# Creality Ender 3

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Creality Ender 3 and 20 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 5 years (3 owners).

**Verdict:** Cheap, hackable entry into 3D printing that people enjoy building, but critics say it needs constant tuning and fails often.

## Why people recommend it

- Affordable entry into 3D printing (3 comments): "these machines are an affordable step into the additive manufacturing world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46724504)) "They would rather buy a $200 Ender and spend a lifetime tinkering with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455798)) "also happy with my bottom of the barrel ender 3" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116068))
- Fun to build and tinker with (3 comments): "They would rather buy a $200 Ender and spend a lifetime tinkering with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455798)) "I also came from an Ender and its just so much fun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46720260)) "It worked pretty good, and building it was fun." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46494767))
- Good printer for the price (2 comments): "also happy with my bottom of the barrel ender 3" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116068)) "which is a great little printer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49490125))

## What people warn about

- Finicky, needs constant tinkering (5 comments): "sat in the closet gathering dust because of how much of a pain it was trying to dial in the bed to level" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46895150)) "Previously I had an Ender and it was, endlessly frustrating (pun intended)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46718821)) "I almost never used the Ender, since it always resulted endless tinkering" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46719922))
- Unreliable, prints fail often (4 comments): "The Ender 3 had a huge role in democratizing 3D printing, but a 20% failure rate was kind of expected." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49784054)) "I had to junk a perfectly working machine because it became something not worth putting filament into." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48115182)) "IIRC Some enders shipped with a faulty marlin firmware that had faulty thermal shut off code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48128791))
- Upgrades and repairs add up (2 comments): "the time and money I spent into my ender to keep it barely alive is all wasted" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086481)) "my $300 ender was a years long pain with >$800 in upgrades and replacements" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455364))
- Newer printers work much better (2 comments): "Replacing my old ender with something that actually works" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455686)) "a massive step up from the Creality Ender it replaced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48085660))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Bambu Lab 3D printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bambu-lab-3d-printers.md): 124 recommend
- [Prusa 3D printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prusa-3d-printer.md): 68 recommend
- [Bambu Lab P1S](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bambu-lab-p1s.md): 29 recommend
- [Prusa MK3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prusa-mk3-3d-printer.md): 28 recommend
- [Bambu Lab A1 Mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bambu-lab-a1-mini.md): 27 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Creality+Ender+3+3D+printer&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.creality.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Creality Ender 3", https://hackerapproved.com/p/creality-ender-3/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).