At the primary school level we suggest a budget of $1,000 - $2,000 for a 3D printer.

The cheapest 3D printers – less than $500 – are similar to cheap $50 inkjet paper printers: they lack features that make life easier, they are more likely to require tinkering and they break down more frequently.

We don't recommend spending much more than $2,000 for your first primary school printer because the technology is changing so rapidly that a $1,000 machine bought today may be superseded in a year or two. 

3D printing hardware technology is improving at a phenomenal rate. There are hundreds of consumer printers on the market and they’re dropping in price by up to 50% each year.