The 3Doodler Create+ is not going to be suitable for children without supervision, as the nozzle gets very, very hot. On the plus side, that means that unlike the child-safe pens and their low-temperature materials, the Create+ can handle your typical 3D printing materials such as ABS, PLA, flexibles, and wood filaments.

Handily, there’s a window to the chamber where the filament passes through, so you can see if things are running smoothly. Should something go awry – blockage clearing and nozzle removal tools are included with the 3D pen.

After some hours of use over several days, we noticed the rubber end protecting fingers from the hot end (as well as shrouding the flow control buttons) came a little loose. We get the impression this might not last too long through prolonged use.

Among the pens we tested for this guide, the Create+ feels weighty and sturdy, with a quality finish coming from its glossy metal body. It’s also accurate when it comes to drawing, with the filament flowing cleanly and consistently throughout our test. Subjective as this is, the pen seems like it’s made of sterner stuff than the others tested. Of all the pens tested, only the Create+ and Mynt3D 3D Pen Pro did not clog once during testing.

Mynt3D’s Junior is another pen intended for children. The company’s website states that its products are “…built to tolerate a lifetime of use,” setting an expectation that doesn’t match our experience using it.

The latest generation Junior 3D pen, the Junior 2, offers a slim ergonomic design and everything you need to start drawing immediately.

We tested the previous Junion in our lab and commended it for its maintainability, with standard screws all that stand between you and unblocking the pen – an inevitable issue you will run into. The Junior 2 looks to be the same.

Also the same is the low-temperature PCL filament the pen uses; you should not use standard 3D printing filament in this pen. The benefit of this, though, is that the nozzle will never be quite hot enough to burn skin. Given its positioning as a child-friendly product, this is a welcome feature.

A cable-free design, similar to the 3Doodler Start, lets you draw freehand with ease.

The Mynt3D 3D Pen Pro is a pretty interesting proposition. Its temperature setting is adjustable all the way up to 230 °C, and it has a handy speed control slider. You can also go mobile, using battery power banks to power it when you want to draw far away from an outlet. Useful.

Interestingly, Mynt3D offers replacement nozzles for the Pro for ~$6, if not sold out. We’re not sure if this is either an admission that you might have issues with it or just a handy, modular solution to wear and tear. Regardless, if your nozzle gets irreparably clogged up, you can switch it out for a new one, prolonging the 3D Pen Pro’s life.

A helpful little OLED display helps you see the current temperature of the nozzle, useful for monitoring your pen while it’s on. The buttons and controls are straightforward, though the speed control isn’t as varied as you’re led to believe. In testing, we found the 3D Pen Pro at its best when laying down thick, broad lines of filament, a strength that’s obvious when laying down designs that need strength.

Being able to slow the extrusion speed down is particularly handy for drawing vertical. Of all the pens we tested, the 3D Pen Pro handled tall, delicate structures best.

The 3D Pen Pro feels almost as good in the hand as the 3Doodler Create+, though it is lighter and the plastic body is a little less premium than the Create+. We also found it a little more challenging to be accurate following stencils, particularly at higher speeds. Overall though, this is a pleasant 3D pen to use, and we didn’t encounter any major issues with it during our time.

The Scrib3D P1 appears to have a good reputation among users. Better than that, though, is that it’s a cheap 3D pen. In our experience, 3D pens are quite easy to break, so a good user rep and low price point are a good combo.

This pen will handle both PLA and ABS, though you may want to save yourself some unwanted side effects of ABS fumes and stick to PLA. It’ll take any 1.75 mm filament, though Scrib3D does sell its own, which should also save you some cash, as more expensive 3D pens (looking at the 3Doodler Create+ here…) will only take their own pricey proprietary filaments.

Online, you’ll find this pen has mostly positive reviews, though there are plenty of accounts stating it didn’t work, clogged up, or broke easily, too. In short, expected issues and fairly standard complaints about a 3D pen. One other criticism was that the flow of the filament was not too easy to control, despite the addition of an adjustable feed speed button to this pen.

The big takeaway from the Scrib3D is that you’re not paying all that much for it. At around $30, this is a chance to play around with a 3D pen without spending too much, and at the end of the day, if it doesn’t last you that long, you haven’t lost too much money in the process, especially if you’ve already got some filament kicking about.

The Pro+ is the professional version of the 3Doodler. Why is it pro, you ask? Well, it has almost everything you could want from a 3D pen.

For starters, it has easy accessibility to the guts of the pen through a magnetic maintenance panel. Along with the maintenance hatch, the company has also provided a blockage-removing tool, which should be helpful. The easy-to-access insides of this machine should be considered a fair warning to keep the 3Doodler Pro+ away from children.

Nozzles on the Pro+ are swappable, and you get six nozzle tips. These include a ribbon tip, a square tip, a triangle tip, plus 0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm nozzles.

3Doodler Pro+ also supports a larger variety of materials; some of these new materials come packaged with your 3D pen. You get a sample pack of PLA, ABS, nylon, flexible, wood, and copper filaments. 3Doodler uses only its proprietary filament, which locks you into its ecosystem; you can’t just buy a spool of regular filament to run on its devices.

On the inside, the Pro+ has a dual-drive system capable of working with flexible filaments. The company claims they have completely redesigned the feeder mechanism to be faster. You can adjust the speed and temperature of the pen on the go with its easy control system. There is also no ambiguity with your selection, as the 3D pen has a tiny LCD that displays your choice. There are 10 speed options and seven temperature options.

At ~$140, the 3Doodler Pro+ is rather pricey compared to the other pens on this list, along with the limitation of using only 3Doodler filament. On the other hand, it’s far more capable and offers a greater variety of compatible materials. One for the professionals who need it.