--- title: "Best 3D Printer 2026: Which One to Buy, by Budget and Use" slug: best-3d-printer description: The best 3D printer to buy in 2026, ranked from today's prices, reviews and real use, with picks for every budget and how open each brand really is. target_keyword: best 3d printer secondary_keywords: - best 3d printer 2026 - what 3d printer should i buy - 3d printer buying guide - best budget 3d printer - open source 3d printer category: comparisons buyers_guide: general buyers_guide_picks: multi_colour: snapmaker-u1 tags: - buying guide - 3d printers - comparison schema: TechArticle last_modified: 2026-10-19 published: 2026-10-18 author: simplyprint og_image: https://cdn.simplyprint.io/i/landing/articles/best-3d-printer/og.jpg og_image_alt: "The best 3D printers, ranked: the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2, the Bambu Lab P2S and the Snapmaker U1" tldr: | Our picks for the best 3D printer in 2026 are ranked from our catalog when you open the page: prices in your region's stores, independent reviews, how many people run each printer with SimplyPrint, and how open each brand is. Below are the best overall, the best for each budget, a top-ten table, and every brand's openness rating with its sources. cta_inline: text: Run any of these printers from your browser with SimplyPrint, free url: /panel/signup cta_final: text: Whatever you buy, manage it with SimplyPrint url: /panel/signup related_articles: - best-3d-printers-for-schools - best-3d-printer-for-beginners - best-3d-printer-for-print-farms faq: - q: What 3D printer should I buy? a: | Start from what you will print and where. For PLA and PETG at home, an open-frame printer with automatic bed levelling is enough. For ABS, ASA or a classroom, choose an enclosed printer. For multi-colour prints, choose one with a multi-material unit. Then compare the picks above at the price you would pay where you live. - q: Is an open-source 3D printer better? a: | Not always better, but freer. Open firmware and published parts let you repair, modify and keep the printer working whatever its maker decides later. A closed printer can be easier to start with. Our openness ratings show where each brand sits, and why. - q: How often is this guide updated? a: | Every time the page loads. The picks, prices and ranking come from our printer catalog, which changes as printers launch, prices move, and reviews and brand research are added. Once a year we also write our own take on the year's printers. --- Picking the best 3D printer in 2026 is harder than it should be. There are dozens of good machines, prices change every week, and most "best 3D printer" lists are written once and left to age. This 3D printer buying guide works differently: the picks below are ranked when you open the page, from what our printer catalog knows today. That means the prices in your region's stores, independent reviews, how many people run each printer with SimplyPrint, and how open each brand leaves you. **Our take for 2026** For most people this year, it's the **Bambu Lab P2S**. It's fast, enclosed, has a camera built in and simply works, with an ecosystem around it that nobody else has matched yet. For a first printer at home, we'd buy the **A1 Mini**. The printer we're most excited about is the **Snapmaker U1**: a toolchanger for the price that used to buy a single-nozzle printer, quick, and open. The **Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2** and Flashforge's latest printers are great value too, and **Qidi**, which sends us some of its new printers, is easy to recommend now as well. Creality and Elegoo are still a little rougher around the edges than Bambu Lab, but they are closing the gap. Then there's Prusa, and we wish we could say more: we can't make a Prusa our top pick this year. Prusa is a great, open company that designs its printers in Europe and builds most of them in Prague. But its printers still run on older hardware than their rivals: a microcontroller board rather than a small Linux computer, a small screen, slower connections, and no camera built in, so no live view and no AI failure detection out of the box. SimplyPrint adds both once you fit a camera yourself, but you shouldn't have to. Even Prusa's own NFC filament tag standard, OpenPrintTag, isn't read by its printers yet, while SimplyPrint already reads and writes the tags. Upgrades like the INDX toolchanger show where Prusa is heading, and we hope the next Prusa brings the rest. Whatever you buy, think about the long run too. Bambu Lab works a lot like Apple, without Apple's prices: one company makes the printer, the software, the cloud and the filament