (6–10 hours) + 15–30 bin prints (another 10–20 hours of printer time). Even if you print perfectly, the fit is approximate — Gridfinity is a system, not a bespoke solution.
Who it is for: Makers. People who already own a printer, enjoy tuning it, and like the puzzle of fitting their stuff into a 42 mm grid.
Option 3: Custom-fit inserts (what we make)
What it is: You use an in-browser designer to lay out exactly what you want in your drawer, we print the whole organizer as one piece, and we ship it to you ready to drop in. No printer needed, no CAD, no assembly.
Price: $20–$60 per drawer, shipped from Canada.
Pros: Fits your drawer to the millimeter — not a grid, not a tray, your drawer. You design it in the browser with a 3D preview, so you see it before you order. One piece, printed to the right height, drops in and never moves. We handle the printer and the filament. Includes templates for the common Alex drawer sizes (3.5 cm shallow, 10.5 cm deep).
Cons: Not free — you are paying for the printer time, filament, and shipping. You pick a layout at order time; if you change your tools or hobby, you order a new insert. Not modular (we solve this by making re-ordering fast and letting you edit your previous design).
Who it is for: People who want the "drop it in and be done" outcome. People who do not have a printer and do not want to buy one.
Side-by-side comparison
| Generic trays | Gridfinity | Custom-fit insert | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per drawer | $15–$50 | $5–$15 (own printer) | $20–$60 |
| Up-front cost | $0 | $400+ (printer) | $0 |
| Time to get it | Same day | A weekend | 3–5 business days |
| Effort you spend | 5 min at a store | 5–20 hours printing + fitting | 5 min in the browser |
| Fits your Alex exactly? | No — approximate | Yes, within a 42 mm grid | Yes, exact mm |
| Custom tool slots | No | Yes (if you find or make an STL) | Yes (editor builds them) |
| Modular / re-arrangeable | No | Yes | No |
| Needs a 3D printer | No | Yes | No |
| Made in Canada | Varies | DIY | Yes |
The honest take
Gridfinity.
Already own a 3D printer and enjoy using it?
The ecosystem is enormous, the Alex community is active, and your incremental cost is tiny. You will have fun. Many of us at Custom Organizers started here.
Generic trays.
Want a cheap 5-minute fix for a drawer you don't care much about?
Low expectations, low cost. Just know it will slide around and leave dead space.
Custom-fit insert.
Want it organized correctly, don't own a printer, don't want to spend a weekend learning?
That is what we built this for.
Design your Alex insert →FAQs
Can I use Gridfinity bins in your custom insert?
Technically yes — some customers design a flat tray with a Gridfinity-compatible pocket and drop their printed bins into it. We will accommodate this if you message us. For most people the point of ordering custom is skipping the Gridfinity assembly entirely.
What if I do not know the exact model of my IKEA Alex?
Our editor has presets for Alex 5-drawer (shallow + deep), Alex 9-drawer, Alex 7-drawer, and the Alex-Linnmon wide. If you can tell us the drawer height (3.5 cm, 7 cm, or 10.5 cm), we will get the fit right.
Do you ship outside Canada?
Right now we ship from Canada to Canadian addresses. US shipping is on the roadmap — if you are in the US and want in on the next batch, drop us a note at [email protected].
Can I design one organizer that spans two Alex drawers?
No — each drawer gets its own insert. The Alex drawer walls are too deep to span across without a hinge, and the drawers slide independently. You can order a stack of inserts (one per drawer) and get a bulk discount after 3.
How does this compare to Snap-On foam-cut inserts?
Snap-On foam-cut is the gold standard for mechanic tool chests, but you have to own a Snap-On box ($800+). Our custom-fit inserts work in any drawer — including Alex drawers used as a tool chest, which is cheaper than buying a Snap-On box.
See it in 3D before you order
The thing that makes custom-fit worth it is seeing your layout before you pay. Our editor renders a real 3D preview of your drawer with your tools in the right slots — change the layout, change the color, change the tool silhouettes, all in the browser.