3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
FlashForge Creator 4 vs Prusa CORE One L+
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore FlashForge Creator 4 comparisonsMore Prusa CORE One L+ comparisons
| Property | FlashForge Creator 4IDEX | Prusa CORE One L+COREXY |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | FlashForge | Prusa Research |
| Class | IDEX | COREXY |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Flashforge Creator 4, sold in A and S configurations (Creator 4A, Creator 4S)[1] | Prusa CORE One L+[2] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | The CORE One L+ refresh was announced on 13 August 2026 and went on sale immediately, with the first assembled units shipping at once; it adds GT1.5 belts and an integrated nozzle wiper to the CORE One L[3] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $10,999.00 at Top 3D Shop with a 2-3 week lead time, checked Aug 2026[1] | $1,850.93 on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026; $1,925.00 with the Advanced Filtration bundle. Prusa's own comparison text on the CORE One+ page quotes "from $1,799", which does not match the live e-shop price[4][5] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Two factory configurations that share the chassis but not the temperature ceiling: Creator 4A ships 2 x HT extruders (320 °C max, no composite support), Creator 4S ships 1 x HT + 1 x HS (360 °C max, supports PA-CF, PA-GF, PP-CF, PPS-CF). A third extruder type, F, is rated 265 °C and intended for flexibles. Any published "360 °C" figure applies only to the HS head[1] | Larger sibling of the CORE One+ (Gen 2): 300 x 300 x 330 mm against 250 x 220 x 270 mm, 60 C chamber against 55 C, 21.9 kg against 22.5 kg (the L is the lighter of the two despite being larger). A CORE One L to CORE One L+ upgrade kit exists, so "CORE One L" and "CORE One L+" are different revisions. A Critical Infrastructure Edition is also listed[2][5][4] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 400 x 350 x 500 mm[1] | 300 x 300 x 330 mm, which Prusa states as 29.7 litres[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 840 x 675 x 1000 mm (1050 mm on the stand). FlashForge specifies an installation space of at least 1400 x 1500 x 1600 mm[1] | 469 x 521 x 635 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 90 kg net[1] | 21.9 kg (48.3 lb)[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Fully enclosed professional chassis on a stand[1] | Not documented |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Fully enclosed with HEPA 13 filtration and an actively controlled chamber[1] | Fully enclosed with a chamber door-open sensor and an active convection heated chamber up to 60 C; advanced filtration is an optional add-on[2] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Up to 65 °C, actively controlled (manufacturer claim)[1] | Active convection chamber heating, maximum 60 C (manufacturer figure)[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | IDEX — two independently driven extruders on the same gantry[1] | CoreXY - stated in Prusa's CORE One+ comparison table[5] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Not documented | Trinamic drivers on the custom xBuddy mainboard (Prusa's CORE One L+ specification says "custom 32-bit xBuddy mainboard with STM32 processor & Trinamic drivers"; it does not give the driver part number)[2] |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | 10-200 mm/s, adjustable per material. On the 4S the HS head is quoted 100-150 mm/s and the HT head 100-200 mm/s (manufacturer figures)[1] | Not documented |
| Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping | ||
| Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary) | Not documented | Input Shaper and Phase Stepping with an integrated accelerometer[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive, two independent extruders, interchangeable modules (F / HT / HS)[1] | Nextruder direct drive with a 10:1 planetary gear system; all-metal hotend with an aluminium heatsink and a tool-free quick-swap nozzle system[2] |
| Gear ratio & drive gear material | Not documented | 10:1 planetary gearbox[2] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Tool-free quick-swap nozzle system; Prusa brass high-flow CHT 0.4 mm pre-mounted plus an abrasive-resistant 0.4 mm nozzle in the box[2] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | Depends on the fitted extruder module: F 265 °C, HT 320 °C, HS 360 °C[1] | 290 C claimed max nozzle temperature. The optional HT hotend that raises this to 400 C was announced for September 2026 availability, so it is not a shipping specification as of Aug 2026[2][3] |
| Stock nozzle size & sizes included in box | 0.4 mm default; 0.6 and 0.8 mm optional[1] | Not documented |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 130 °C maximum (manufacturer claim)[1] | 120 C max heatbed temperature[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Not documented | Magnetic heatbed with removable dual-sided PEI spring-steel sheets; a satin powder-coated sheet is supplied[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Automatic bed levelling; FlashForge does not name the probe technology in this spec table[1] | High-precision load-cell sensor - fully automatic first-layer calibration and mesh bed levelling restricted to the print area[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Not documented | Two filament sensors, plus a chamber door-open sensor and five Semitec thermistors[2] |
| Spool holder location & max spool size; drybox compatibility | Two spool bays, 1 kg and 2 kg capacity[1] | Not documented |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | Not documented | Custom 32-bit xBuddy mainboard with an STM32 processor[2] |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | AC 100-130 V / 200-240 V, 50-60 Hz, 30 A overcurrent protection[1] | Not documented |
| Total rated power draw | 2320 W rated[1] | Standby 16 W, preheating about 630 W, average printing about 90 W on PLA and about 215 W on ASA (manufacturer figures)[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Not named; the supported slicer is FlashPrint[1] | 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[6][7] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 7-inch touchscreen, 1024 x 600[1] | 3.5-inch 65k-colour touch screen (CORE One family)[5] |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | Not documented | On-device touch UI with Prusa Connect and Prusa mobile app remote control[5] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | USB flash drive, Ethernet, Wi-Fi[1] | Ethernet, NFC receiver and Wi-Fi through a physically removable module, which Prusa offers for high-security offline installations[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | Standard and engineering plastics on the HT head; the HS head adds PA-CF, PA-GF, PP-CF and PPS-CF. Materials such as PC, PA and carbon fibre are the stated targets for the 130 °C bed[1] | PLA, PETG, Flex, PVA, PC, PP, CPE, PVB, and with Advanced Filtration also ABS, ASA, HIPS and PA[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Not documented | Open-source firmware on the xBuddy platform, which carries hardware overcurrent protection cutting heater and heatbed power above 15 A[8][6] |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 12 months on the printer, 3 months on extruder parts[1] | 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[9][7] |
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
- Flashforge Creator 4 (A/S) product listing with full spec table top3dshop.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa CORE One L+ product page (CORE One L+ Technical Specifications) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa blog - Better Prints, Easier Use: Prusa XL+, CORE One L+ and CORE One+ (Gen 2), Our Big Product Update (published 13 August 2026) blog.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/CORE One L comparison) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.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
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc