4 Best 3D Pens, According to Our Testing
Kids, tweens, and adult crafters wanting to create original plastic artwork should check out these printing pens.
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A 3D pen is a crafting tool that works kind of like a hot glue gun, except what comes out is warm plastic filament. The plastic dries quickly, hardening to hold a shape. Also called a printing pen, a 3D pen is smaller, less expensive, and less precise than a 3D printer. A printer follows a digital model to form a creation. With a 3D pen, you're "drawing" freehand, and it's a messier and less-perfect process.
At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we tested and reviewed the top 3D pens that are good for children, teens, beginners, and crafty adults. We learned that drawing with warm plastic is not easy, but it is fun. We recommend buying extra filament and making sure it's compatible with your pen. You'll burn through a lot of it while you're learning how to control the pen and progress from crafting rudimentary objects to more complicated 3D designs.
Best Deal
3Doodler Flow
Pros
- Helpful videos on YouTube
- Power source is permanently attached
- Comes with stencils and a guide
- Kit includes 80 feet of filament
Cons
- More expensive than other choices
BEST FOR: Teens and adults willing to pay a bit more to have a complete power setup and more filament.
WHAT TO KNOW: Using the 3Doodler Flow is straightforward: Wait for the two lights to turn green, feed in filament, and then press either the "fast" or "slow" button. "Slow lets you be more careful and deliberate," one of our testers said. We recommend the brand's how to get started video to learn all of the controls.
The power source is permanently tethered to the pen, so you won't have yet another cord kicking around the house. It also comes with a power adapter brick to plug the cord into. The setup is not wireless (nothing on our list is), so you will need to work near an outlet.
3Doodler Flow advertises a maintenance tool to clean out clogs, but some online reviewers say they didn't receive one. Also see the brand's helpful video on how to change or remove filament.
TESTING NOTES: Our testers appreciated the stencils and guide, good for beginners and fairly experienced crafters alike. The tip gets hot, so it's not recommended for kids under 14.
This printing pen comes with 80 feet of filament, more than any other on our list. For refills, you need 1.75mm-size filament, and 3Doodler recommends using their own (available on their website) for optimal performance. On Amazon, you can find some fun 3Doodler Tri-Color Filament Refills.
RELATED: Craft Kits for Adults
| Ages | 14+ |
| Filaments included | 8 colors, 80 feet of filament |
| Power | Permanently tethered USB cable. Also includes a power adapter |
SCRIB3D Printing Pen
Pros
- Good for gifting
- Sliding speed-control button
- Extra filament is inexpensive
Cons
- Comes with only three colors of plastic
BEST FOR: If you're looking to spend under $50 on a fun gift idea for a creative teen or adult.
WHAT TO KNOW: This bargain has thousands of five-star Amazon reviews. "The kit came with stencil paper and a QR code to figure out how to use it, which was nice," a tester said. The speed-control button slides to give you a range from slow to fast, allowing some control.
TESTING NOTES: The SCRIB3D kit only includes three colors of filament. A tester warned, "It's a long process to change colors, and you run out of filament pretty fast." Fortunately, Amazon sells replacement filament for this pen for less than $10.
"I'd say it's still pretty hard to get the hang of it, but we had fun with it," a tester said. The pen comes with a separate USB cord and a wall adapter.
| Ages | 13+ |
| Filaments included | 3 colors, 29.5 ft of filament |
| Power | Attach the USB cable, included. Also includes a power adapter |
3Doodler Start+
Pros
- No hot parts are exposed
- Comes with stencils, activities, and a plastic pad for doodling
- Short strands of filament good for beginners
Cons
- No wall adapter included for the USB cord
BEST FOR: The Start+ is for beginners, tweens, and kids ages 6 and up. The other 3D pens on this list are not made for children, and the tips of those can get hot, but the Start+ is made so that no hot parts are exposed. It's a shorter and fatter pen than the others, and the beginner users at the GH Institute found it easy to wield.
WHAT TO KNOW: This kit comes with a lot more help! There are 10 stencils to follow to make creations like our ladybug, shown. A booklet has more elaborate activities to try. And the Start+ comes with a plastic pad to use for free-forming designs, nice if you want to prevent your kid from working their hot plastic on your tabletop.
TESTING NOTES: The more adult pens on this list come with long strands of filament, but this beginner kit comes with many short strands, encouraging kids to work in shorter bursts. Eight colors are included, and when you're ready for more, there is a specific filament available for the 3Doodler Start.
This pen previously won a Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award, and we recommend it in gift guides, like our best gifts for 10-year-old boys. It's great for tweens, too, and there's no shame in starting with this one as an adult beginner.
What this kit is missing is a wall adapter, so you'll need to find a power brick for the USB cable.
| Ages | 6 to 13 |
| Filaments included | 8 colors, 42 ft of filament |
| Power | Permanently tethered USB cable. No power adapter included; you need your own |
The 3Doodler Start+ comes with 10 stencils to guide beginners, a book with more extensive activities, plus a plastic "Doodlepad" to use for free-forming art.
MYNT3D Super 3D Pen
Pros
- Thinner and more like a ballpoint pen
- Sliding speed control for a more precise flow
- Professional model also available
Cons
- Comes with very little filament and only three colors
BEST FOR: Adults looking for a precision-point 3D pen.
WHAT TO KNOW: Like the SCRIB3D, this also has a sliding speed control, which gives crafters more control over the flow of plastic. We found this pen to be thinner and able to work more like a ballpoint pen with a bit more precision.
But this kit includes very little filament. There's less than two feet, and only three colors, compared to our best overall choice with 80 feet and eight colors. You'll need to buy more filament almost immediately.
TESTING NOTES: "This was harder to get working at first because it only came with a tiny instruction manual," said a tester who tried the MYNT3D and the SCRIB3D. "I got panicked because I wasn't sure how to make it stop and I ended up with a lot of string. However, once I got the hang of it, it was actually easier to make things with this one."
If you're ready to step up to a professional 3D pen, there is a MYNT3D Pro, a little under $100, which comes with a design pad and a lot more filament.
| Ages | Adults |
| Filaments included | 3 colors, 1.5 feet of filament |
| Power | Attach the USB cable, included. Also includes a power adapter. |
How we tested the best 3D pens
These 3D pens were tested by non-professional crafters, including a staffer of the Good Housekeeping Institute and consumer testers.
We wanted to test them as beginners to understand the learning curve and assess how easy each pen is to use, even if you've never tried crafting in plastic before. In each case, we only worked with the filament that each pen came with.
What to consider when shopping for the best 3D pen
As you shop, consider:
✔️ Whether your kit comes with stencils: As beginners, we found stencils, like the ones shown for the SCRIB3D, to be key for getting started. Otherwise, it was easy to end up with just a nest of plastic strands!
✔️ Are you buying for a kid?: In that case, the 3Doodler Start+ is our recommendation as it's built with safety features. A 3D pen works with hot plastic and can get hot to the touch; the Start+ is made for children, and the nozzle doesn't heat up. The heating elements are all tucked inside.
✔️ Filament refills: No kit comes with enough filament to last beyond a couple of crafting sessions. And one brand's filament does not necessarily work with other pens, so buy carefully. Although we love the pens from 3Doodler, its filament is more expensive, so that's something to consider.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
The Good Housekeeping Institute has been testing consumer products against brand claims for more than 100 years, and many of those products include crafts and DIY projects.
This article was written by Contributing Editor Jessica Hartshorn, who covers a wide range of home products but mainly ones that parents are looking for, from the Nugget Play Couch to the best gifts for 17-year-old girls. She's a former senior editor of Parents magazine and a judge for the Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards and Best Toys Awards.
Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents.
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