system, and it all fits together. The other side of that is that Bambu Lab decides what its printers can do. In January 2025 it announced firmware that requires its authorization before third-party software can start a print, and later added an optional Developer Mode that keeps local control open, without Bambu Lab's support ([what that means for SimplyPrint](https://help.simplyprint.io/en/article/bambu-lab-security-firmware-authorization-control-system-update-will-i-still-be-able-to-use-simplyprint-y2uoor/)). On your own network, a printer only changes when you install an update. Its filament tags are its own, too: other spools work fine, but you set them up by hand. Creality, Anycubic and Qidi are more open here: SimplyPrint can write tags their filament systems accept, so any brand of filament is recognised. The openness ratings below show where each brand stands, with sources. ## Our picks: the best 3D printer 2026 These printers come out on top today, overall and for each budget. Looking for the best budget 3D printer? It is the pick for the lowest price band. Every reason under a printer is read from its data, and the score is out of 100. Prices are the lowest we found in your region, and the buttons take you to the store. ### ELEGOO Centauri Carbon _Best overall for most people · Most open choice_ · Score 63 of 100 · Compatible - Fully enclosed, so ABS and ASA print well - Launched February 17, 2025 - Multi-colour with the Elegoo Canvas - A built-in camera, for watching prints from anywhere - ELEGOO rates "Mostly open" on our openness scale - Watch out: ELEGOO has had setbacks in the last three years: see the brand notes below [Specs, reviews and setup](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/elegoo-centauri-carbon) ### Snapmaker U1 _Best for multi-colour printing_ · Score 58 of 100 · Compatible _Our editor's pick: hands-on experience puts it here, ahead of its score_ - A toolchanger, for several colours or materials in one print - Launched 2025 - A built-in camera, for watching prints from anywhere - Snapmaker rates "Mostly open" on our openness scale - Partly enclosed [Specs, reviews and setup](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/snapmaker-u1) ## The best 3D printer for what you do If you are asking "what 3D printer should I buy?", start with what you will use it for. The best printer for a classroom is not the best printer for a farm of forty machines. Each of these guides weighs what that buyer cares about most: - [Best 3D printer for schools](https://simplyprint.io/articles/best-3d-printers-for-schools): Top pick now: Bambu Lab P2S - [Best 3D printer for beginners and home use](https://simplyprint.io/articles/best-3d-printer-for-beginners): Top pick now: Bambu Lab A1 Mini - [Best 3D printer for print farms](https://simplyprint.io/articles/best-3d-printer-for-print-farms): Top pick now: ELEGOO Centauri Carbon - [Best 3D printer for business](https://simplyprint.io/articles/best-3d-printer-for-business): Top pick now: Bambu Lab P2S - **Schools** weigh safety and running without fuss: an enclosure, a reliable first print, and a way to let a whole class print without a teacher standing at every machine. - **Beginners and home users** weigh price, ease and fun: multi-colour, a printer that levels its own bed, and a big community when something goes wrong. - **Print farms** weigh uptime for the money: identical machines that run unattended, plate swapping, remote control and spare parts. - **Businesses** weigh materials, reliability and data: engineering filaments, support, and whether the printer has to talk to its maker's cloud. ## The ranking The top ten for most people. Open a printer for its specs, reviews and setup guide, or compare the top four side by side on our [printer comparison](/compatibility/compare). | # | Printer | Score | From | With SimplyPrint | Brand openness | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Prusa CORE One+ INDX](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/prusa-core-one-plus-indx) | 68 | - | Expected to work | Open | | 2 | [ELEGOO Centauri Carbon](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/elegoo-centauri-carbon) | 63 | - | Compatible | Mostly open | | 3 | [Creality K2](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/creality-k2) | 62 | - | Compatible | Mostly open | | 4 | [Creality K2 Pro](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/creality-k2-pro) | 62 | - | Compatible | Mostly open | | 5 | [Bambu Lab H2C](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/bambu-lab-h2c) | 60 | - | Compatible | Mostly closed | | 6 | [Creality K2 