The Best Fountain Pens: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

Pilot Metropolitan

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The Pilot Metropolitan in the budget tier is the default answer: brass barrel, stainless steel nib, refillable, a pen that feels far dearer than it is and writes immediately. LAMY's Safari is the rugged cult favorite with the teaching grip. The TWSBI ECO is the piston-filling hobbyist upgrade. Pilot's own Varsity is a pre-filled disposable: a real fountain pen by mechanism, but a different class of product.

A fountain pen is the rare gift that upgrades someone's handwriting, desk, and personality at once, and the good ones sit at the budget end. The starter-pen field has been settled for a decade: Pilot's Metropolitan and LAMY's Safari dominate because they are tough and write like pens costing several times as much. We compared the two classics, the tinkerer's pick, and the disposable that sits outside the category's whole premise.

RBE top pick

Pilot

Pilot Metropolitan

Buy it

Brass-barreled starter pen with Pilot's smooth stainless steel nib: budget money for a pen that feels far dearer.

Best for: First-pen giftees, journalers, and desk workers who want grown-up gear cheap.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• Brass barrel under a matte finish with stainless steel accents: real heft, a serious instrument rather than a toy.
• Pilot's stainless steel nib has an out-of-the-box smoothness owners rarely need to tune.
• Refillable with Pilot cartridges or a Pilot converter, so it starts on cartridges and grows into bottled ink.
• Pilot's brochure lists several point sizes and a black gift box, and Pilot USA covers it with a 2-year limited warranty.

Know before buying

• Pilot's US brochure does not list the box contents, so check the listing before counting on a converter being included.
• Proprietary Pilot cartridges: standard international cartridges do not fit.

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LAMY

LAMY Safari

Buy it

The ASA-plastic tank with the triangular grip: tough, endlessly moddable, a design classic since the 1980s.

Best for: Students, sketchers, and anyone hard on their gear.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• Ergonomic grip section teaches a proper hold automatically: the teacher's favorite.
• Robust body in what LAMY calls resistant, high-gloss ASA plastic, with a viewing window for the ink level; decades of owner reports back the durability.
• Polished steel nib offered in EF, F, M, B and a left-hander grade.
• A Development Group Mannheim design in many standard colors plus special editions: personality in a pen.

Know before buying

• Ships with one LAMY T 10 blue cartridge; the Z 28 converter for bottled ink is a separate purchase.
• The grip triangle polarizes: owners love it or find it constraining, with little middle ground.

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TWSBI

TWSBI ECO

It depends

Piston-filler demonstrator: bottled ink only, a large fill, the tinkerer's pen.

Best for: Tinkerers and ink collectors: people who will enjoy the ritual of filling.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Built-in piston filler that draws ink straight from a bottle. TWSBI does not publish the ink capacity, but a piston holds far more than a cartridge.
• Clear demonstrator body shows the ink sloshing, which is half the fun of fountain pens.
• Nib in EF, F, M, B and a 1.1 stub, a cap that posts, and an inner cap TWSBI says seals the nib in storage.

Know before buying

• Bottle-only filling: no cartridges, and TWSBI states that ink is not included, so you must buy a bottle to use it at all.
• Owners report the plastic threads and cap can crack if overtightened, a long-running TWSBI quirk.

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We'd skip it

Pilot

Pilot Varsity

Skip it

A pre-filled disposable fountain pen: writes fine, then goes in the bin.

Best for: Curiosity purchases only: a prop, not a gift.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• Pilot fits it with a medium stainless steel nib and a visible ink supply, so it writes like a real fountain pen because it is one.
• Cheap enough to test the waters with no risk, in seven ink colors.

Know before buying

• Pilot sells it pre-filled and lists no refill or converter for it; hobbyists do refill it as an eyedropper, but that is a hack Pilot does not describe.
• It is a different class of product from the three above: a consumable, where the gift premise of a fountain pen is an instrument that is kept.
• The refillable Pilot Metropolitan is built to be kept for years for modestly more money.

See our pick instead See it at Amazon anyway Read our detailed assessment ↓

How we judged the field

Starter fountain pens are judged on three things: out-of-box writing quality (a scratchy first pen kills the hobby), durability, and whether the filling system grows with the user. We work from what Pilot, LAMY and TWSBI publish and from the long record of owner reports on these pens; we do not write with them ourselves. Every pen here sits at the budget end; the differences are in feel and philosophy.

