# OpenPrinter

14 Hacker News commenters recommended OpenPrinter and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Repairable, open-source paper printer that people find interesting and want to own. Main caveat: critics say its CC BY-NC-SA license is not open source.

## Why people recommend it

- Interesting design people want to own (4 comments): "It's a cool printer, and I'd much rather have something like this!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799031)) "this is certainly the most interesting one I've seen in a while" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48798720)) "This is really cool and I want one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48805821))

## What people warn about

- Non-commercial license isn't truly open source (6 comments): "The non-commercial clause makes it non-open by the commonly accepted term of "open" in this context." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48801002)) "That "NC" there means only the creator, Open Tools, can sell the parts commercially." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49885334)) "Open Printer is distributed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48798280))
- Still no working prototype or launch (4 comments): "pre-crowdfund landing page without a demonstrating a working prototype" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48110583)) "I have a feeling that this is not quite as ready as made out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799950)) "there's no Proof of Concept demo yet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48798462))
- Relies on HP ink, less open (2 comments): "Readily available, but don't expect to save on ink costs compared to a regular HP printer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48801189)) "So they just use HP inkjet technology. That makes it less open-source" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48798287))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Brother laser printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brother-laser-printer.md): 56 recommend
- [HP LaserJet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hp-laserjet.md): 10 recommend
- [Epson EcoTank printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/epson-ecotank-printer.md): 10 recommend
- [Brother inkjet printer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brother-inkjet-printer.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Open+Printer+Open+Tools+reparable+open+source+paper+printer&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "OpenPrinter", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openprinter/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).