Plus](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/creality-k2-plus) | 60 | - | Compatible | Mostly open | | 7 | [Snapmaker U1](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/snapmaker-u1) | 58 | - | Compatible | Mostly open | | 8 | [Bambu Lab H2D](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/bambu-lab-h2d) | 58 | - | Compatible | Mostly closed | | 9 | [Bambu Lab H2S](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/bambu-lab-h2s) | 58 | - | Compatible | Mostly closed | | 10 | [Bambu Lab P2S](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/bambu-lab-p2s) | 58 | - | Compatible | Mostly closed | [Compare the top four side by side](https://simplyprint.io/compatibility/compare?compare=prusa-core-one-plus-indx,elegoo-centauri-carbon,creality-k2,creality-k2-pro#compare) ## What to look for in a 3D printer ### Enclosed or open frame An enclosed printer keeps heat in and hands out. That matters for ABS, ASA and nylon, which warp in a draft, and in any room with children in it. An open-frame printer, where the bed moves back and forth, costs less and is easier to work on. It is fine for PLA and PETG at home. ### Multi-colour Multi-material units feed several spools into one printer, so a print can change colour or material by itself. Bambu Lab's AMS, Creality's CFS, Anycubic's ACE Pro and Prusa's MMU all work this way. They add cost and waste a little filament on every change. Toolchangers and printers with two independent extruders do the same with less waste, for more money. ### Size and speed Most people never fill a 256 mm cube. A bigger bed costs more, takes more room and heats up slower. The top speed on a spec sheet is rarely what you print at, so reliability and quality at sensible speeds matter more than the headline number. ### Materials Almost any printer prints PLA. PETG wants a hotter bed, TPU a direct-drive extruder, ABS and ASA an enclosure, and carbon-fibre filled filaments a hardened nozzle. Every printer in our [compatibility list](/compatibility) shows what it prints well, and why. ### Software, and the printer's future The printer you buy comes with a slicer, a phone app, a cloud and a firmware update schedule. Check that it works with the slicer you want, that you can print without the maker's cloud if you need to, and that the maker sells spare parts. SimplyPrint runs printers from more than 130 brands in one place, with [slicing in the browser](/features/slicer), so the brand you buy today doesn't decide the software you use tomorrow. ## Open or walled garden: how free does a brand leave you? Some 3D printer makers work like Apple. One company makes the printer, the slicer, the cloud, the multi-colour system and the spare parts, and it all works together from the first day, on that company's terms. Others work more like Android, or a Linux PC: the firmware is open source, the printer runs without the maker's cloud, any filament and slicer works, and you can buy or print the parts to repair it. Neither is wrong. A closed system is often the easiest start, and a school or company may like one vendor answering for everything. But the maker decides what the printer can do later. In January 2025, Bambu Lab [announced firmware](https://blog.bambulab.com/firmware-update-introducing-new-authorization-control-system-2/) that requires its own authorization for operations such as starting a print, and stops unauthorized third-party software from doing them. It later [added an optional Developer Mode](https://blog.bambulab.com/updates-and-third-party-integration-with-bambu-connect/) that leaves local control open, without support. An open source 3D printer sits at the other end: Prusa publishes its [firmware source code](https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy), and many printers run [Klipper](https://www.klipper3d.org/), an open-source firmware anyone can change. So we rate every brand in this guide in six areas, each from public sources: firmware, local control without the maker's cloud, third-party filament and slicers, repairs and spare parts, data and privacy, and community. We also keep a dated track record of recalls, layoffs, policy changes and closures. Only what happened, with its source, and never a guess about what might. ### Prusa: Openness: Open (4.9 of 5) Prusa Research is a Prague company founded in 2012 by Josef Průša, who came from the open-source RepRap project. It designs and builds the Original Prusa and Prusa CORE printers, makes Prusament filament, develops the PrusaSlicer slicer and runs the Printables model site. Printers are built in Prague and at its US site in Delaware, sold assembled or as kits, and used by hobbyists, schools, businesses