The Metro is the recommendation in one pen. Pilot’s brochure describes a matte finish over a brass barrel with stainless steel accents and nibs, a black gift box and a choice of point sizes, and calls it refillable. The result is a pen that feels like a serious instrument, with the smooth stainless nib owners rarely need to adjust, and Pilot USA backs it with a 2-year limited warranty.

Two things to check rather than assume. Pilot’s US brochure does not list what comes in the box, so whether a converter is included depends on the listing; if it is not, a Pilot converter is a small add-on. And Pilot cartridges are proprietary, so standard international cartridges will not fit. Neither matters much once the pen is on a desk: this is the pen that turns ‘I got a nice pen’ into ‘I own a fountain pen.’

The Safari is the other answer, and arguably the more interesting one. LAMY’s own page describes a robust body in resistant, high-gloss ASA plastic, an ergonomic grip, a viewing window for the ink level and a polished steel nib in EF, F, M, B and a left-hander grade. Owners have been dropping these in bags for forty years and report them surviving. The design comes from the Development Group Mannheim and has been in production since the 1980s.

Know what is in the box: one LAMY T 10 blue cartridge. The Z 28 converter for bottled ink is listed as a recommended accessory, which means a separate purchase, so budget for it if the recipient wants a bottle. Owners describe the nib as running slightly broader and drier than the Pilot’s out of the box, and the grip triangle divides writers into lovers and haters. For students and rough handlers, it is still the tank of the category.

The ECO is the pen that teaches the hobby: a clear demonstrator showing the ink slosh, a built-in piston filler that draws straight from a bottle, and a nib in EF, F, M, B and a 1.1 stub. The cap posts, and TWSBI says an inner cap seals the nib when stored. TWSBI does not publish the ink capacity, but a piston barrel holds far more than any cartridge. TWSBI pitches it from “the beginner who just wants to try out fountain pens” to experts.

It is the more interesting object. It is also the more demanding one: there is no cartridge option, TWSBI states plainly that ink is not included, so you must buy a bottle to use it at all, and owners have long reported cracked threads or caps when the pen is overtightened. For someone who already owns a bottle of ink, it is a treasure; for a first-pen giftee, it is a homework assignment.

The Varsity is a paradox: Pilot’s brochure calls it a pre-filled fountain pen with a medium stainless steel nib, a visible ink supply and seven ink colors; it is built to be used until dry and then replaced. It is not bad at writing. It is a different class of product from the three pens above: a consumable, where the whole gift premise of a fountain pen is the refillable instrument, the growing collection of inks, the object that ages with its owner. Pilot lists no refill or converter for it. Hobbyists do pry the nib unit out and refill the barrel as an eyedropper, but that is a hack Pilot does not describe or support. Buy one for curiosity; do not wrap it.

Pilot Metropolitan vs LAMY Safari: which should you buy?

Temperament decides. The Metro is for the person who will put it on a desk and treat it like a nice object: heavier, more formal, smoother out of the box. The Safari is for the person who will toss it in a bag with keys and still use it in ten years: lighter, tougher, more moddable, and the one where you add a converter to the order. Both write better than anything at the budget end has a right to; pick by personality, not specs.

What to look for in a fountain pen

• Steel nib first, gold later. Budget-tier steel nibs from Pilot and LAMY write beautifully; gold is a premium upgrade with diminishing returns for beginners.
• Filling system decides the hobby. Cartridge and converter pens ease you in; piston-fillers commit you to bottled ink and its rituals.
• Check the box contents. Cartridge-only boxes are common; a converter is often a separate line on the order.
• Nib size to writing style. Small handwriting and fast notes want F or EF; signatures and journal flow want M or B.
• The pen is the beginning. Budget for a first bottle of ink: it is half the experience and lasts many months.

Our final take

The Pilot Metropolitan is the gift: brass barrel, smooth nib, refillable, zero learning curve. The LAMY Safari is the cult alternative for tougher hands, with a converter to add. The TWSBI ECO is the hobbyist’s doorway once cartridges feel small. And the Varsity belongs in a desk drawer, not a gift box: some pens are meant to be kept, not consumed.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: Pilot Metropolitan vs LAMY Safari.

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