3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ vs Snapmaker U1
Compare hardware, build volume, printing specifications, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
Open these two in the interactive comparisonMore Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ comparisonsMore Snapmaker U1 comparisons
| Property | Original Prusa i3 MK3S+BEDSLINGER | Snapmaker U1TOOLCHANGER |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Prusa Research | Snapmaker |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | TOOLCHANGER |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Original Prusa i3 MK3S+. The only version still listed in Aug 2026 is the "Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ 10th Anniversary Edition"[1] | Snapmaker U1 3D Printer[2] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $1,199.00 assembled, $899.00 as a kit, for the 10th Anniversary Edition on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026. This is above the price the standard MK3S+ sold at, so do not read it as the MK3S+ street price[1] | $849.00 against a $999.00 compare-at price on us.snapmaker.com, but the listing is marked Unavailable, checked Aug 2026[2] |
| Variants & sibling models — and how to tell them apart (spec-contamination risk) | Only the 10th Anniversary Edition remains on sale; the standard MK3S+ is gone from Prusa's printer listing. Two official upgrade paths change the machine substantially and are frequently confused with it: MK3.5 (xBuddy board and new LCD, keeps the MK3 extruder) and MK3.9 (adds the Nextruder). A caution on Prusa's own pages: the "Awards & Press Reviews" paragraph about the MK3S is reproduced verbatim on the MINI+ product page, so award text found on a Prusa page does not necessarily belong to the printer on that page[1][3][4][5] | An optional top cover changes what the machine can print: without it PLA/PETG/TPU/PVA/PCTG; with it ABS, ASA, PA, PC and PET are added; with the top cover AND a hardened-steel nozzle, carbon- and glass-fibre grades. A stated material list for the U1 is therefore meaningless without saying which configuration it refers to[2] |
| Market position: superseded? successor announced? | Superseded by the MK4/MK4S line. Prusa cut MK3S+ prices at the MK4 launch in March 2023 and said it would keep selling the MK3S+ at a lower price and hold spare parts in stock[4][5] | Not documented |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 25 x 21 x 21 cm = 250 x 210 x 210 mm (manufacturer figure)[1] | 270 x 270 x 270 mm[2] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 500 x 550 x 400 mm (X x Y x Z), without the spool holder[1] | 584 x 499 x 730 mm[2] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7 kg (without spool)[1] | 18.2 kg[2] |
| Frame construction & material | Cut aluminium frame - Prusa's MK4 announcement contrasts "the cut aluminum frame we used so far" with the MK4's new die-cast frame[4] | Not documented |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional separate product[4] | Open as sold; a top cover is an optional accessory that raises the supported material range[2] |
| Kinematics & Motion Hardware | ||
| Kinematics (bedslinger i3 / CoreXY / other) | Cartesian i3 bed-slinger. Prusa's MK4 announcement notes the MK3S+ Y-axis profiles and heatbed were among the few parts carried into the MK4[4] | Four independent toolheads on a changer; Snapmaker quotes a 5-second swap[2] |
| Stepper drivers (exact model e.g. TMC2209; UART/SPI; sensorless homing?) | Trinamic 2130 drivers at 256 microstepping on the EINSY RAMBo 8-bit board, co-developed with UltiMachine; sensorless homing on X and Y[1] | Not documented |
| Speed & Acceleration | ||
| Max print speed (claimed, mm/s) | Not documented | 500 mm/s maximum toolhead speed (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Max travel speed | "200+ mm/s" max travel speed (manufacturer figure, no measurement basis given)[1] | Not documented |
| Max acceleration (claimed, mm/s²) | Not documented | 20,000 mm/s2 maximum (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | 32 mm3/s maximum hotend flow (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping | ||
| Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary) | Not documented | Input shaping with an accelerometer, run as a calibration routine[2] |
| Extrusion Pressure Control | ||
| Pressure advance (Klipper) / linear advance (Marlin) supported? | Not documented | Pressure advance, with automatic flow compensation calibration[2] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive with Bondtech gears and an E3D V6 hotend[1] | Not documented |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | 300 °C maximum (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Stock nozzle material (brass / hardened steel / plated copper / composite tip) | Not documented | Stainless steel as standard; hardened steel needed for fibre-filled grades[2] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 120 C max heatbed temperature[1] | 100 °C maximum (manufacturer claim)[2] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Removable magnetic spring-steel sheets in several finishes; heatbed with cold-corner compensation[1] | Flexible steel sheet with a PEI surface[2] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | SuperPINDA inductive probe (Prusa's temperature-drift-free replacement for the original PINDA), driving automatic mesh bed levelling and a self-test routine[1] | Mesh bed levelling. Automatic toolhead offset calibration is done by coordinate measuring[2] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | IR filament sensor built in, supporting filament auto-loading; the print pauses when filament runs out[1] | Filament run-out detection, plus air-printing detection and RFID filament recognition[2] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Not documented | Four toolheads with auto-feed and a backup mode; toolhead swap error detection, build-plate presence and obstruction detection[2] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | Not documented | Main plus auxiliary part-cooling fans[2] |
| Electronics & Power | ||
| Mainboard model & MCU (exact chip markings if teardowns exist) | EINSY RAMBo 8-bit board, co-developed with UltiMachine[1] | Not documented |
| Input voltage (110/220 V, switch or auto) | Custom Delta PSU with hardware-based power panic[1] | Not documented |
| Total rated power draw | Power consumption 80 W on PLA settings, 120 W on ABS settings[1] | Maximum input power 1150 W at 220-240 V, 400 W at 100-120 V; maximum input current 6 A / 4 A respectively[2] |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware on GitHub, GPL-3.0, whose README states it is "proudly based on Marlin 1.0.x" and covers the MK3S/MK3/MK2.5S/MK2.5 line; last pushed August 2025. Updated over USB from a PC[6] | Klipper[2] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | Not documented | 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 touchscreen[2] |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | SD card (16 GB card included); Ethernet and Wi-Fi only via an optional Raspberry Pi[1] | Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz (802.11b/g/n) and USB flash drive. No Ethernet listed[2] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | 2 MP built-in chamber camera for live view[2] |
| Power-Loss & Interruption Recovery | ||
| Power-loss recovery: mechanism (how is state saved? capacitor / eeprom / file on shutdown?) | Not documented | Power-loss recovery supported; mechanism not published[2] |
| Materials Support | ||
| Officially supported filament list | PLA, PETG, ASA, ABS, PC, CPE, PVA/BVOH, PVB, HIPS, PP, Flex, nGen, Nylon, carbon-filled, woodfill and other filled materials[1] | Base: PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA, PCTG. With the optional top cover: adds PET, ABS, ASA, PA, PC. With top cover and a hardened-steel nozzle: adds carbon- and glass-fibre-reinforced polymers[2] |
| Safety | ||
| Thermal runaway protection (verify in firmware source if at all possible) | Prusa shipped Thermal Model protection to the MK3 line as a firmware update shortly before the MK4 launch; the firmware is open-source and auditable[4][6] | Not documented |
| Reliability, Support & Ecosystem | ||
| Warranty length & support reputation (evidence, not vibes) | 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[7][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
- Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ 10th Anniversary Edition product page (Technical Parameters + Full Features List) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Snapmaker U1 product page us.snapmaker.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- Original Prusa MINI+ Semi-assembled 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + Full Features List, January 2025 Edition) 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 3D printers category listing with live e-shop prices, Aug 2026 prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware (MK3 line, GPL-3.0, based on Marlin 1.0.x) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Prusa Knowledge Base - Warranty help.prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · doc
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor