3D printer deal

Best 3D Printer Deals 2022

(Image credit: Anycubic, Photon)

Whether looking for your first 3D printer or an old pro for an upgrade or a second machine, you can find great savings. There are loads of fantastic 3D printer deals on FDM and resin models, including some of our favorites.

There are so many promotions separating the hype from the actual bargains is difficult. Fortunately, we're doing some legwork for you, combing through the best deals on printers from Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, Anycubic and other retailers.

We're tracking all the 3D Printer deals below and the savings on consumables and accessories. With the holiday deal season upon us, it's an excellent time to stock up on supplies such as filament or resin.

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Amazon: Up to 30% off Elegoo printers
Amazon: Up to 26% off Anycubic printers
Amazon: Up to 10% off PLA Filament
Amazon: Up to 10% off PETG Filament
MatterHackers: Up to 20% off Filament
Anycubic: Save up to $240 on 3D printers

3D Printer Deals

Anycubic Kobra Go: now $189 at Anycubic (was $259)
This Editor's choice 3D printer features auto bed leveling and a build volume of 220 x 220 x 250 mm this Bowden tube-fed printer is the ideal way to get started with 3D printing. The heated PEI spring steel print bed makes removing prints a breeze.

Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K LCD Resin 3D Printer: now $499 at Amazon (was $599)
This high-resolution resin printer scored Editor's choice in our review and for good reason. It produces wonderfully detailed prints out of the box. The 165 x 72 x 180mm build volume is generous and capable of much more than trinkets.

Creality Ender 3 V2 3D Printer: now $279 at Amazon (was $319)
The Creality Ender 3 V2 is a great beginner's printer and it is now at one of its best prices yet. The Ender 3 V2 is easy to assemble, requiring just a few screws to connect the print gantry to the base. This price is also available on the official Creality website but Prime users can take advantage of free shipping.

Glow in The Dark Filament Bundle: now $46 at Amazon (was $49)
This glow-in-the-dark filament bundle is marked down to $41 and includes four individual spools of 1. 75mm filament. This filament is PLA and sold by iSanmate.

Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer: now $236 at Amazon (was $339)
Creality's Ender 2 Series of printers are the workhorses of the 3D printer community. They are cheap and dependable. The only issue is the lack of auto bed leveling. With a magnetic, removable build surface and a 220 x 220 x 250mm build volume there is a lot to like.

Voxelab Aquila-M 3D Printer: now $159 at Amazon (was $239)
The Aquila-M is similar to other Aquila models, with a resume print function, a heated glass print bed and a focus on silent printing. It differs from other models with an easy-to-access top-loading filament spool.

Creality Ender 3 3D Printer: now $189 at Amazon (was $249)
The Creality Ender 3 is a smaller form factor 3D printer with a heated print bed and a resume print feature. Focuses on quieter extrusion.

3D Printer Filament and Resin deals

Overture PLA Filament (1kg): now $17 at Amazon (was $26)
Overture, a reliable brand in the filament space, has deep reductions on all of its colors of PLA, 1.75mm filament. The gray color is the cheapest, going for $16.99, reduced from $21.99. Other colors may be a few dollars more.

PRO Series Tough PLA Filament: now $45 at MatterHackers (was $57)
MatterHackers make great filament and this tough PLA is a powerful alternative to ABS. With little to no warping, unlike some ABS filaments, this tough PLA alternative offers strength and a choice of vibrant colors.

MIKA3D 12-in-1 color 3D printer filament: now $135 at Amazon (was $149)
Get PLA filament of any colors you could possibly want in this bulk deal, which gives you $50 off. Each spool has 500g of filament and you get a bottle of 3D printer stick for free.

Elegoo Water Washable 3D Printer Resin: now $39 at Amazon (was $49)
This resin from Elegoo is water washable, making the finishing process much easier to complete. This discount applies to multiple colors but not all of them. The $31 price is for the 1000-gram bottle.