and print farms. - Firmware and custom firmware: 5/5. Firmware for current printers is published on GitHub under GPL-3.0 and updated with every release. Official firmware is signed, but Prusa documents how to flash custom firmware by breaking a seal on the board and says this does not void the warranty. Prusa says firmware and printable parts are shared right away and electronics schematics later. - Local control and integrations: 5/5. PrusaLink, built into the CORE One, MK4S, MK3.9, MK3.5 and XL, handles monitoring, file uploads and print control on the local network without internet or an account, and printing from USB works offline. Prusa publishes PrusaLink's HTTP API as an OpenAPI specification on GitHub, and its help centre covers OctoPrint setup. Prusa Connect is an optional cloud service for remote access. - Third-party filament, slicers and parts: 5/5. Printers are open to any filament; PrusaSlicer is GPL-licensed and other slicers work. Instead of a locked RFID system, Prusa created OpenPrintTag, an NFC spool-tag standard that is free for any brand to use and works offline. - Repairs and spare parts: 5/5. The e-shop sells spare parts for each printer, printable parts are published, and the full CORE One CAD files are released. Prusa's open-source page says its goal is printers that stay moddable and easy to repair for decades, and its licence explicitly allows making spare parts for your own machines. - Data and privacy: 4/5. No account is needed for local use through PrusaLink or USB. Prusa Connect needs a Prusa account and stores G-codes and telemetry in the cloud. Prusa Research is an EU company and publishes its privacy policy and a Trust Center. - Community and documentation: 5/5. Large community around Printables and the forum, a detailed knowledge base, and firmware and slicer developed in public on GitHub with open issue trackers. - July 2026: Printed Solid, the Delaware company Prusa Research bought in 2022, was renamed Prusa USA. Its Wilmington site builds the MK4S and CORE One+, makes filament and is Prusa's US service centre. - December 2025: Prusa released the full CAD files of the CORE One under its new Open Community License (OCL). OCL allows modifying, sharing mods and in-house commercial use, and grants patent and repair rights, but bars selling machines built from the files without an agreement, so it is not a standard open-source licence. Prusa said it is also filing patents on its designs. - October 2025: Prusa launched OpenPrintTag, a published NFC standard for smart filament spools that any brand can use without licence fees, starting with redesigned Prusament spools. - November 2024: Prusa announced the CORE One, its first fully enclosed CoreXY printer with active chamber temperature control. - March 2023: Josef Průša wrote that open source in 3D printing was under strain from cloners and licence violations. With the MK4, Prusa released firmware sources and models of the plastic parts but held back the electronics plans, planning to publish them later under a new licence. ### Snapmaker: Openness: Mostly open (4.1 of 5) Snapmaker is a Shenzhen company founded in 2016, built around machines that swap tool heads; its Original, 2.0 and U1 machines were launched on Kickstarter. It sells the U1, a CoreXY printer with four tool heads that change in about five seconds for multi-colour printing, and the Artisan, which combines 3D printing, laser engraving and CNC carving. Its buyers are makers, hobbyists and small workshops. - Firmware and custom firmware: 4/5. The U1 runs modified Klipper, Moonraker and Fluidd. Snapmaker published its changes on GitHub under GPL-3.0 on 30 March 2026, about three months after Kickstarter deliveries finished. Firmware for the Snapmaker 2.0 and, since August 2026, the Artisan controller is also on GitHub under GPL. - Local control and integrations: 5/5. The U1 runs Klipper, Moonraker and Fluidd on the printer and prints from Snapmaker Orca over Wi-Fi or from a USB drive, so other software can use Moonraker's documented API; Snapmaker publishes its Moonraker changes on GitHub. For the Artisan, Snapmaker documents its G-code commands and has Luban pass jobs from OrcaSlicer over the OctoPrint protocol. The Snapmaker app is for remote monitoring. - Third-party filament, slicers and parts: 3/5. Third-party 1.75 mm filament works and the U1 is supported in OrcaSlicer, but its RFID filament recognition is proprietary and only reads Snapmaker spools, and its hotends are proprietary one-piece units. Snapmaker documents using Cura, OrcaSlicer and PrusaSlicer with its older machines. - Repairs and spare parts: 4/5. Snapmaker's