I have an Elegoo Centauri Carbon (1) and it's an absolute delight. They're coming out with an add-on for multicolour and it's bananas cheap.
Stay away from Creality 😡
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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Yes, you are correct in avoiding Bambu. They have been pretty awful to their community, the open source community, and the media.
Prusa will be one of the most solid and reliable options you can get, reportedly amazing customer service and their machines are very repairable. However, if you have a tight budget, it won't be as good "value" (at least purely based on performance), where Prusa is surpassed by printers like the Elegoo Centauri Carbon, Qidi Q2 (both CoreXY), and Sovol SV06 Ace (bedslinger). If you want multiple toolheads, Snapmaker's U1 is neat and a lot cheaper than the equivalent Prusa XL.
Prusa has lots of great machines, but the "big dog" is definitely the Core One, which will later have the INDX tool changer upgrade path which is nest! If you're okay with bedslingers, you have their MK4S as well as the Mini (which has a smaller build volume than most, check what kind of models you want to print first!)
TLDR: Elegoo, Qidi, Sovol, and Prusa all have great printers (many of which are far better value than Bambu machines to be honest, plus they will be more open too with better compatibility with third-party software), though Prusa is the most reliable and trustworthy. I believe Elegoo, Qidi, and Prusa all have their own versions of a multi material system, and Snapmaker (and later Prusa with the INDX) offer tool changers if that's your jam.
pricing progression right now is sort of like this in my opinion:
- used market (e.g. older Prusa models)
- Sovol SV06 Ace (note: bedslinger!)
- Elegoo Centauri (no enclosure, CoreXY)
- Elegoo Centauri Carbon (enclosure, CoreXY)
- Qidi Q1 Pro or Q2 (CoreXY)
- Prusa MK4S (note: bedslinger!)
- Prusa Core One (CoreXY)
Sovol Sv08 is a corexy based around the voron 2.4 The Sovol zero is based on voron 0.2
I really wanted to build a couple of vorons, but the cost for a kit is more than a prusa core one, but the size of a core one L (300mm3 2.4 for instance) I just don’t know how I’m going to turn myself. I might go for a one L and wait for the multi head add on to come out. (INDX )
And once you do have a 3D printer, you can mess around with Voron kits and build your own printer! 3D printing a 3D printer!
My first printer was way back when Prusa was but a set of instructions and suggestions. Prusa did a lot of the research that caused other companies to succeed. And seeing what Bamboo is doing with it, it's important for me to support prusa as I detest closed ecosystems.
So when it was time to get back into the hobby last year, I went for a Prusa Core One, and I've had no regrets.
It's an excellent printer that is easy to use, and it's very versatile, so that's my suggestion.
The price tag is a bit higher than the competitors, but I don't mind - they floated the R&D bill for the entire industry, and that carries an interest.
Interesting to hear the history. So Prusa was the original trail blazer?
That's correct. Creality jumped in the game after and took advantage of a lot of the work prusa and the open source community did to make printers much more affordable with the ender series. That drew a lot more people into the community like myself, but nowadays I'd say steer clear of them for a number of reasons.
Bonus history, Naomi Wu is/was a huge maker from China who was able to push development on the cr-30 print mill. The print mill is almost literally just a small tread mill with the gantry on an angle that "shines" in batch printing and theoretically infinitely long parts. From my experience though its even finickier than an old ender and poses some additional design considerations. I think it's super cool conceptually though and very satisfying to get successful parts off of, but could really only recommend to enthusiasts with lots of time and disposable income.
The origin of the hobby 3D printer is the RepRap project, a community open hardware project. Josef Prusa was actively involved. The first printer the company actively sold - the Prusa i3 - is still on the RepRap website.
They got a bit more restrictive with their licencing terms in the recent past which is both understandable and a bit of a slap in the face to where they came from, but they're still the most open 3D printer manufacturer.
(Not the most open 3d printer though, that award has to go to DIY only models like the Voron)
Unless you have lots of technical skills and patience i wouldn't recommend it especially not for a first printer.... but something worth considering down the road for the open source aspect would be a voron.
The Voron team has designed a few different printer variations and released the bill of materials and software documentation for you to source all the parts needed to build a printer from the ground up. Companies on Ali express sell kits to make it a little easier and cheaper but again, you are building it from the ground up.
If that sounds interesting I would still highly recommend starting with something a little cheaper like the elegoo CC (1 or 2) to get used to printing and see how much you like it.
Whatever you decide is right for you though I hope you and your wife really enjoy the hobby!
I strongly recommend paying extra for one of the nicer modern printers with FULL automatic bed leveling. I regret buying a cheaper one that is a pain in the ass to calibrate every time I want to use it.
Prusa is a choice, alternative would be a more modern and cheap machines. Elegoo CC (2) or Snapmaker U1 or Sovol SV 08. They are relatively open (very open compared to bbl) reliable machines.
Thank you for the names, I'll have a research, they are all new to me.
Hi and welcome! Do you have a budget and a rough idea of the kinds of things you'd be looking to print?
Naively, I'd second the core one recommendation, assuming that the price tag isn't a problem and that you aren't looking to print multi-color (it's still possible on that machine, just not something that comes stock).
I think that multi colour isn't a huge deal.
Initially I'd be printing things like organisers.
My wife wants to build interesting art. Like eye ball phone holders or other fun stuff.
Prusa mini is a good starter printer, had mine for 4 years before the core 1 came out. If you have the room for a core 1, you won't regret it. It's a much more modern platform and will continue to be upgraded
Thank you, lots of people are recommending the Core 1. I'll definitely need to check that out.
One thing Prusa does is that they offer upgrades for their printers. So when the next one comes out, you can get an upgrade kit to get the new features.
It's not cheap, but they offer a LOT of support.
Prusa is a good choice if you are willing to spend the money. My Mk3s has been and will always be a tank to print with. These days the Core 1 is what you want from them. But multicolor printing is going to cost a noticeable amount more. If you set on multicolor prints, this is a hang up for many.
If you decide you can't/won't spend Prusa money, then maybe look a Qidi. A bit rougher around the edges, but seems to have decent hardware. They really lean into being able to print high temperature engineering filaments. My next printer will be the Q2 as soon as management, (Grandma), OKs the funds. I probably won't get their AMS because I already have a Bambu A1 mini with AMS lite. But Qidi has their own version of AMS that won't set you back as much as Prusa will.
Not that it matters too much, but Prusa runs on Marlin firmware and Qidi runs on klipper. Marlin is more beginner-friendly, but klipper is a lot more adaptable and changeable in the hands of someone that knows what they want. While still being very approachable to beginners.
Qidi is a new name for me, I'll put that on the list too. Lots of people are recommending the Core 1. 🤔
I have a Qidi XMax 3 and that machine has been extremely dependable. It's the first one I've ever had where I start a print and walk away.
X-Max 3 gang! I have one of those too. I'm only mildly annoyed that they didn't extend support for their filament changer to it, but that didn't exist at the time I bought mine so it's not like I was expecting in-machine multimaterial support anyhow.
Repairs so far: I had to replace the heat bed in mine when the thermistor in it failed, and that is not a separately removable part. I also had to replace the larger of the two fans in the print head, the latter of which was like $2 from China. The heat bed was a little more expensive, a hair over $100 as I recall. I'm not too broken up about it — I do a lot of printing with my machine, even moreso now that I'm using it for my dinkum hobby business. (I still have the old heat bed, and it still heats. Some day I may come up with some silly project to use it for, perhaps with an outboard temperature monitor stuck to the bottom of it.)
I had an OG X-Plus before that which was also quite dependable and needed nothing during my ownership other than replacing worn out nozzles. I gave it to a friend of mine and it's still running strong.