3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Creality Ender-3 V3 vs Original Prusa MK4
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Creality Ender-3 V3 comparisonsMore Original Prusa MK4 comparisons
| Property | Creality Ender-3 V3BEDSLINGER | Original Prusa MK4BEDSLINGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Creality | Prusa Research |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | BEDSLINGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Creality Ender-3 V3, marketed as a CoreXZ machine[1] | Original Prusa MK4[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Announced 29 March 2023 with assembled printers shipping immediately from stock; kits opened for ordering about two weeks later[2] |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Not documented | 1099 USD assembled, 799 USD as a kit, VAT included, at launch[2] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $239.00 on store.creality.com, Aug 2026 (listed as "Ender-3 V3 CoreXZ 3D Printer")[3] | Not documented |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Do not confuse with the Ender-3 V3 SE or KE, which are cheaper and slower and use a conventional bed-slinger gantry - only the V3 and V3 Plus use CoreXZ. The V3 Plus is the same idea scaled to 300 x 300 x 330 mm. Creality's own spec table gives the V3 a 110 C bed, where the SE, KE, V4 and K1 series stop at 100 C[1][4][5] | Superseded by the MK4S, which is the same machine plus a 360-degree turbine part-cooling fan, a high-flow CHT nozzle and firmware/profile work; Prusa sold a 99 USD MK4-to-MK4S upgrade kit and automatically converted unshipped MK4 orders to the S version. The MK3.5 and MK3.9 upgrades convert an MK3S+ to part of the MK4 electronics stack but are not an MK4[6][2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Not documented | Discontinued. No MK4 appears in Prusa's Aug 2026 3D-printer listing, and the MK4 product-page slugs redirect to the MK4S page, so no live first-party price could be recorded[7][6] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 220 x 220 x 250 mm[1] | 250 x 210 x 220 mm (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 358 x 374 x 498 mm[1] | Not documented |
| Net weight (kg) | 7.83 kg net (Creality); Tom's Hardware rounds it to 7.8 kg[1][8] | Not documented |
| Frame construction & material | Not documented | Die-cast aluminium frame - Prusa replaced the MK3S+'s cut-aluminium frame for the MK4, keeping only the Y-axis profiles, some bearings, the heatbed and the power supply[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame, no enclosure[1] | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional add-on[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | CoreXZ kinematics - the X and Z axes are coupled and driven together, with the bed still moving in Y[1] | Cartesian bed-slinger of the Prusa i3 family - Prusa's MK4 announcement records that the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were carried over[2] |
| Stepper motors (frame size, step angle, brand if known) | Not documented | 400-step (0.9 degree) stepper motors, stated by Prusa to prevent vertical fine artefacts[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic TMC2130-LA silent stepper drivers on the xBuddy board[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 600 mm/s max printing speed (manufacturer claim; Creality Lab states the typical speed is 300 mm/s)[1][4] | Not documented |
| Recommended/typical print speed | 300 mm/s typical printing speed (Creality Lab figure quoted on the sibling V3 Plus page for the same CoreXZ platform)[4] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | 20000 mm/s2 max acceleration (manufacturer claim)[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | New high-speed direct-drive extruder[1] | Nextruder direct drive with a planetary gear system, 1:10 gearbox ratio; aluminium heatsink, all-metal hotend, no PTFE tube in the filament path[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 1:10 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Quick-swap nozzle with a hardened steel tip integrated with the heatbreak (Creality's "unicorn" nozzle), replaced as a unit[1][8] | Quick-swap nozzle system, 0.4 mm default, other diameters supported[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 300 C claimed max hotend temperature in Prusa's MK4 announcement table - note the MK4S product page publishes 290 C for the same hotend family[2][9] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 110 C max heatbed temperature - higher than the rest of the Ender-3 V3 family[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | PEI flexible build plate, removable spring steel[1] | Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring-steel sheets; compatible with the MK3 sheets (smooth PEI, satin, textured PEI, PA nylon)[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Auto levelling with automatic Z offset (Creality states auto levelling; Tom's Hardware records "Automatic + Z")[1][8] | Load-cell sensor: fully automatic first-layer calibration with the nozzle as the probe, plus automatic mesh bed levelling over the print area[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament run-out sensor fitted[1] | Built-in Hall-effect filament sensor supporting automatic filament loading[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | 32-bit mainboard (Creality does not name the board or MCU)[1] | Custom 32-bit xBuddy board with STM32, designed and built in-house, with a separate extruder breakout board[2] |
