Best 3D Printer Upgrades Under $50
Most budget 3D printers are good out of the box - but a few cheap upgrades make a genuine difference to print quality, reliability, and convenience. These are the ones actually worth buying.
1. PEI Spring Steel Sheet - ~$15-25
If your printer came with a glass bed or a basic magnetic sheet, a textured PEI spring steel sheet is the single best upgrade you can make.
Why it's worth it:
- Parts stick perfectly when hot, release cleanly when cool - just flex the sheet
- Works well for PLA, PETG, ABS, and TPU
- No adhesion aids needed - no hairspray, no glue stick
- Much easier to remove parts than glass
Pick up: Textured PEI spring steel sheet - check your printer's bed size before ordering (most common: 235x235mm for Ender 3 series).
2. Capricorn PTFE Bowden Tube - ~$10-15
The stock PTFE tube that comes with most budget printers (especially Creality machines) is low quality and has a larger inner diameter than needed. Capricorn tubing has a tighter 1.9mm inner diameter (vs 2.0-2.5mm stock), which reduces ooze and stringing.
Why it's worth it:
- Noticeably less stringing on PLA and PETG
- Higher temperature rating - less likely to degrade near the hotend
- Direct improvement with zero setup required beyond swapping the tube
Pick up: Capricorn Bowden PTFE tube
3. Digital Calipers - ~$15-20
Not glamorous, but essential. You cannot properly calibrate flow rate, check dimensional accuracy, or diagnose issues without being able to measure your prints.
Why it's worth it:
- Required for flow rate calibration
- Instantly tells you if a print is dimensionally accurate
- Useful for measuring filament diameter variations
Pick up: Digital calipers 0-150mm - any cheap set works fine for printing purposes.
4. All-Metal Hotend - ~$20-35
Stock hotends on budget printers use a PTFE-lined heat break that runs all the way to the nozzle. This limits you to ~240°C max (above that the PTFE degrades and releases fumes). An all-metal hotend removes this limitation.
Why it's worth it:
- Print high-temp materials: ABS, ASA, Nylon, PC
- No PTFE degradation concerns at high temps
- Better long-term reliability
Note: All-metal hotends can cause more stringing with PLA if not tuned correctly. Best for people who want to print materials above 240°C.
Pick up: All-metal hotend for Ender 3 - search for your specific printer model.
5. BLTouch or CRTouch Auto Bed Levelling - ~$20-35
If your printer doesn't have auto bed levelling, this is a life-changing upgrade. If it has a basic probe, BLTouch/CRTouch is more accurate.
Why it's worth it:
- Eliminates manual bed levelling frustration
- Compensates for a slightly warped bed automatically
- First layers become consistent and reliable
Pick up: BLTouch auto bed levelling sensor - requires firmware flashing, which has good tutorials for popular printers.
6. Nozzle Pack - ~$10-15
Brass nozzles wear out, especially if you print abrasive materials. Having a pack of spares means you can swap immediately when quality degrades - and experimenting with 0.6mm or 0.8mm nozzles for faster prints costs nothing extra.
Why it's worth it:
- A fresh nozzle often fixes mysterious quality issues
- 0.4mm, 0.6mm, and 0.8mm options give you flexibility
- Cheap insurance
Pick up: MK8 brass nozzle variety pack - check your hotend type (MK8 is standard for most Creality machines).
7. Filament Runout Sensor - ~$10-15
Prints on cheaper printers stop working if the filament runs out mid-print - you just get a failed print. A runout sensor pauses the print when filament runs low so you can swap spools and resume.
Pick up: Filament runout sensor - requires a small firmware update on most printers.
8. Raspberry Pi + OctoPrint - ~$35-50
OctoPrint is free software that turns your printer into a network-connected smart printer. Run it on a Raspberry Pi and you get:
- Print from anywhere over WiFi
- Live webcam monitoring
- Print queue management
- Hundreds of plugins (print time estimation, failure detection, etc.)
This is more of a project than a plug-and-play upgrade, but it's one of the best things you can do for a budget printer.
Upgrade Priority by Printer Type
Ender 3 / budget Creality: PEI sheet first, then Capricorn tube, then BLTouch if not included.
Already has auto-levelling: PEI sheet, calipers, nozzle pack.
Want to print high-temp materials: All-metal hotend is essential before anything else.
Want remote monitoring: Raspberry Pi + OctoPrint.
How Hard Are These to Install?
| Upgrade | Difficulty | What's involved |
|---|---|---|
| PEI sheet | Very easy | Remove old surface, clean bed, attach |
| Capricorn tube | Easy | Unclip, cut to length, reinsert |
| Digital calipers | None | Just a measuring tool |
| Nozzle swap | Easy | Heat hotend to temp, swap nozzle |
| Filament runout sensor | Easy to moderate | Mount bracket, enable in firmware |
| All-metal hotend | Moderate | Remove hotend, install replacement, re-level |
| BLTouch / CRTouch | Harder | Wiring and firmware flashing required |
| Raspberry Pi + OctoPrint | Weekend project | SD card setup, network config |
The BLTouch is the one to be careful with if you've never flashed firmware. There are detailed video tutorials for every popular printer, but it takes an afternoon the first time and there are a few steps where getting it wrong means re-flashing.
Upgrade Order by Situation
Just got your first printer, struggling with adhesion:
PEI sheet first. Then calipers so you can measure what's actually happening.
Prints look okay but dimensions are wrong:
Calipers to diagnose. Then flow rate calibration (free, no hardware needed). Rarely requires hardware changes.
Want to print ABS or ASA:
All-metal hotend before anything else. ABS also benefits from an enclosure, which is a separate purchase.
Stringing that won't go away:
Capricorn tube if you're on a Bowden setup. On a direct drive printer, stringing is a settings issue rather than a hardware one.
Tired of watching prints in person:
Raspberry Pi + OctoPrint is the upgrade for this. Set up a cheap webcam alongside it and check remotely.
What Not to Waste Money On
- Fancy extruder knobs - cosmetic, zero performance benefit
- LED strip kits - nice to look at, doesn't improve prints
- Carbon fibre print beds - generally worse than PEI for most materials
- Expensive filament guides - the stock guide works fine
The upgrades above have real, measurable impact. Everything else is diminishing returns.
