After the price shakeup last week, I thought it was time to review the current pricing of desktop FFF 3D printers to see what’s going on.
I divided the market into three classes of machines:
- “Entry”: These are open gantry devices that are low cost and handle basic materials.
- “Enthusiast”: These are fully enclosed machines that don’t have all the features of their professional equivalents and handle mostly basic materials.
- “Professional”: These are fully enclosed machines capable of handling a wide range of engineering materials, often including CF filaments.
I looked through the online stores of today’s leading providers of machines in these classes to see what’s available and at what price point. There are a lot of machines available, so I limited my search to machines with these characteristics to look at comparable machines:
- Fully or near-fully assembled (no kits)
- No filament switching option
- “Normal” build volume, not an “extended” machine
- High speed printing, usually with Klipper or equivalent
- Current models
- Models that are actually available for ordering today
Of course, there are plenty of different machines with other characteristics. You might want a filament changer, for example. But I had to simplify my investigation, so here we are. I’m sure I’ve missed a couple of models, but these represent the majority of today’s sales of desktop FFF devices.
I should also mention that there are companies selling open gantry machines that are not high speed, and because of that I didn’t include them in the list. High speed is the way to go these days. However, I have seen many of these machines now being marked down to the US$100 level or even lower. My thought is that the market for that class of machines has now expired.
Let’s look at each machine class.
Entry Level FFF 3D Printers
| MAKE | MODEL | PRICE |
| Sovol | SV07 | 139 |
| Creality | Ender-3 V3 Se | 199 |
| Elegoo | Neptune 4 | 199 |
| Elegoo | Neptune 4 Pro | 229 |
| Bambu Lab | A1 mini | 219 |
| Anycubic | Kobra 3 | 249 |
| Sovol | Comgrow T300 | 269 |
| Creality | Ender-3 V3 | 299 |
| Kingroon | KP3S V1 | 299 |
| Bambu Lab | A1 | 359 |
| Prusa | Mini+ | 459 |
| Prusa | MK4S | 999 |
| Average | 327 | |
| Mean | 259 |
These are all very capable 3D printers, and yet the pricing is incredibly low, at least for some of the options. The lowest price is now well below US$200, a limit that was rarely seen in the past. The average of this class is a mere US$259, while the average is a bit skewed because of the relatively expensive Prusa MK4S machine.
Enthusiast Level FFF 3D Printers
| MAKE | MODEL | PRICE |
| Elegoo | Centauri | 199 |
| Flashforge | Adventurer 5M | 279 |
| Creality | K1 SE | 359 |
| Creality | K1 | 389 |
| Bambu Lab | P1P | 519 |
| Bambu Lab | P1S | 629 |
| Average | 396 | |
| Mean | 374 |
This level is popular among those less able to afford professional equipment, as it has almost the same functionality. Here the prices are also quite low, with the mean being only US$374.
The highest-priced machines are those from Bambu Lab, which ironically triggered the price war we’re currently enjoying. Their popularity seems to have caused competitors to offer machines at lower prices, with the Elegoo Centauri completely breaking the price point.
In fact, the Centauri price, US$199, is lower than most of the machines in the Entry-level class. Why would you consider any of them if you can get a more advanced enclosed machine at the same or lower price?
Professional Level FFF 3D Printers
| MAKE | MODEL | PRICE |
| Elegoo | Centauri Carbon | 299 |
| Anycubic | S1 | 399 |
| QIDI | Tech Q1 Pro | 449 |
| Flashforge | Adventurer 5M | 469 |
| Creality | K1C | 519 |
| QIDI | Plus4 | 799 |
| Bambu Lab | X1C | 1149 |
| Prusa | CORE One | 1199 |
| Average | 712 | |
| Mean | 519 |
The professional class would be used by engineers and designers to produce strong parts in a wide range of materials. It’s very interesting to see an extreme range of prices here, with the Elegoo option again breaking the price barrier.
Prusa Research seems to have priced their option to be comparable to Bambu Lab, as they must be seeing them as the competitor. However, it appears there are several other options Prusa Research should also be concerned with.
Conclusion
The market is most definitely in a very aggressive price war at the moment. Many prices I encountered were discounted, with strokes through older prices that are no longer relevant. In fact, some of the prices in these lists seem no longer appropriate, given the price competition.
It’s a good time to be buying a desktop FFF 3D printer.
