What is the best budget 3D printer under $300?

We scoured the web to find the 8 best cheap 3D printers under $300 and share our final selection in this article.

Since 2016, we’ve been noticing a “race-to-the-bottom” trend where 3D printer prices are driven down. Many startups and (mostly Chinese) manufacturers are competing to make the cheapest 3D printers on the market.

Low prices often used to be synonym with poor quality, but that’s no longer the case: the budget 3D printers in our list all provide a great value for the money. It’s more and more common to see user-friendly features from higher-end machines trickle down to the cheaper printers.

That said, 3D printers under $300 are typically not professional-grade machines and often require some level of technical knowledge and patience. They almost always come as kits to be assembled and are recommended for tinkerers and makers, but also beginners with a small budget.

All of the 3D printers in this guide are filament-based. If you’re looking for a cheap resin 3D printer, head over here.

The 8 best cheap 3D printers under $300

Overview of our budget 3D printer selection

3D printer buying guide for a $300 budget

What to look for when buying an entry-level, low-cost 3D printer? In the sub-300 price range, there is not much room for pickiness, but there are still a few aspects that are important to consider.

Pre-assembled 3D printers vs DIY 3D printer kits

DIY 3D printer kits used to be quite complex and time-consuming to build. Today, most of them are delivered partly pre-assembled and only require you to screw three or four parts together in under an hour.

Beginners can easily assemble a kit with little 3D printing knowledge. While it’s not always the case with fully pre-assembled printers, most 3D printer kits can be upgraded with extra 3D printed parts.

Enclosed versus open frame

Many things can interfere with 3D print quality, such as temperature changes and room drafts. Closed frame 3D printers help protect the 3D printing process as well as reduce particle emissions (from melted plastic) and noise.

For PLA prints, an open frame works fine, but ABS 3D printing does require a bit more of a controlled environment.

Community support

Help and frequently asked questions can be found on specialized forums and dedicated discussions groups for specific 3D printer models (there are plenty on Facebook).

Our list of the best general 3DP communities provides more information about these forums and groups.

Build volume

The build volume, or maximum size of a 3D print, is an important spec to consider. If the goal is just to discover and experiment with 3D printing then the build size isn’t too critical, unlike if specific parts need to be printed with certain dimensions.

Automatic calibration

3D print accuracy can easily be thrown off if the print bed is the teeniest bit lopsided. Some 3D printers offer automated bed leveling, but many others require manual calibration. An auto-calibration feature can help save time, but it isn’t hard to do it manually.

Other interesting features include:

• Filament sensor (detects if there’s a filament jam)
• Auto resume (saves print progress in case of power failures)
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Touchscreen

Prusa i3 clones and the RepRap legacy

Many budget 3D printers are based on or are clones of the Original Prusa i3, a design developed by Josef Prusa in 2012.

The Prusa i3 is part of the RepRap (replicating rapid prototyper) project whose initial aim was to develop a low-cost 3D printer able to replicate most of its components using 3D printing. Since its debut in 2005, hundreds of international contributors have joined the project to keep upgrading and optimizing 3D printing for everyone.

The blueprints are open source and patent-free. Hence, many manufacturers “cloned” and rebranded the Prusa i3. Josef Prusa is part of the business too and selling 3D printers under his own brand, Prusa Research.

What about low-cost Kickstarter 3D printers?

Some Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects advertise 3D printers at crazy low prices, sometimes under $100! Many of those 3D printer Kickstarter projects have proven to be scams… See below some of the top 3D printer fails on crowdfunding platforms!

Top cheap Kickstarter 3D printer fails

3D printer startups tend to promise amazing products through expensive marketing campaigns to get as many pledges as they can. This is not an unusual goal, but when too much effort is put into advertising there is not much left for logistics, especially if the business model is not well prepared.

TIKO 3D Tiko

• Price: $199
• Amount pledged: almost $3M in March 2015
• Number of backers: 16,538
• What happened: they simply promised too much for too little and found themselves left with no more funds to fulfill their orders. The first backers received their 3D printers, but many remained Tiko-less.
• More information: Tiko 3D Tiko

Rinnovated Design Peachy Printer

• Price: $100
• Amount pledged: over $650,000 after its launch in September 2013
• Number of backers: 4,420
• What happened: one of the two founders embezzled about half of the Peachy Printer funds to build himself a house, forcing the company to lay off its workers and collapse.
• More information: Rinnovated Design Peachy Printer

Pirate3D Buccaneer

• Price: $300
• Amount pledged: just under $1.5M, and an additional $2M by private investors
• Number of backers: 3,520
• What happened: Pirate3D drowned in their initial success with too many products to deliver and not enough staff. They roguishly started to retail-sell their 3D printer before trying to own up to their backers (which they didn’t).
• More information: Pirate3D Buccaneer

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