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Stewart Bendle is a deals writer at Tom's Hardware. A firm believer in “Bang for the buck” Stewart likes to research the best prices for hardware and build PCs that have a great price for performance ratio.

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3D Printing

Best 3D Printer Deals: 7 Fantastic Printers at the Best Prices

This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET's guide to everything you need to know and how to find the best deals.

Looking for a fun hobby that combines creativity, STEM topics and entrepreneurship? 3D printing is as big as it's ever been, and the additive manufacturing sector is expected to be worth $10 billion by later this decade. A large chunk of that market is hobbyists selling their creations on Etsy, so now is the right time to get on the 3D-printing train.

If you're a first-time buyer or looking to buy a 3D printer as a gift for a beginner, getting a good deal is even more important. All of the best 3D printers have advanced features that make your life easier, so if you can snag one for less than the normal price, that's a big plus.

Anycubic Kobra Go - Special price for Prime members

We recently reviewed this new entry-level printer, which offers fancy features like a self-leveling bed at a reasonable price. Many stores are offering it for under $200, which is a great value. On Amazon it's $200, but only for Prime members. On Anycubic's website it's currently on sale for $190, but you'll have to pay for shipping on top of that.

Read the review of the Anycubic Kobra Go.

$199 at Amazon

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Snapmaker 2 A350T: $1,040 - Save $560

The Snapmaker 2 is not just a 3D printer; it's a 3-in-1 fabrication machine that lets you 3D print, laser etch and carve wood with a CNC machine with just a module change. It's big too. I managed to print a full-size Mandalorian helmet that fit my massive head in one go. Perfect for the cosplayer in your life.

$1,040 at Matterhackers

Elegoo Mars 3: $285 - Save $73

If you are looking for a small but powerful resin printer, then the Mars 3 is the best in its class. The 4K LCD offers stunning detail on any model that is printed and it does so at a high speed. I love this printer and use it almost daily. Remember to clip the coupon for this to make the most of the deal.

$285 at Amazon

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Flashforge Finder 3: $400 - Save $100 with coupon

I've recently been working with the Finder 3 and I'm impressed with the quality it was able to produce straight from the box. It's easy to set up and comes with a flexible build plate that you can replace the glass bed with. It makes it far easier to remove builds.

This is the perfect printer for a teacher, as the enclosure makes it stable, and the slicer can control multiple printers at once via Wi-Fi.

$400 at Amazon

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Anycubic Kobra Plus: $400 - Save $160

The Kobra Plus is in that sweet spot between a printer that is overly large, and one that is too small to be useful. You can make full-size helmets and big cosplay items without needing an entire workbench dedicated to it. With $160 off the price, it's a bargain.

$600 at Amazon

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Creality CR-30: $1,000 - Save $100

The CR-30 is one of the first commercially available conveyor belt 3D printers, and it is fascinating to use. It isn't for the beginner hobbyist as it takes a little bit of tweaking to get right, but once you do you can print long models like swords or lots of small models on a production line.

If you make the same model over and again for your Etsy store, this is a great printer to try.

$1,000 at Amazon

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Anycubic Mono 4K: $189 - Save $61

The Photon 4K is being replaced with the new M3 series, but it could still be worth your time. With a 4K monochrome screen, the printer is very fast without sacrificing any detail. In fact, the details on this machine are superb, especially on small models like miniatures.

At $189, the Photon 4K offers an amazing entry into resin 3D printing, even if Anycubic is selling off the stock.

$189 at Amazon

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Materials and accessories

It's not just the 3D printers themselves that are on sale. It's often the accessories and materials too. While the savings aren't as drastic -- $5 to $10 savings, maybe -- these add up over time when you have to buy a lot of materials for your projects.

Anycubic 10kg PLA mystery box: $149 - Save $111

Having a large supply of filament is important if you want to make anything you like on a whim. If you don't mind being surprised by the colors of your PLA, then this Anycubic deal is a stunner. It works out to be just $15 for each kilogram roll.

$149 at Anycubic

Mintion Beagle 3D printer camera: $64 - Save $16

While this isn't the biggest discount, the Mintion Beagle cam is such a fun accessory that it deserves a mention here. It's simple to use -- it plugs into your micro USB slot on an FDM printer -- and produces awesome timelapse videos that you can share using the app. It also acts as a real-time monitor so you can check your 3D print anywhere in the world.

$64 at Amazon

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Elegoo Mercury X bundle: $171 - Save $79

Resin 3D printing can be messy and inconvenient if you don't have the right tools. This wash-and-cure bundle lets you clean your resin prints and cure them in the special UV chamber. I like the Mercury over other wash/cure stations because of the separate stations that let you wash one model and cure another, saving you precious time.

$171 at Amazon

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MatterHackers filament: $18 and up - Save 20% with coupon code

Prices for even basic PLA filament for 3D printers have been hit by the inflationary hammer this year. Matter Hackers has a series of discounts right now across different types and colors, as low as $18 for a 1kg spool (even Amazon Basics is usually $23 or more for the same size). Many other types of 3D printer material are also available for 20% off using the code BESTDEALS through Dec. 31.

$18 at MatterHackers

How a 3D Printer Can Save You Money How a 3D Printer Can Save You Money

The justification for investing in a new, modern 3D printer is that it actually saves money.

New research confirms that buying a 3D printer to make plastic iPhone cases (or paper towel holders) at home saves money in the long run. This does not mean that 3D printers will soon crowd out stores or lead to the closure of factories in China or Vietnam. But it's fair to assume that this technology creates a world where you could end up printing a lot of products at home or at your local workshop.

“Printing money” (or rather, saving money)

For example, purchasing an open source RepRap 3D printer can not only pay off, but actually lead to money savings if you print on it (by at least) 20 household items per year (for example: shower curtain rings and safety razors). A recent study (known to the general public as the “life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing using open source 3D printers”) challenges not only the skepticism of the world’s major manufacturers, but also the wariness of 3D printing experts who believe that this technology is still in its infancy.

Today we already have the ability to print with plastic, and this opens up a huge potential for making thousands of products that are already in our homes and that we use every day. The range of printed material is expanding rapidly, and it is likely that consumers are likely to print many products themselves instead of buying them.

Owners of RepRap 3D printers can save between $300 and $2,000 per year, depending on which 20 household items they print. RepRap 3D printer owners can also continuously improve their open source 3D printer and even print new parts (as technology advances) rather than having to purchase a new 3D printer every few years.

3D printed cups

Other costs associated with the 3D printing process

Despite its merits, assembling an open source 3D printer is a labor-intensive DIY process. RepRap spare parts cost $500-600 and in order to assemble them, you need to spend about 24 hours of working time. And a beginner may need to first learn the assembly process at an appropriate workshop or use an online assembly guide. However, beginners can pay double the price of a collected RepRap. (It's still a good deal compared to so-called polished models like the $2,000 Makerbot Replicator 2.)

Also, don't expect, for example, that the iPhone's plastic case (made from 3D printing) will have the same quality or gloss as a store-bought version. Today, 3D printers still render objects with very small steps or ridges on the sides (no smooth finish). Of course, the object can be smoothed with a nail polish remover and painted, but this is additional labor.

Is the quality of products resulting from the 3D printing process on par with the quality of products that are made in a traditional production and then sold? Unfortunately not: it doesn't even come close to factory quality.

Disadvantages of 3D printing

Today, 3D printers are able to print products with unusual shapes and unique customer requirements: they are well suited for printing a limited number of expensive parts for jet fighters or a custom implant to restore a destroyed part of the skull (both of which are already happened). However, this technology is not yet capable of making items from a variety of materials, and is too slow and too expensive to produce a large number of items.

Very inexpensive and relatively uncomplicated mass-produced items (such as plastic trash cans) will be made in large industrial centers for a long time. Such products, which are produced in the hundreds of thousands or millions, are not good candidates for 3D printing due to the speed and cost of the process.

