Prusa MK3

What hackers pick instead

• Bambu Lab 3D printerRecommended as reliable, polished 3D printers that just work at a strong price, letting you print instead of tinker; critics object to cloud lock-in and features removed by firmware.124recommend
• Prusa 3D printerPeople recommend Prusa printers for their openness, open source roots, repairability and long support life. The most common caveat is high cost, which many buyers find hard to afford.68recommend
• Bambu Lab P1SRecommended for reliable, easy printing that works out of the box and needs little maintenance. Critics object to the closed ecosystem, cloud and account concerns, and the company's direction.29recommend
• Bambu Lab A1 MiniRecommended as a cheap, reliable printer that works out of the box. Critics object to Bambu Lab's closed servers and its conduct toward open source.27recommend
• Bambu Lab A1People recommend it as a reliable, easy-to-use budget 3D printer that works well for beginners. Most common caveat: closed, proprietary software.24recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 52 comments. Each links to the original.

1. That Prusa Mk3 you bought ages ago can be upgraded to the latest model, which means you have the option of turning that device into a lifetime machine

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “New York Wants to Ctrl+Alt+Delete Your 3D Printer”

2. you are supporting development of open source firmware, open source slicers, and a company that is friendly to self repairs

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “'Fuck you, Bambu': How one private message could change the face of 3D printing”

3. The Prusa's are workhorses, they break too but at far longer intervals, they're simple and infinitely more repairable

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The Year of the 3D Printed Miniature (and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves)”

4. Prusa's MK3S delivered consistently good, zero fuss, straight out of the box prints with auto bed leveling

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

5. they both print without any fuss and can be operated without any deep technical understanding

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

6. Prusa quality, ethics, and true multi-material (not multi-color) in a compact package?

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

7. The Mk3 is also easy, and can be had for cheap now, but it doesn't have auto Z-adjust

   Mixed · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

8. a prusa i3 mkwhatever was entirely adequate for normal 3d printing out of the box

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation”

9. The loadcell on the MK4 completely eliminates that whole mess.

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”

10. They fixed that with the 3.5 or 3.9 upgrade many years ago.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

11. I really hope they figure out how to cut down their prices

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “'Fuck you, Bambu': How one private message could change the face of 3D printing”

12. if you upgrade as the product evolves its not a big deal

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

13. My Prusa Mk3.9s bedslinger is still going strong though

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “'Fuck you, Bambu': How one private message could change the face of 3D printing”

14. I have a Prusa MK3S and it has been very very reliable.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

15. Prusas are good, but price and availability are issues

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

16. upgrade the Mk3 to a Mk3s, upgrade the Mk3S to the Mk4

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

17. The MK4 is nice but a lot more expensive even today.

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”

18. has been no-fiddle for all seven years of its life

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The Year of the 3D Printed Miniature (and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves)”

19. The 4 and Core One families never had to do it.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

20. You can probably maintain your Prusa forever.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges”

21. it's been totally reliable and hassle-free

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation”

22. European built and extremely repairable

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

23. it's been perfectly reliable for years

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

24. I recently upgraded my Mk4 to a Mk4s

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract”

25. it has been maintenance free so far

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation”

26. Those things are indestructible.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The Year of the 3D Printed Miniature (and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves)”

27. But it's a premium brand now

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “New York Wants to Ctrl+Alt+Delete Your 3D Printer”

28. The Prusa i3 mk4 is about 4 times as expensive as the roughly equivalent A1. Their stuff also seems to have less features and less polish.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “'Fuck you, Bambu': How one private message could change the face of 3D printing”

29. it does it with a PINDA sensor, and you're still going to need to do a Z calibration plus maybe some fine tuning

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”

30. Prusa MK4S is 720 EUR, the arguably better Bambu Lab A1 is 260 EUR.

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges”

31. unfortunately i3 MK3S+ didn't have it before Bambu hit the market

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation”

32. I had spent hours calibrating, testing, and re-calibrating it

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “An ongoing 3D-printer AGPL violation”

33. The MK3S still looks like a kid's science project.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

34. versus the prusa mk3 i tolerated

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

35. MK3 -> MK4 was pretty meh

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

36. The MK4S was already a huge step forward: in my opinion - privacy topics aside - already better than Bambu's offerings for some applications

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself'”

37. The MK4, with its load cell, eliminates this requirement and is therefore a way better choice for someone new to 3D printing.

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”

38. I'm still enjoying it a lot, even though I'm now eyeing one of their upcoming (more expensive) models.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Restore full BambuNetwork support for Bambu Lab printers”

39. Prusa's are extremely hackable, I've adapted them to do all kinds of stuff they were never meant for

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”

40. it is not the best implementation of a loadcell either but it is smarter

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Modifying FileZilla to Workaround Bambu 3D Printer's FTP Issue”