Writing by hand these days is an act of small rebellion—an analog alternative to the screens and keyboards that dominate our daily lives. Pens and pencils create a physical connection between us and our work that digital devices just can't duplicate. And nothing else evokes this elemental bond quite as well as a fountain pen.
Fountain pens may seem intimidating, but they're actually really easy to use. And you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a great one. In this guide, we'll explore the best affordable fountain pens that are particularly well-suited to beginners.
- High-quality metal body.
- Over a dozen body colors and patterns to choose from.
- 3 nib sizes—Fine, Medium, and Medium Italic. If you don’t know which one to pick, we recommend Medium for beginners. Pilot produces their nibs in-house, and even their most budget-friendly pens have remarkably smooth and consistent performance.
- Uses Pilot’s proprietary ink cartridges—available in 8 standard colors.
- Included converter for using the pen with any bottled fountain pen ink.
For a closely related, more youthful alternative, check out the Pilot Kakuno. It features a colorful plastic body and the same great fine and medium nibs that come with the Metropolitan. The smiley face printed on the Kakuno’s nib helps remind beginners which side of the nib should face up.
The Preppy uses Platinum’s proprietary ink cartridges, including their popular waterproof Carbon Black cartridges. The Preppy can also use any bottled fountain pen ink with the help of a converter (sold separately) or an eyedropper conversion.
And if you end up deciding that fountain pens aren’t for you, there’s nothing to worry about. With a felt replacement tip, you can easily convert your Preppy into a marker or highlighter!
The ECO, TWSBI’s most economical fountain pen, sports a high-capacity piston filling mechanism—a luxury typically reserved for pens with three-figure price tags. Thanks to this mechanism, the ECO can use bottled ink without a converter and holds about three times as much ink as a typical converter-filled pen. The ECO also has a stylish transparent body design that shows off its inner workings and lets you admire the ink sloshing around inside the pen. The ECO offers a full range of nib sizes from extra fine to broad, plus a 1.1 mm stub italic nib that gives your writing a calligraphic flair.
The ECO’s only downside is that because of its built-in piston mechanism, it can only use bottled ink, not cartridges.
The pens we recommended at the start of this article are the ones we’d feel safe recommending to just about anyone, but they’re far from the only ones worth considering. Here are some other great beginner-friendly pens that didn’t quite make our top recommendations, listed them from least expensive to most expensive.
The Sport comes in a wide range of colors and materials, but the plastic Sport pens—the Classic, Chess, Ice, and Skyline—are by far the most affordable. Other models are made from materials like aluminum, brass, steel, and even carbon fiber. They’re incredibly striking, but they’re also too expensive to recommend as beginner fountain pens.
The Sport features high-quality steel nibs sourced from German nib maker Peter Bock AG. Bock nibs are very highly regarded in the fountain pen world, but we’ve found that the ones used in the Sport can sometimes have skipping issues—particularly the medium and broader nibs.
Besides having to compete with the Metropolitan, the Safari only has a few downsides. Its bold styling isn’t for everyone, and its uniquely shaped grip section can be a pain for anyone who doesn’t hold their pen with a traditional grip. Lamy nibs also tend to be a bit broad, even by Western standards, so those who prefer very fine nibs may be better off looking elsewhere.
Now that we’ve listed our top choices for beginner-friendly fountain pens, let’s step back and talk about the benefits of using a fountain pen. Here are our top four.
Fountain pens don't need nearly as much pressure to write as a gel or ballpoint pen, which means that you don't need to grip them or press them into the page nearly as hard. Not only does this make for a delightfully smooth writing experience, it significantly reduces the amount of hand strain and fatigue you'll experience during long writing and note-taking sessions.
Fountain pens offer virtually unlimited combinations of body styles, tip sizes, and ink colors, letting you personalize your writing experience far more than an ordinary ball pen.
Using a fountain pen creates a lot less trash than using a disposable ball pen, especially if you opt for bottled ink instead of cartridges.
In our daily lives, we’re surrounded with cheap, disposable, utilitarian products. They get the job done, but they don’t delight or inspire. When you invest in something made to last, be it a fountain pen, a mechanical keyboard, or a nice pair of headphones, you’re rewarded with daily dividends of simple pleasure. But more importantly, you get something that is yours—in a way that cheap disposable goods can never quite be. Every time you sit down and uncap your fountain pen, you perform a tiny ritual that over time infuses the pen with the accumulated significance of all the hopes, fears, and inspirations you’ve used it to express.
Would you like to see more side-by-side comparisons of our favorite beginner-friendly fountain pens? Check them out in our comparison tool!
Our writers draw on their personal expertise, consult our in-house subject matter experts, and do extensive research to make our guides as accurate and comprehensive as possible. We then test every finding that makes it through the research stage. Only the techniques and tools whose performance we personally confirm make it into our guides as recommendations.
These fountain pens are great for beginners, but that doesn't mean that they are beginner-level quality. Even if you choose to branch out in the future and try a more advanced fountain pen with specialized features like a gold nib, exotic body materials, or a special filling system, any of these pens would still have a solid place in your writing arsenal. With respectful treatment and a bit of regular cleaning, they will serve you well for many years.
For more information on how to choose a fountain pen, take a look at our guide. If you're interested in seeing what higher-end fountain pens have to offer, check out our guides to Next Level Fountain Pens, Luxury European Fountain Pens, and Luxury Japanese Fountain Pens For an in-depth look at the various kinds of nibs and how they can change your writing experience, take a look at our guide to Choosing a Fountain Pen Nib. And once you've picked out your perfect fountain pen, make sure grab some fountain pen friendly paper and notebooks for the best writing experience possible.
| Pen | Nib Sizes | Standout Feature | Filling System | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot Metropolitan | Fine, Medium, Medium Italic | High-quality metal body | Cartridge/converter | $$ |
| Pilot Kakuno | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium | Smiley face reminds users which side of the nib faces up | Cartridge/converter | $$ |
| Platinum Preppy | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium | High-quality nib; "Slip Seal" cap mechanism | Cartridge/converter | $ |
| Pilot Varsity | Medium | Zero maintenance | Disposable | $ |
| TWSBI ECO | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, 1.1 mm Italic | High-capacity filling mechanism | Piston | $$$ |
| Pilot Petit1 | Fine | Compact size; eyedropper convertible | Cartridge/converter | $ |
| Monami Olika | Fine | Large range of color choices | Cartridge/converter | $ |
| Pelikan Twist | Medium | Comfortable grip | Cartridge/converter | $$ |
| Kaweco Sport | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Double Broad | Compact size; huge variety of models | Cartridge/converter | $$ - $$$ |
| Lamy Safari | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad | High-quality ABS plastic body | Cartridge/converter | $$$ |