No one has done a definitive study comparing the cost of 3D printing plastic products locally to the cost of making plastic products in a Chinese factory and shipping them around the world. But some experts believe that industrial production is still able to easily compete with 3D printing. One reason for this is that industrial grade 3D printing requires more energy per unit than traditional industry.

How 3D printing could be used in mass production

3D printing technology could improve over the next 10 to 15 years to the point where it can compete with industrial production. This can be compared to how personal computers took over large electronic computers in less than 10 years.

3D printers still have a long way to go in order to take their place among the must-have household gadgets.

You will be able to make toys (like McDonalds Happy Meal), but hardly anyone will like having to buy a device for $300 or $400 (the price range of cheap modern 3D printers) in order to make such toys themselves. For this to happen, print quality needs to go up and the price of the device goes down.

However, 3D printing is still able to compete with factory-made products. 3D printing allows the customer to customize the final product design and have it produced on site immediately. For example, toy stores may someday be able to offer a custom doll with unique characteristics based on a 3D scan of a customer's face or body. (One company (3D Systems) is already offering custom 3D printed Star Trek figurines.)

Even a savvy engineer can construct many simple 3D printable pieces that will snap together as easily as Lego bricks to create larger or more complex objects such as chairs and cabinets. It could be called a 3D printed version of IKEA furniture that needs to be assembled by yourself.

Order and print anywhere

The ability to print anything, almost anywhere, gives 3D printing a huge advantage over factories. The military in the US has recognized this advantage by placing 3D printers on ships and in remote battlefields in order to recreate equipment prototypes and possibly someday make vehicle replacement parts.

Global shipping company DHL is already thinking about how 3D printing will impact the way and where you shop for products in the future. According to a 2012 DHL report, the full opportunity for a "customizable lifestyle" scenario is given to 2050. It will be a world in which 3D printing devices in homes or local shops will replace the mass production industry in most cases. In such a world, only raw materials and digital developments will cross national borders.

A small glimpse of this future can already be seen at Kraftwurx. It is a Houston-based company that operates in the digital marketplace with orders for simple 3D printed products (such as metal jewelry and plastic figurines) around the world. The Kraftwurx network consists of more than a hundred 3D printing companies scattered around the planet: this allows buyers and sellers to save on international shipping and paying duties on imported goods.

Breakthroughs in 3D printing technology

This future may become even closer as 3D printing technology begins to overcome its current limitations. Companies involved in 3D printing continue to work on making 3D printers cheaper and better. Better software is allowing more people to create and share designs for 3D printing online, both for free and for sale.

So what does all this mean right now? A printed watch strap or shower head that you can make at home is not yet comparable in quality or aesthetics to the same products you can buy at your local store. But if you have the time, money, and patience to invest in a 3D printer, then you can start saving money today (if you're happy with the quality of the 3D print).

Will consumers be willing to continue paying $50 for an iPad stand when they can print it themselves for $1 or buy it (pre-printed) for $2 on eBay?

Will we live in 3D printer houses? Now, with the help of technology, they will try to create housing - a start-up Mighty Buildings for the production of houses on a 3D printer was launched by technology entrepreneurs from Russia (CEO and co-founder of the project Vyacheslav Solonitsyn, founder of the Ruvento Ventures venture fund).

Two residential modules of the company have already appeared in California. The price varies between $100,000-250,000, and this is almost half the price of traditional analogues. The construction of such houses is going twice as fast, and they save on labor and up to 95%, say the startup. Investors believe in the project: in 2018, the startup passed the Y Combinator winter batch and raised $30 million from venture funds. As, by the way, in other players - in August, the ICON startup from the USA, which prints at home, received $ 35 million, the construction printer was made by the Russian company Apis Cor, in 2019 the PIK group bought equipment from it. But what risks can stand in the way of 3D printing in mass construction and are there any solutions waiting for the domestic market?

