3D Printing InfoPrinter comparison
Original Prusa XL+ Dual-Head 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 XL+ Dual-Head comparisonsMore UltiMaker S8 comparisons
| Property | Original Prusa XL+ Dual-HeadTOOLCHANGER | UltiMaker S8INDUSTRIAL |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Brand | Prusa Research | UltiMaker |
| Class | TOOLCHANGER | INDUSTRIAL |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Manufacturer & exact marketed model name (verify the exact product identity first) | Original Prusa XL+, Dual-Head variant ("Prusa XL+ Dual-Head" in the e-shop variant data)[1] | UltiMaker S8 3D Printer[2][3] |
| Release date (announcement and actual shipping) | The XL+ refresh was announced on 13 August 2026, on sale immediately in all toolhead configurations, with assembled printers shipping later in August 2026 and upgrade kits for existing XL owners from around the end of August. The original Original Prusa XL predates it[4] | Launched March 2025; the technical-specification and pricing announcement is dated 14 March 2025[3] |
| Street price (USD; dated snapshot per entry) | $2,768.52 on prusa3d.com, Aug 2026 (lowest listed price for the Dual-Head variant; the 2-toolhead Enclosure bundle starts at $3,128.70)[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) | One of three XL+ configurations - Single-Tool $2,128.70, Dual-Head $2,768.52, Five-Head $3,610.18 (Aug 2026). The frame, bed, electronics and 360 mm cube build volume are identical across all three; only the toolhead count, the price and the achievable multi-material workflow change. Toolheads can be added later[1][5] | 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] |
| Physical & Frame | ||
| Build volume X×Y×Z (mm) — advertised vs actually usable | 360 x 360 x 360 mm, which Prusa states as 46.7 litres[1] | 330 x 240 x 300 mm[2][3] |
| Machine footprint (mm) & clearance needed (cable/spool overhang) | About 700 x 900 x 720 mm (Prusa's own figure is approximate)[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) | About 30 kg[1] | 30 kg printer only; 47.7 kg as the Pro Bundle[2][3] |
| Frame construction & material | Aluminium extrusions and steel sheets (Prusa's comparison table for the XL)[6] | Fully assembled, made in Europe[2] |
| Enclosure: open / enclosed; panel material; door/lid | Open frame. The Enclosure for Prusa XL+ is an optional add-on; Prusa says the printer is ready for chamber temperatures up to 60 C, that the new better-sealed enclosure reaches around 50 C on the printer's own waste heat, and that 60 C needs an upcoming chamber heater for which no shipping date has been given[1][4] | 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) | CoreXY with 1.5 mm GT belts, Input Shaper and Phase Stepping[1] | 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] |
| Belts (type, width, e.g. Gates?) | 1.5 mm GT belts[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 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] |
| Vibration Compensation / Input Shaping | ||
| Input shaping supported? Implementation (Klipper IS / Marlin ZV / proprietary) | Input Shaper and Phase Stepping[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder | ||
| Type (direct drive / bowden) & design name | Nextruder direct drive; each toolhead carries its own extruder, hotend, nozzle and filament[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?) | Quick-swap nozzles - 0.25 mm for detail, 0.6/0.8 mm for speed, hardened steel for abrasives, high-flow CHT for throughput; toolheads ship with high-flow nozzles[1] | 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) | 290 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 | Segmented heatbed of 16 individually controlled tiles across the 360 x 360 mm surface, so only the tiles under the part are powered; removable double-sided satin print sheet supplied[1] | Flexible PEI plate[2][3] |
| Leveling & Z-Offset | ||
| Auto bed leveling: probe technology (inductive / strain gauge / load cell / touch probe) | Load-cell sensor - the nozzle is the probe, which Prusa says automatically accounts for nozzle changes, surface textures and thermal expansion and removes manual Z-offsets. Toolhead-to-toolhead alignment on the XL+ uses a separate permanently mounted eddy-current Tool Offset Sensor, replacing the removable mechanical pin used on the original XL[1][4] | Inductive probing, integrated into the print head[2][3] |
| Filament Handling & Detection | ||
| Filament runout sensor (type, location) | Filament sensors fitted; Prusa's comparison table lists two filament sensors for the XL[6] | 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] |
| Multi-material/multi-color capability or official upgrade path | Two independent toolheads with automatic tool changing - two materials or two nozzle sizes in one job, with no purge tower waste between materials because each head keeps its own nozzle[1] | Not documented |
| Cooling & Air Handling | ||
| Part-cooling fan(s): count, size, ducting design | 360-degree part cooling on each toolhead, new on the XL+ and matching the MK4S and CORE One arrangement; Prusa states it delivers more airflow and distributes it more evenly around the nozzle. Additional fans and heatsinks cool the electronics. Fan sizes are not published[1][4] | Not documented |
| 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) | Custom 32-bit xBuddy electronics with STM32 (Prusa's comparison table for the XL)[6] | Not documented |
| Firmware & Openness | ||
| Firmware base & current version (Klipper fork / Marlin fork / proprietary) | Open-source firmware - Prusa states "Firmware: Open-source; ships with the full current Prusa feature set", and the XL is covered by the prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy source tree[1][7] | Not published; print preparation is UltiMaker Cura 5.10 or newer, fleet management via UltiMaker Digital Factory[2][3] |
| Connectivity, UI & Camera | ||
| Display: size, type, touch? | 3.5-inch 65k-colour screen with touch control (Prusa's comparison table for the XL)[6] | Not documented |
| On-device UI capabilities (model preview, per-object controls, etc.) | On-device touch UI; Prusa Connect and the Prusa mobile app are optional - Prusa states the machine is fully offline capable[6][1] | Not documented |
| WiFi (band/standard), Ethernet, USB ports, SD/flash-drive | Ethernet, optional Wi-Fi; USB drive for print files. Prusa Connect optional and fully offline operation supported[1][6] | 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, PA (nylon), TPU, PVA, HIPS, PP, CPE, PVB and carbon-fibre composites. Prusa states an open material policy - any brand of 1.75 mm filament, no chips and no subscriptions[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) | Open-source firmware on the xBuddy platform, which carries hardware overcurrent protection cutting heater and heatbed power above 15 A[8][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[9][6] | 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 XL+ product page (spec block and variant price data) 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
- 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
- Original Prusa MK4S 3D Printer product page (Technical Parameters + CORE One+/MK4S/XL comparison table) prusa3d.com · 2026-08 · vendor
- GitHub - prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy (firmware for MINI, MK4, XL and CORE One) github.com · 2026-08 · doc
- 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