I feel conflicted. On the one hand, Prusa seems to be a good and reliable brand. On the other hand, it seems overpriced compared to the competitors. Bambu seems to be a no-go but mostly for ethical open source reasons, not for price or quality reasons. At the same time, I’ve seen this article that says Prusa is even falling back on their open source principles. But not sure how up to date that is any more.
If we look beyond Bambu or Prusa, there’s a variety of smaller brands that I have trouble distinguishing. With these other brands, it’s hard to tell whether they’re worth anything or just cheap knockoffs.
If we do consider Prusa, there’s also the question of MK4S vs Core One. The Core One is much more expensive, to the point where it is ridiculously expensive compared to the competitors. The MK4S is slightly cheaper, but it seems like Prusa is focused on the Core One development going forward, so I’d be slightly worried of being “left behind” with the MK4S.
What do you think? Which printer should you get in 2026? Or perhaps there is some upcoming release or something to wait for?
Prusa walked so other manufacturers could run. 15 years ago prusa were the ones who made 3d printing a viable hobby for the rest of us. And all this while keeping their designs and code open source.
Today I view the extra I pay today for their products as a well deserved reward for their integrity.
That mindset is part of why I bought a Prusa originally, but felt betrayed by the MMU2S. That was an expensive and crap product that they never fixed. They basically stole from their customers with that one and I wish the community wouldn’t let them get away with it without them making it right, which at this point would be difficult to do.
Also I feel confident Prusa will not try a rug-pull enshitification move in 6 months time after buying their printer, unlike certain other manufacturers (Bamboo)