Migrants slow down the 3D printer

Almost the main barrier to technology remains the cost of labor. In the West, where the price tag for it is very high, the reduction in wage costs will become a driver for the introduction of 3D printing in construction, says Vladislav Levushkin . The 3D printer works 24 hours a day and allows you to minimize the number of maintenance personnel, he notes. In addition, labor productivity is almost not growing in the industry, and the situation really requires the replacement of manual labor. However, not in the case of Russia, as well as with other emerging markets.

“ Whoever we spoke to, we always heard in response that as long as there are cheap labor, mechanisms are not needed,” he says.

Even taking into account the high staff turnover and construction delays due to the poor quality of work, builders are not ready to give up migrant labor.

"In countries where labor costs less than $5 a day, it is not economically feasible to build using 3D printers" - agree Diana Stepanova , Associate Professor, Department of Finance and Prices, REU G. V. Plekhanov.

Against - habit and fear

The extreme conservatism of the construction industry players also remains a barrier.

“When you propose new technologies, the question “why” always arises, and the builders are right in many ways. Houses have to stand for many decades, and it’s not easy to understand how justified innovations are,” says Levushkin, co-founder of Vertical Printing Technologies.

Reluctant to test innovations and customers.

“Buying a house for people is the biggest expense in life, they are afraid to experiment in such an important deal,” says investment director of Fort Ross Ventures Egor Abramov .

And in order to encourage a person to experiment, you need to offer a stunning advantage, so serious that he turns a blind eye to the risks, he elaborates.

“The industry is conservative for a reason, many tried to “storm” it, few succeeded,” explains Egor Abramov .

Technology for low-rise buildings

3D printing of houses is mainly used in low-rise housing construction, but in Russia the majority of the population lives in high-rise buildings, recalls Yegor Abramov. He clarifies that the country is characterized by strong temperature and humidity fluctuations in summer and winter, which requires more capital construction.

Such solutions may be suitable for low-rise and individual construction, Diana Stepanova agrees. There will also be demand for the construction of budget or even temporary housing, for example, in the event of disasters or hostilities, she believes.

In the meantime, this is a bespoke solution for discerning customers, so the family can design their own house using 3D printing for ease and simplicity of construction. And in the future, in the USA, China, and Europe, it will be possible to lease 3D printing equipment and build a house according to the instructions, suggests Stepanova.

Material

Residential printing materials have long been a challenge in terms of strength and cost. In recent years, the barrier has been overcome; many companies print houses or parts of them, says Evgeny Matveev , CEO of F2 innovations (resident of Skolkovo). For work, either concrete or polymer composites are used.

"I admit that modern composite materials make it possible to create durable and flexible materials for buildings" - speaks Maxim Semenov , head of the product management department of the Grundfos Industrial and Domestic Equipment Department.

However, there are questions about the maintainability of houses from a 3D printer.

“If I want to change the socket, can this panel be chiselled? How to transfer communications? What will be the soundproofing? This is very important,” Maxim Semenov reflects on .

By the way, 3D printing does not solve the issue of finishing and fine repairs.

From nursery to kindergarten

Regulatory is considered to be one of the barriers for 3D printers, but difficulties are unlikely to arise if the technology proves to be really effective. As long as there are chances. Where solutions used to be treated like toys, now tens of millions of dollars are being invested in projects. A selection period has begun in the industry, different technologies will be tested for some time, and the one that will prove to be the most cost-effective will survive.

“This is already perceived as a business; houses will be built, this is serious, we have moved from a nursery to a kindergarten, ”says Vladislav Levushkin at .

“The homebuilding industry is interesting in terms of innovation, because it is very conservative and one of the few that has remained unchanged for the last hundred years. Houses are built of concrete, brick or wood, mostly by hand and primitive machinery. An industry-changing technology could be a trillion-dollar valuation for a company.” — believes Egor Abramov.

In Russia, the technology of 3D printing of houses, if it comes, then with a delay, after Europe and the USA.