10 Cheap and Affordable 3D Printers to Buy

There was a time when 3D printers were a novelty – but not anymore. You see hundreds of businesses using 3D printers in their manufacturing.

Similarly, there are thousands of websites featuring 3D printable models, and people even buy 3D printers for their personal use – all of which point to the fact that 3D printers are pretty affordable.

That said – if you want to get a 3D printer for yourself or your business, take a look at this list of cheap and affordable 3D printers.

1. Monoprice Select Mini 3D Printer

The Monoprice Select prides itself on being one of the most affordable and feature-filled 3D printers in the market, making it the right one for 3D printing beginners.

The thing I liked the most about Monoprice Select is that it’s pretty versatile in terms of operating systems and the variety of filaments it can work with.

From basic filaments, like ABS and PLA, to more advanced materials, such as conductive PLA and composite wood and metal, etc. – you can use just about any material to create the model with.

One drawback is that it doesn’t offer many advanced features that come with the more expensive printers and so it is not quite suitable for professional use. But if you are a beginner or a student, this is a great 3D printer to learn on.

2. Anet 8

A product of Chinese Shenzhen Anet Technology, Ante 8, is an affordable 3D printer with many exciting features.

Enclosed in a metal unibody design, the printer offers a stable structure and a pretty compact size.

Some of its best attributes include a 2.8-inch full-color touch screen for easy operation, resume printing feature that allows you to start from exactly where you left off, and the filament detecting feature that detects the filament end and sent a reminder to avoid air-printing.

Apart from that, Anet 8 offers a print volume of 220 x 220 x 240 mm, an accuracy of 0.1 mm, and precision rollers on the X and Y axis, which reduces printing noise and provides ultra-high print resolution.

The printer is shipped in a way that anyone can quickly assemble it within 10 minutes and without any prior technical knowledge required.

3. Photon Zero

A basic-level resin printer, Photon Zero, is a low-cost SLA machine with a build volume of 97 x 54 x 150 mm and a layer resolution of 10 microns.

The upgraded UV model of the printer gives a uniform distribution of UV light, giving a higher quality to your printed 3D models.

Photo Zen has many cool features that make it the best choice for 3D resin printing beginners. It comes pretty much assembled, so you just have to put on building platform and resin vat and start printing right out of the box.

What’s even better is that the manufacturer offers 1-year assurance (consumables excluded) and lifetime technical support.

4. FlashForge Finder

FlashForge Finder is a budget-friendly and user-friendly 3D printer with a cute and sturdy plastic alloy design. Offering a quiet and safe operation makes it ideal for use in homes, offices, and even classrooms.

The printer wins in the usability factor by offering a non-heating slide-in build plate that allows you to draw it out of the printer and easily remove the finished 3D prints and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen with intuitive icons that the operation easy.

Other features you can expect in the FlashForge Finder are Wi-Fi, flash drive connectivity, intelligent assisted leveling system, and positioning Precision of 0.0001 inches on the Z-axis, 0.0004 inches on XY plane.

5. Ender 3

A safe and low-cost 3D printer, Ender 3 is a conveniently-sized one-piece structure that can be placed almost anywhere.

Being open-source, its design and features are regularly improved by the brilliant minds of the 3D printing community.

Apart from other features, Ender 3 prides itself on its amazing safety features. It comes with a high-quality power supply, with two separate fuses to protect your printer from unexpected power surges.

You’ll get Ender 3 printer as a partially-assembled kit that includes all essential tools and a sample filament.

So once you assemble the printer, it takes 5 minutes for the heating plate to reach the maximum temperature, and you can start printing right away.

6. ANYCUBIC Mega-S

Another affordable 3D printer in the list, ANYCUBIC Mega-S is an easy to use and easy to manage device that offers all the basic and some of the advanced features for 3D printing beginners.

The printer features Anycubic Ultrabase – a patented printing plate that offers powerful adhesion during the printing process.

Once done and cooled down, you can pop your model off like it was never attached to the base. And the best part is, it works right out of the box (it takes only three steps to set up the printer).

There’s a filament sensor in ANYCUBIC Mega-S that pauses printing and sets off an alarm when it runs out of filament and supports a variety of filaments, including TPU, PLA, and ABS.

7. JG Maker Magic

Created by one of the most renowned manufacturers of 3D printers – the JCAurora – JG Maker Magic is a 3D printing DIY kit with affordable prices and lots of useful features.

It offers a printing volume of 220 x 220 x 250 mm and is compatible with PLA and ABS filament. With a compact and lightweight aluminum body and silicone wire and power supply built into the base, you can easily use it in your house, school, or office environment.

The most prominent features of this 3D-printer include filament run-out detection, SD Card hot plugin, sturdy metal base and side filament holder, etc.

Also, you can easily assemble it by combining different pre-assembled parts.

8. SUNLU 3D Printer

Even though it comes in this list of affordable 3D printers (which usually offer a small print volume), the SUNLU 3D Printer offers the most generous print volume of 310x310x400mm with great print quality.

The printer features a wonderfully stable printing with three inductive sensors that are separately set on the XYZ axis along with high-precision limit switches that can automatically calibrate and maintain good stability under high-speed printing.

With features like a large print area, filament run-out detection, and power loss detection etc., you can easily use the SUNLU 3D Printer for personal as well as professional projects.

What’s more, you get a 1-year limited manufacturer’s warranty on your new printer.

9. Sovol SV01 3D Printer

A 3D printer that prides itself on many cool features, the Sovol SV01 3D Printer is light on pocket and easy for use by anyone who wants to start into the world of 3D printing.

Some of its salient features include direct drive extruder and dual Z lead screw that greatly increase its printing stability and give great printing quality, built-in power supply ensures stable and sufficient power, a flat glass plate on the regular heated bed greatly resolving warped bed issues, and many others.

The Sovol SV01 printer supports an array of filaments, such as PLA, TPU, ABS, etc. and it takes you at most 30 minutes to assemble and install the machine to start working with it.

10. Artillery Sidewinder X1

Here’s another 3D printer, the Artillery Sidewinder X1, with a relatively large printing volume (300x300x400 mm) but a very compactly-built aluminum body. It has a great printing speed and a high accuracy printing quality of 50 microns.

The Artillery Sidewinder X1 comes with all the features of a great 3D printing machine such as; power loss detection and recovery, filament runout detection and recovery, touch scre en for swift operation, and a variety of filaments supported.

Once received, you can easily install it in a few steps (You’ll find a lot of helpful material and tools in the kit) and start creating 3D models right away.