shop sells most U1 parts on their own, including the main board, heated bed, extruder motor, toolhead board, belts, fans and touchscreen, and its wiki has replacement guides such as the U1 XY motor. Hotends can only be replaced as a whole unit. - Data and privacy: 3/5. Cloud features need a Snapmaker account. The privacy policy says personal data is stored on servers in the United States, may be shared with affiliates and third parties in China for some functions, and some data is kept for three years. - Community and documentation: 4/5. Active forum and a wiki with detailed FAQs and guides, firmware and slicer sources on GitHub, and frequent public updates and livestreams during the U1 campaign. - August 2026: Snapmaker published the Artisan's Marlin-based controller firmware on GitHub under GPL-3.0. - March 30, 2026: Snapmaker published its modified Klipper, Moonraker and Fluidd for the U1 on GitHub under GPL-3.0, on the last day of the deadline it had set itself. - December 2025: Snapmaker says all U1 Kickstarter orders shipped by 23 December 2025, ahead of its schedule. It says it delivered all three of its Kickstarter campaigns. - September 2025: The U1 Kickstarter raised $20.2 million from more than 20,000 backers by 30 September 2025, the most for any 3D printer on the platform. Snapmaker gives the final total as $20.6 million from 20,680 backers. ### ELEGOO: Openness: Mostly open (3.8 of 5) ELEGOO is a Shenzhen company founded in 2015 that makes FDM and resin 3D printers, filament, laser engravers and STEM electronics kits. Its FDM range is the Centauri Carbon, an enclosed CoreXY printer, and the Neptune 4 series of open-frame Klipper printers, sold to hobbyists at budget to mid-range prices. DJI became a shareholder in 2025. - Firmware and custom firmware: 3/5. The Neptune 4 series runs Klipper. For the Centauri Carbon, which went on sale in February 2025, ELEGOO published its modified source on GitHub under GPL-3.0 in September 2025, saying it did so in response to user feedback. - Local control and integrations: 5/5. ELEGOO's printers connect to its slicer on the local network by IP without an account. The Neptune 4 series serves Klipper's web interface and Moonraker, which OrcaSlicer reaches as an Octo/Klipper host. For the Centauri Carbon and Centauri Carbon 2, ELEGOO published Elegoo Link on GitHub in January 2026, an Apache-2.0 SDK for local discovery, status, file upload and print control. The Matrix phone app adds remote printing while the printer is online. - Third-party filament, slicers and parts: 4/5. Third-party filament works; ElegooSlicer is an open-source OrcaSlicer-based slicer, OrcaSlicer works with the Neptune 4, and ELEGOO published the data format of its RFID filament tags so others can use it. - Repairs and spare parts: 3/5. ELEGOO sells hotend, extruder and nozzle kits and some boards for the Neptune 4, and its wiki has many replacement guides, including the Centauri Carbon motherboard. The store's Centauri Carbon parts list is short (hotend kit, touchscreen, upper shell). - Data and privacy: 3/5. LAN printing needs no account; the Matrix app and cloud do. The privacy policy names the companies responsible for personal data in each region (Shenzhen, Hong Kong, United States) but is written mainly for the online store. - Community and documentation: 3/5. Active community and a wiki with guides per model; firmware and slicer sources are on GitHub, although the Centauri Carbon source came after users asked for it. - May 2026: ELEGOO's parent closed a B+ financing round of over 500 million yuan (about $73 million) from investors including Meituan, Hillhouse Capital and Shenzhen Capital Group. It reported 2025 revenue of 2.3 billion yuan. - April 27, 2026: CANVAS, the multi-colour system for the Centauri Carbon, became available, five months after ELEGOO said it could not give a release date. - November 18, 2025: DJI and Hangzhou Jiangyu Technology became shareholders of ELEGOO's parent company, according to a business registration update reported by TechNode. The size of the stake was not disclosed. - November 2025: ELEGOO said the multi-colour system it was developing for the Centauri Carbon did not yet perform as it wanted and that it could not guarantee a release date. It offered owners a choice of a $50 filament coupon, a 365-day warranty extension or $80 off a Centauri Carbon 2 Combo. - September 26, 2025: In response to user feedback, ELEGOO published the modified source code of the Centauri series firmware on GitHub under GPL-3.0. - February 2025: ELEGOO opened pre-orders for the Centauri Carbon, its first enclosed CoreXY printer, on 17 February 2025. ### Creality: Openness: Mostly open (3.6 of 5) Creality is a Shenzhen 3D printer maker founded in 2014. Its low-cost Ender series, launched in 2017, made desktop 3D printing affordable for many hobbyists. It now sells Klipper-based K-series CoreXY printers, Ender and CR open-frame printers, the Hi and SPARKX beginner lines, the CFS multi-material system, 3D scanners and laser engravers, and runs the Creality Cloud model platform. It listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2026. - Firmware and custom firmware: 3/5. Creality publishes Klipper firmware source for the K1, K2, Hi and Ender-3 V3 KE on GitHub under GPL, but after launch: the K1 source came about three months after the series launched in May 2023, the K2 and Hi sources in September 2025. Earlier K1 printers have an official root option with a published guide, but Creality's wiki says the 2025 K1C and K1 Max do not support root access. - Local control and integrations: 4/5. Creality Print sends jobs over the local network with no account, and Creality Cloud is optional. The K2 series and Ender-3 V3 serve Fluidd on the printer, so other software can use Klipper's documented Moonraker API. On the K1 series, Creality's firmware notes treat Fluidd and Mainsail as add-ons owners install themselves, and Creality says the 2025 K1C and K1 Max do not support root access. The SPARKX i7 is set up through the Creality Cloud app. - Third-party filament, slicers and parts: 4/5. Third-party filament works; Creality Print is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) slicer and OrcaSlicer supports Creality printers. Creality sells nozzle, hotend and extruder kits per model; newer K2 parts such as its nozzle kit are Creality designs. - Repairs and spare parts: 4/5. Creality's store sells extruder, hotend, heating-block and print-head kits per model, and its wiki has parts lists and replacement guides for current printers (for example the K2 Plus and SPARKX i7 hotends). - Data and privacy: 3/5. Local printing needs no account; Creality Cloud and its app need one. Creality's published privacy policy is written for its websites and services, allows use of data for targeted advertising, and says little about printer data or where it is stored. - Community and documentation: 4/5. One of the largest user bases (second in consumer 3D printers by 2025 sales value, per figures in its listing), a public wiki with model-specific guides, firmware and slicer sources on GitHub, and an official forum. - May 2026: Creality listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (3388.HK), raising about HK$1.27 billion net. Its prospectus showed 2025 revenue of RMB 3.13 billion and a net loss of RMB 182.4 million, after a profit in 2024. - November 2025: Creality's wiki states that the 2025 revisions of the K1C and K1 Max do not support root access, which earlier K1 printers offered through an official option and guide. - September 2025: Creality published the Klipper source for its K2 series and for the Hi on GitHub under GPL-3.0. - August 2023: About three months after the K1 series launched, Creality published its K1 Klipper source on GitHub, followed by a repository with a root guide and Fluidd and Mainsail install instructions. ### Bambu Lab: Openness: Mostly closed (2.3 of 5) Bambu Lab is a Shenzhen company founded in 2020 by former DJI engineers. It makes FDM printers in four families (A, P, X and H), the AMS multi-material units, the Bambu Studio slicer, the Bambu Handy app and the MakerWorld model site, and designs them to be used together. Its printers are used by beginners, hobbyists, schools and print farms. - Firmware and custom firmware: 1/5. The printer firmware is Bambu's own and closed; in 2022 Bambu said it would keep it in-house. Its security white paper describes secure boot that only runs verified firmware on X1, H2, P1 and A1 printers. Bambu publishes the GPL parts it uses (Linux kernel, U-Boot, BusyBox) but not the printer software. Rooting the X1 only became possible through a security flaw the X1Plus project used in 2024; Bambu then published a one-off rootable X1 firmware for owners who give up their warranty, and blocks rooting in later firmware. - Local control and integrations: 2/5. LAN Only mode prints and monitors from Bambu Studio or Bambu Connect without internet or an account; the Handy app, printing from outside the network and print history need Bambu's cloud. Since the 2025 authorization firmware, other software can only read status in normal mode. Full control needs Developer Mode, which cuts the cloud link and which Bambu says it cannot support because the protocols are not official. Bambu documents no local protocol; it offers a file hand-off to Bambu Connect and a Local Server SDK on application. - Third-party filament, slicers and parts: 3/5. Third-party filament works, and Bambu publicly denied in 2025 that it would restrict it. OrcaSlicer and other slicers can be used, but since the 2025 firmware they send and control prints through Bambu Connect or Developer Mode. Hotends are Bambu's own designs, and Bambu says it cannot promise long-term support for accessories that control the printer unless it approved them first. - Repairs and spare parts: 4/5. Bambu's store sells individual spare parts down to motors, belts, encoders and boards, and its wiki has step-by-step replacement guides for each model (for example the P2S hotend and the H2D/H2C AP board). Many parts, hotends included, are Bambu-specific, so spares come from Bambu. - Data and privacy: 3/5. Cloud features need a Bambu account, while LAN Only mode keeps jobs on the local network. Bambu publishes a Trust Center and a 38-page security white paper, says it holds ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701 and TRUSTe certifications, and runs a paid bug bounty. In August 2023 a cloud outage made some printers start earlier jobs on their own; Bambu apologised. - Community and documentation: 4/5. Very large user community, the MakerWorld model site, a detailed wiki and a blog where Bambu explains its policy changes. Bambu Studio is developed in public on GitHub with an open issue tracker. The printer protocol is not documented, and Developer Mode is unsupported. - September 2026: A US federal jury in Texas found that Bambu Lab's X1, P1 and A1 printers infringe Stratasys patents on prime towers and bed levelling, and awarded Stratasys $27.6 million. No injunction was placed on the printers. Bambu told Tom's Hardware it disagrees with the verdict and intends to seek post-trial review and appeal. Stratasys had filed two suits in 2024; more patents are still to be decided. - May 2026: Bambu Lab pressed the developer of 'OrcaSlicer-bambulab', a fork that restored direct cloud printing from OrcaSlicer, to remove it, according to Manufactur3D. On 7 May Bambu said the fork impersonated the official Bambu Studio client to its cloud, which its user agreement does not allow, and that modifying and sharing its AGPL code remains fine. The developer disputed the claims. - October 2025: Bambu Lab opened a Trust Center with a security white paper and listed ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701 and TRUSTe privacy certifications. A year later it said its bug bounty had worked with over 100 researchers and that it had added a public security update log. - January 20, 2025: After criticism from users and print farms, Bambu Lab announced an optional Developer Mode for X1, P1, A1 and A1 mini that leaves MQTT, FTP and the live stream open for third-party software in LAN mode, without official support. It also said LAN mode via Bambu Connect needs neither internet nor an account, and that third-party filament would not be restricted. - January 16, 2025: Bambu Lab announced firmware with 'authorization control', first for the X1: starting prints, moving axes, changing temperatures and binding the printer now require Bambu-approved software, also in LAN mode. On updated printers, third-party slicers and accessories such as the Panda Touch could no longer control the printer except through Bambu Connect; reading status still worked. Bambu cited security and up to 30 million unauthorised cloud requests a day; older firmware stayed optional. - March 2024: After the X1Plus jailbreak, Bambu Lab published a one-off rootable firmware for the X1 series for owners who give up their warranty support. It said it does not support X1Plus, and that firmware after it would block rooting again. - February 2024: Bambu Lab extended its A1 heatbed-cable callback to a recall of all A1 printers and asked owners to stop using them. It reported electrical faults in under 0.1% of units and offered a full refund plus an $80 voucher, or a redesigned heatbed plus a $120 voucher and six extra months of warranty. The A1 mini was not affected. - January 2024: Community developers rooted the X1 series through a security flaw in its firmware (up to version 1.07) and released the X1Plus custom firmware. Bambu Lab closed the flaw in later firmware. - August 2023: During a Bambu cloud outage on 15 August 2023, some printers started print jobs without user action, because jobs stuck in the cloud were resent when service returned. Bambu apologised, took responsibility and said it would add checks before a print starts. - May 