3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Original Prusa i3 MK3S+ vs UltiMaker S8
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 UltiMaker S8 comparisons
| Property | Original Prusa i3 MK3S+BEDSLINGER | UltiMaker S8INDUSTRIAL |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Prusa Research | UltiMaker |
| Class | BEDSLINGER | INDUSTRIAL |
| 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] | UltiMaker S8 3D Printer[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | Not documented | Launched March 2025; the technical-specification and pricing announcement is dated 14 March 2025[3] |
| 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] | Starting at $8,999 at MatterHackers, in stock, checked Aug 2026. The launch announcement quoted approximately $9,000[2][3] |
| 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][4][5][6] | Sold as printer-only or as a Pro Bundle. The bundle is not a trim level but a different machine footprint and weight: 495 x 500 x 1210.5 mm and 47.7 kg with the 6-spool Material Station, versus 495 x 585 x 800.5 mm and 30 kg for the printer alone. Print cores AA+ 0.40 x2 are included; BB, CC+ and DD 0.40 are separate purchases[2][3] |
| Market position: superseded?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 | Superseded by the MK4/MK4S line.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[5][6] | 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] | 330 x 240 x 300 mm[2][3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | 500 x 550 x 400 mm (X x Y x Z), without the spool holder[1] | 495 x 585 x 800.5 mm printer only; 495 x 500 x 1210.5 mm as the Pro Bundle[2][3] |
| Net weight (kg) | 7 kg (without spool)[1] | 30 kg printer only; 47.7 kg as the Pro Bundle[2][3] |
| 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[5] | Fully assembled, made in Europe[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame; the Original Prusa Enclosure is an optional separate product[5] | Enclosed, with an Air Manager UltiMaker says removes up to 95% of ultrafine particles[2][3] |
| Passive chamber temperature reached (if enclosed; measured values preferred) | Not documented | Build-volume temperature under 50 °C with open-loop control (manufacturer figure)[2][3] |
| 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[5] | Dual-extrusion print head with auto nozzle-lifting, flood detection and inductive probing. UltiMaker's Cheetah motion planner uses third-order continuous motion with corner blending[2][3] |
| 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 | Up to 500 mm/s in XY (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| 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 | Up to 50,000 mm/s2 (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| Jerk / square-corner-velocity setting (exact value) | Not documented | Jerk up to 100,000,000 mm/s3 (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| Max volumetric flow claimed (mm³/s) | Not documented | Up to 35 mm3/s extrusion flow (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Direct drive with Bondtech gears and an E3D V6 hotend[1] | Dual gripper feeder with tension adjustment, release function and filament feed-rate control[2][3] |
| Filament diameter | Not documented | 2.85 mm[2][3] |
| Hotend & Nozzle | ||
| Hotend design (proprietary/standard; quick-swap mechanism?) | Not documented | Swappable print cores; AA+ 0.40 x2 included, BB 0.40 / CC+ 0.40 / DD 0.40 sold separately[2][3] |
| Max nozzle temp claimed AND firmware max temp limit (both values) | 300 C claimed max nozzle temperature[1] | Up to 340 °C (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| Heated Bed & Surface | ||
| Max bed temp claimed AND firmware limit | 120 C max heatbed temperature[1] | Up to 120 °C on a flexible PEI plate (manufacturer claim)[2][3] |
| Bed surface (material, texture, coating), single/double-sided | Removable magnetic spring-steel sheets in several finishes; heatbed with cold-corner compensation[1] | Flexible PEI plate[2][3] |
| 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] | Inductive probing, integrated into the print head[2][3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Spool holder location & max spool size; drybox compatibility | Not documented | Dual spool holder with NFC recognition on the printer; the Pro Bundle substitutes a 6-spool Material Station with NFC and a dual-geared abrasion-resistant feeder[2][3] |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Chamber/exhaust fan & filtration (activated carbon / HEPA) | Not documented | Air Manager, which UltiMaker says removes up to 95% of ultrafine particles[2][3] |
| 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] | Not documented |
| 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[7] | Not published; print preparation is UltiMaker Cura 5.10 or newer, fleet management via UltiMaker Digital Factory[2][3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| 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 and 5 GHz (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0[2][3] |
| Camera: built-in / optional? Resolution & framerate (verify — marketing often omits real fps) | Not documented | Full HD HDR camera[2][3] |
| 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] | UltiMaker cites 301+ compatible materials including its own PLA, PETG, ABS, CPE, CPE+, PC, TPU and PET-CF, plus third-party grades[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[5][7] | Not documented |
| Noise & Power Consumption | ||
| Noise: claimed dB and independently measured dB (distance/method) | Not documented | Under 50 dBA operating sound, manufacturer figure. No independent measurement; distance and method not stated[2][3] |
| 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[8][9] | 12 months, extendable to 5 years with an UltiMakerCare plan[2][3] |
| Independently Measured Performance | ||
| Dimensional accuracy measurements (third-party, with numbers) | Not documented | Dimensional accuracy +/-0.15 mm +/-0.15% of feature nominal length (manufacturer specification, not an independent measurement)[2][3] |
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
- UltiMaker S8 3D Printer listing matterhackers.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- New UltiMaker S8 high-speed 3D printer: technical specifications and pricing 3dprintingindustry.com · 2026-08 · review
- 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