The 8 Best Pens for Writing in 2023 – Best Pen Reviews Ranked

Writing with a pen that feels like it was made just for you is a small pleasure unlike any other. However, finding that elusive best pen can take a little trial and error. In fact, there’s a lot to take into consideration: Variables like ink type, pen width, writing purpose, and paper type all subtly affect the writing experience differently for every person.

In this guide, we’re thoroughly breaking down everything you need to know about the best pens and how to differentiate among types, so you can make the best choice for you.

The Best Pens for Writing:

What to Consider

Pen Types

Although the judgment of a pen’s performance is somewhat subjective, it’s important to understand the differences between the five most prominent pen categories and their respective ink types so that you know which ones are most compatible with your writing style.

Ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens typically all have a rolling ball mechanism at their tips, which distributes ink from their internal cartridge onto the page. However, the ink type differs slightly among them.

• Ballpoint pens contain ink that is oil-based and is the most viscous of all pen-ink types. This means that the ink dries quickly, but you may find yourself pressing down hard on the page in order to write with it.
• Rollerball pens contain water-based ink, which allows them to glide far more smoothly over the page. However, this type of pen can be troublesome for left-handed people to use since the ink is slower to dry and has the tendency to smudge.
• Gel pens also contain water-based ink, but this ink is pigment-based rather than dye-based, so the consistency is slightly thicker than rollerball-pen ink. These pens are a little more user-friendly than rollerballs, and they can also be found in a rainbow spectrum of colors. Cheap gel pens are prone to clumping and drying out, so this pen category is worth spending a little more on.
• Felt-tip pens are also known as marker pens or porous-point pens due to the porous material of their tips. These pens actually encompass a wide group of marker-type utensils — both permanent and nonpermanent – but the ones that are used for writing on paper contain water- or pigment-based dye.
• Fountain pens are sophisticated writing utensils that require a little more know-how to fill and use. They are typically used with dye-based inks, which are contained in disposable cartridges or refillable converters. The tip of a fountain pen is called a nib, and the size of the nib affects the flow of ink from it. The fountain pens in this guide are equipped with medium nibs, which produce a line width of about .8 mm. Though fountain pens can be used on regular paper, a thicker paper is recommended because the pen’s higher output of watery ink is likely to bleed through a thin page.

Price

The price of your pens can also be a major factor as you’re looking since the price per pen can range anywhere from less than a dollar to well into the thousands for a designer or rare piece. Some of the most highly regarded pens are incredibly expensive, so we narrowed our focus to pens around $25 each — though the top-rated pens from our test are even more affordable than that!

How We Tested

We researched pens within each of the above categories individually. Due to each pen category’s unique ink type and design characteristics, we decided that the pens within them should be judged against each other, not across categories.

Once we honed in on 22 reviewer-favorite pens, we then drew up the criteria for the testing phase. These criteria were based on the most common features found in our research, along with our own gut-check instincts of whether or not this was a pen that we’d recommend to others:

• Comfort in hand
• Writing smoothness
• Level of ink smearing (also when highlighted)
  
• Level of ink bleeding through paper
• Ease of left-handed use

To test, we asked 15 of our site editors and staffers to write with pens on regular office paper and rate them. The fountain pens were tested on thicker notebook paper and were judged mainly on comfort in hand and ease of use. Based on the responses from our test, we were able to narrow our candidates down and rank the best pens in each category.

The results of our testing are below. Find out which of the best pens earned top marks!