5 of the Cheapest 3D Printers You Can Buy on Amazon

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The sheer variety of what you can create with a 3D printer is incredible. If you have the time and materials, you can produce everything from figurines and trinkets to tools, gadget accessories, and more. There are even giant things you probably didn’t know could be 3D printed – with commercial printers, of course.

But printing can be an expensive hobby, not only because of the initial cost of the printer, but also due to materials, print failures, software tools and more. The cheapest way to get started with 3D printing is basically to borrow or rent someone else’s. However, this will never give you the true freedom of owning your own printer. The good news is that you can start with a relatively inexpensive option, and there are many available on Amazon.

When you’re considering purchasing a new 3D printer for home or office projects, or whatever else you’re considering, there is something very important to consider. Prices have fallen in recent years, but still, going too low is not ideal. To reduce costs, some printer manufacturers will sacrifice important features and quality components that may affect future projects. Cheaper options can also pose safety risks, such as lacking protection against thermal runaway, which poses a fire risk. Note that here are the cheapest 3D printers you can buy on Amazon that also offer a lot of value. The intention was to keep the price reasonably below $350 and choose from well-known, proven brands with decent recommendations from respected tech outlets or verified consumer reviews.

The Creality Ender 3 V3 SE is not only one of the cheapest options on this list, at $219 full price, but it’s also one of the highest rated by reviewers and users. TechRadar and Tom’s Hardware each gave it high marks. It has garnered over 1,600 reviews on Amazon with a total rating of 4 out of 5 stars. We’ll hear more about what people are saying in a moment.

The decently sized build plate measures 8.66 inches by 8.66 inches by 9.84 inches, larger than most comparable systems. This gives you a suitable space to create. It also features auto-leveling, dual Z-axis auto-filament loading, and supports 250mm/s speed with 2,500mm/s acceleration. Supported materials are PLA, TPU, and PETG. The downside is that it doesn’t have built-in Wi-Fi, so you’ll need an SD card to upload 3D modeling data.

One reviewer even says to forget about the Adventurer 5M — another printer listed here — and use it instead as a “real, easy-to-use beginner’s machine.” Others confirm that it’s a “great entry-level option” and add that it works well with stock settings, meaning you don’t need to fiddle with them as much between projects. As with some other printers, some users have had customer support issues or difficulty getting their printers to work properly. Don’t let this scare you, but keep it in mind.

Bambu Lab is appreciated for its wide range of 3D printing machines, from the most economical to the most high-end. The Bambu Lab A1 mini at full price of $259 is no exception. It comes pre-assembled, pre-squared, and pre-adjusted for precision, meaning it should be mostly usable right out of the box – an ideal option for beginner to intermediate DIYers.

Plus, it self-calibrates, getting everything ready for you, and a simple touchscreen makes setup easy. It is quiet, prints at 500 mm/s, with a maximum acceleration of 10 m/s and supports PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA filaments. You can also print in multiple colors. It has a smaller build plate area than some other options, 7 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches, so keep that in mind.

It earned a spot among Tom’s Hardware’s Best Budget 3D Printers, but also scored high with PCMag and TechRadar, so you know it’s good. It currently only has a handful of reviews on Amazon, but still earned a 4.5 star rating out of 5. There aren’t many low scores either, but one three-star review mentions issues with prints coming off the table.

The Creality SparkX i7 is a newer printer from the company and has already received a lot of praise from reviewers, including Tom’s Hardware. This is a solid entry-level printer for $299 that’s also low-maintenance without cutting back on great features.

It has a large open bed measuring 10.24 inches by 10.24 inches by 10 inches with a speed of 500 mm/s and an acceleration of 10,000 mm/s. The direct drive extruder works with PLA, PETG and TPU materials. One of the most unique features supported by the app is the ability to use AI to create 3D models from portraits “in seconds”, which can then be brought to life using the machine.

Additionally, it has over 30 reviews on Amazon with a rating of 3.8 stars out of 5. It is considered plug-and-play friendly, ideal for beginners with smart features to support new printing techniques, and ideal for all ages provided the right supervision is administered. A handful of low scores are also visible, with reviews recommending spending more to get a better quality printer. Your mileage may vary.

Under $300 seems to be the sweet spot for affordable yet feature-rich 3D printers, with several Flashforge models being excellent examples. The Flashforge Adventurer 5M stands out, with a total price of $300. It goes on sale often, making it a solid option for those who want to save a few dollars but splurge on a more high-end system.

As for the printer, it is a closed system with print area dimensions of 8.66 inches by 8.66 inches by 8.66 inches. The 600mm/s travel speed and 20,000mm/s acceleration indicate fairly fast prints, with one-click automatic print modes and support for smart apps. The housing is made of metal and has a removable nozzle capable of withstanding extrusion temperatures of up to 280 degrees Celsius. It also works with a wide range of materials, such as PLA, ABS, PETG, TPU, PLA-CF, PETG-CF, PC and ASA.

None of this is worth it if the printer isn’t reliable and doesn’t deliver quality prints. The best way to know if this is the case or not is to check user reviews and comments. The Flashforge Adventurer 5M has CNET’s top ratings, for starters. It also has over 2,200 reviews, with a rating of 4 stars out of 5. Several of the top reviews mention that it offers “incredible” value, has “solid” reliability, and is a great entry-level option. To balance this out and give a more objective overview, one-star reviews claim that the hardware and software can be “unreliable,” and a few frustrated users have said that their experience has evolved over time.

Anycubic is a well-known brand in the world of 3D printing. It’s made the BGR list of cheap 3D printers you should buy more than once, and for good reason. The full-priced Anycubic Photon Mono 4 Ultra at $320 is another affordable product among the brand’s offerings. It is a closed system with a print size of 6.04 inches by 3.42 inches by 6.49 inches.

The first feature here is the 7-inch HD LCD touchscreen on the front which makes it easy to control the printer and adjust settings. This is also a resin printer that uses UV light to cure the liquid polymer, resulting in finer details in the finished product.

Currently, it has 60 reviews on Amazon with a rating of 4.6 stars out of 5. That’s not a lot, however, the original Photon Mono 4 has almost 500 reviews with a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5. Reviewers say it’s a “good printer” for getting started in the hobby, and it’s easy to use. Another user points out that it “sets the bar for all other resin printers” in terms of size and price range. However, it appears some have experienced faulty units and issues with their prints. This doesn’t seem to be the norm, even with limited reviews.

As mentioned previously, the aim of this list was to highlight 3D printers meeting three criteria, the first of which being availability for purchase on Amazon. From there, a price ceiling of $350 was set, while giving almost equal weight to the brand’s reliability, quality, and features. After all, a cheaper 3D printer that produces poor results is not preferable to a slightly more expensive and better performing option.