We Crafted With 3D Printing Pens at Home—These 4 Were Oddly Satisfying
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A 3D pen is a crafting tool that works a little like a hot glue gun, except what comes out is warm plastic. 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 3D printer copies a digital model. With a 3D pen, you're "drawing" freehand. It's a less perfect but less expensive way to craft with plastic.
I was enthusiastic about investigating the top 3D penswith two young adults in my home (Henry, who is my child, and his partner, Simon), understanding that they're marketed for children, teens, beginners, and crafty adults. We learned that drawing with warm plastic is not easy, but it is fun. I had GH staff members try all four of our choices, too, and I think you can tell from the pictures that they weren't immediately handy with the pens, either!
Our top picks:
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Best Overall: 3Doodler Flow
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Best Value: SCRIB3D Printing Pen
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Best for Kids and Beginners: 3Doodler Start+
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Best for Adults: MYNT3D Super 3D Pen
I 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.
3Doodler Flow
BEST FOR:Teens and adults willing to pay a bit more to have a complete power setup and more filament.
WHAT TO KNOW:The power source is permanently tethered to the pen, so you won't have yet another loose cord kicking around. It also comes with a power adapter brick to plug the cord into. The setup is not wireless, so you need to work near an outlet.
The 3Doodler Flow manual mentions a maintenance tool to help clean clogs, but some online reviewers say they didn't receive one—it seems the tool is not consistently included. See the brand's helpful video on how to change or remove filament .
TESTING NOTES:Using the 3Doodler Flow is straightforward: Wait for the two lights to turn green, feed in filament, and then press either "fast" or "slow."
"Slow lets you be more careful and deliberate," Henry says. He watched the brand's how to get started video to learn all of the controls.
This comes with stencils and a guide, good for beginners and fairly experienced crafters alike. The tip gets hot, so this is 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 .
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- Power source is permanently attached
- Helpful videos on YouTube
- Comes with stencils and a guide
- Kit includes 80 feet of filament
- Must use it close to an outlet
SCRIB3D Printing Pen
BEST FOR:Gift-givers looking to spend under $35 on a fun present for a creative teen or adult.
WHAT TO KNOW:This bargain has thousands of five-star Amazon reviews. The kit comes with stencil paper and a QR code that leads to directions. 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. Henry says, "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," Simon says. The pen comes with a separate USB cord and a wall adapter.
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- Priced for gifting
- Stencil paper and a QR code for directions
- Sliding speed-control button
- Extra filament is inexpensive
- Comes with only three colors of plastic
3Doodler Start+
BEST FOR:Beginners, tweens, and kids ages 6 and up. The others on this list are for adults, as the tips of those can get hot, but the Start+ is made so that no hot parts are exposed.
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.
It's a shorter and fatter pen than the others, and the beginner adult crafters on staff found it easy to wield.
TESTING NOTES:The more adult pens 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.
- No hot parts are exposed
- Comes with easy-to-follow stencils
- Plastic pad for mess-free doodling
- Short strands of filament good for beginners
- No wall adapter included for the USB cord
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.
Jessica Hartshorn
MYNT3D Super 3D Pen
BEST FOR:Adults looking for a precision-point 3D pen.
WHAT TO KNOW:Like the SCRIB3D, this has a sliding speed control, which gives crafters more mastery over the flow of plastic. We found this pen to be thinner and able to work more like a ballpoint penwith 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," says Henry. "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.
- Thinner and more like a ballpoint pen
- Sliding speed control for a more precise flow
- Professional model also available
- Comes with very little filament and only three colors
How I chose the best 3D pens
I've reviewed kids' products for 25 years and I contribute to the annual list of Good Housekeeping Best Toys . These 3D pens were tested by non-professional crafters, including me, my eldest child, his partner, plus staffers at Good Housekeeping who helped with the crafts and photographs in this story. This list is not based on any Lab testing, only hands-on use. I also read through user reviews online at Amazon, to be sure our experience matched others.
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We wanted to test 3D pens as beginners to understand the learning curve and assess how easy each pen is to use, even if you've never crafted in plastic before. In every case, we only worked with the filament that each pen came with.
Courtesy of Tester
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.
Courtesy of Tester
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
This article was written by Contributing Editor Jessica Hartshorn , who reviews pet and parenting products for the Good Housekeeping Institute . She's a former senior editor of Parents magazine and a judge for the Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards .
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