2022: Before its first printers shipped, Bambu Lab said its firmware would stay closed and in-house to remain competitive, and promised to open-source everything if the company ever could not survive. ## Where they come from, and staying compliant Most of the best 3D printers today come from Chinese companies, and this ranking reflects that: right now they give you the most printer for the money. That's no judgement of the people who make them. But for some buyers, where a printer comes from matters: schools, public bodies and companies often have rules about where their devices are made and where their data goes. 9 of the top 10 printers in this guide come from a Chinese company. Here are the best-ranked from EU companies: None ranks in this guide yet. ### Any printer, on your terms, with SimplyPrint Whoever makes your printer, SimplyPrint decides what it talks to: - **Off its maker's cloud.** Most printers connect through the SimplyPrint Client on your own network, or in their local-network mode (Bambu Lab's LAN-only mode, with Developer Mode on its newer printers), so they never need their maker's cloud. You can block them from the internet entirely and let only the SimplyPrint Client connect out. - **Your data stored in Europe.** SimplyPrint's cloud is hosted in Frankfurt, Germany, under the GDPR. See [how we keep it secure](/security) and [who processes data for us](/legal/subprocessors). - **One place for access.** Users, permissions, [single sign-on](/single-sign-on) and an audit log, for every printer, whatever its brand. - **On your own servers, if you need it.** See [cloud vs. on-premise](/cloud-vs-on-premise). ## How we choose No brand pays for its place in this guide. The ranking is a formula over our catalog, the same for every printer, and it runs again each time the page loads. This is what it weighs for this guide, out of 100 points: | What we weigh | Points | How it is measured | | --- | --- | --- | | Our assessment for this use | 15 | Our written assessment of the printer for this kind of buyer: great, good, OK or poor. A printer we rate poor for it is left out. Not every printer is assessed yet; for those, this factor is left out and the others count for more. | | Works with SimplyPrint | 10 | Verified by SimplyPrint, compatible, or expected to work from how it connects. | | How many are in use | 10 | How many printers of the model run on SimplyPrint, on a log scale: a sign of how many people trust it. | | Independent reviews | 10 | How many respected reviewers (press and YouTube) have reviewed it, up to four. | | Price | 10 | The lowest current price for your region, compared on a log scale with the others in the guide. No current price counts low. | | Enclosure | 8 | Fully enclosed counts most, partly enclosed half. | | Multi-colour and multi-material | 8 | Whether it ships with or works with a multi-material unit, a toolchanger or two extruders. | | How new it is | 8 | Launched this year or last counts fully, less each year after. | | Built-in camera | 6 | A camera built in, for watching prints and failure detection. | | The brand's openness | 6 | The brand's place on our open-to-walled-garden scale, below. Not rated yet counts as the middle. | | Materials it prints well | 4 | How many kinds of filament it prints well, from its temperatures, enclosure and the maker's list. | | Rating by SimplyPrint users | 3 | What SimplyPrint users rate it, when they have. | | The brand's track record | 2 | Negative events in the brand's last three years (recalls, layoffs, policy changes that took features away), each with its sources. Not researched yet counts as a small deduction. | The score picks the printers, with one exception: where our own hands-on experience with a printer disagrees with its score, our editor can choose a different pick, and that pick says so. A printer replaced by a newer model we recommend instead is left out. A few makers send us printers or work with us directly; where one does, the guide says so next to its printers. Openness areas: Firmware and custom firmware (30%), Local control and integrations (30%), Third-party filament, slicers and parts (15%), Repairs and spare parts (10%), Data and privacy (10%), Community and documentation (5%). Some buying links earn us a commission at no cost to you; they never change the ranking. We make SimplyPrint, which runs printers from every brand here, so "works with SimplyPrint" is one factor. It is a fair sign of how many people trust a printer, and it is the software you would manage the printer with if you chose to. _Built from our catalog: 59 printers ranked out of 59 on sale that work with SimplyPrint._