| PSU (brand, wattage, rail voltage) | Not documented | 240 W Delta PSU with hardware power panic[2] |
| Total rated power draw | Rated power 350 W; input 100-120 V / 200-240 V, 50/60 Hz[1] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Creality Print slicing ecosystem; input shaping with an included G-sensor accelerometer. Creality does not name the firmware base on the V3 page (the sibling KE page states Creality OS is Klipper-based)[1][10] | Open-source Prusa Buddy firmware. The source tree (prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy on GitHub) explicitly covers the Original Prusa MINI/MINI+, MK4, XL and CORE One and was last pushed to in August 2026. Updates are applied from a USB drive, through Prusa Connect or through the Prusa mobile app[11][9] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 4.3-inch HD colour touchscreen[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour graphic screen[2] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Colour touch UI; power-loss recovery; file transfer from USB drive, WLAN or Creality Cloud[1] | On-device colour UI with one-click printing and status LEDs; Prusa Link is integrated and Prusa Connect adds remote printing[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Wi-Fi; USB drive, WLAN and Creality Cloud file transfer[1] | Ethernet built in, optional ESP Wi-Fi module delivered with the printer, USB drive; print files can also arrive over LAN or the internet via Prusa Connect[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | AI camera optional, not fitted as standard[1] | Not documented |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, TPU, PETG, ABS, PLA-CF, PETG-CF and Creality CR-carbon[1] | Prusa's launch table says "any thermoplastic including Nylon and Polycarbonate"; the enclosure is still needed in practice for ABS/ASA-class materials[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | xBuddy hardware overcurrent protection disconnects heater and heatbed power when total current exceeds 15 A; firmware is open-source and auditable[2][11] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | Creality's US store states "Up to 12-Month Warranty", a 14-day return and refund window and "Lifetime Customer Support" on its printer product pages. The "up to" wording means the term is not uniform across parts[12] | 2-year warranty for consumers in the EU, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland; 1 year for EU enterprises and 1 year for the rest of the world, which includes the United States. A printer bought from a reseller or privately carries 1 year from the original delivery date and is handled by the reseller. Prusa advertises 24/7 chat and e-mail support in seven languages[13][9] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Benchmark print times (source + settings) | Benchy in 14 minutes 54 seconds under Speed Boat Rules in ordinary grey PLA - independently measured by Tom's Hardware[8] | Not documented |
| Review scores from major outlets (list outlet + score + date) | Tom's Hardware rating 4.5 out of 5 in the page's structured data[8] | Not documented |
Manufacturer claims, independent measurements, packages and test conditions retain their source wording. FDM linear speed and resin vertical speed use different units and are not directly comparable. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Creality Ender-3 V3 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - Original Prusa MK4 is here (published 29 March 2023), including the MK4 specification table and launch prices blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality US store - Ender-3 V3 CoreXZ 3D Printer product page (live price) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 Plus product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V4 product page (full specification table) creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - The Original Prusa MK4S is Here! (published 12 August 2024) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Tom's Hardware - Creality Ender 3 V3 Review (spec box and Speed Boat Rules Benchy time) tomshardware.com · 2026-08 · review
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Creality Ender-3 V3 KE product page creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Creality US store - K1 3D Printer product page (live price, warranty and returns banner) store.creality.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc