9 Best Fountain Pens (Review) In 2021

Our first pick of the best fountain pens is the Lamy Safari Fine Fountain Pen, which at just over $20 combines the elegance of your classic fountain pen with a modern design perfect for the 21st Century Man.

Despite the excellent price, it delivers smooth and reliable ink flow, ensuring consistent writing lines that will make your handwriting appear much better than it has before. The black ABS plastic barrel, while not the fancy-pants metal of other and more expensive options, is still durable and tough, allowing the pen to take a battering whatever you use it for.

The Pilot Metropolitan Collection Medium Nib Fountain Pen is a great choice for the modern professional, delivering a sleek look that would look perfect on any desk, in any boardroom, and clipped smartly to any chest pocket around.

It comes with a single Pilot ink cartridge and also comes with the Pilot Press Plate converter to transform it into a proper fountain pen for when you really want to show off. The metal body makes it feel far more expensive than it is, perfect for keeping up appearances and maybe easing those questions about when you’re going to take everyone on your yacht.

Another example in a long list of fine pens is the Sheaffer Viewpoint Fine Calligraphy Pen, which may not strictly be a fountain pen you can use for notes and similar everyday use, but it still an excellent option for the lucky (or careful) ones blessed with gorgeous handwriting.

It boasts a long-lasting nib for consistent quality over time, while the rubberized grip is designed with dimples to provide greater purchase and unrivaled control over your handwriting. The barrel window helps you gauge when it’s time to replace the ink, and with 2 ink cartridges sold with the pen, there’ll be no downtime in between.

The Cross ATX Medium Nib Brushed Black Fountain Pen takes a step into the upper echelons of quality at a price that’s likely only acceptable to experienced fountain pen users. Its performance justifies this, though, and you’ll recognize it as money well spent as soon as you get it into your hand.

It delivers smooth writing, made possible with a specially formulated ink that allows it to flow through the pen with ease, giving you zero blotches, zero harsh scratched lines, and an overall superb writing experience. The polished black nib also feels at home on the paper and glides across the sheet with ease.

The Parker Jotter Medium Point Fountain Pen takes the iconic design of the classic ballpoint and re-imagines it as a fountain pen to provide consistent, reliable, and high-quality stationery for all occasions. At less than $20, it’s an indisputable pick for the best value fountain pen around, and delivers the sheen and style appreciated by just about anyone who’s ever used a pen.

If you’re familiar with another Parker ink pen, you already know what to expect, but if not, you’re in for a treat. The stainless steel barrel is sophisticated and classy while still boasting modernity for whatever you need to write, and the medium point nib creates bold lines that won’t run into one another and gives your handwriting a smart appearance even if you’re used to deciphering your own scrawl.

With a dynamic-colored barrel, the Pilot Explorer Fine Nib Fountain Pen is one of the more unique fine writing pens you can buy to match your personality. It’s weighted correctly to ensure comfort and control and finds the perfect in-between for both function and style.

The plastic casing may disappoint some considering it’s a little pricier than other options, but these disappointments will soon fade once you try it out. The fine point nib glides smoothly over the paper, making it ideal for both casual use when writing in your journal or planning your week, while also offering consistent performance when used every day.

The Gullor Advanced Picasso Medium Nib Fountain Pen delivers the superb feel of more luxury pens at a price affordable to anyone who wants to get started on using a fountain pen. The metal barrel is weighted for easy control without straining your hand during long and intense writing sessions, while the 18 karat gold nib is more than just a gimmick.

Instead, it provides smooth writing with marvelous, consistent ink flow, so you’ll never need to shake the ink down again, which, at best, hurts your wrist and, at worst, splatters specks of ink across your paper, which isn’t cool. It’s also unique in this price range at least, and unlike other pens is suitable for both drawing and writing, and any scribbles, scrawls, and doodles in between.

Moving into the higher realm of affordability and exclusivity, the Faber-Castell E-Motion Medium Nib Fountain Pen isn’t even the most expensive option we’ve found (stay tuned for that). It’s an awesome pick for those knowledgeable about everything fountain pen and delivers consistent results on the 1,000th day as well as it did on the first.

It’s a little weightier than other pens, but still provides a comfortable feel even when using it all day (or if you want to fully commit to the troubled writer stereotype: all night). The ink flows quickly to ensure you don’t stumble and fall halfway through that genius idea that will transform your project, and with the converter, you can get a smooth quality experience lesser pens will struggle to offer. 

Our final pick of the best fountain pens is also our premium choice and comes in the smart and remarkable form of the Lamy 2000 Matte Medium Black Fountain Pen. If above all else you’re chasing the smoothest pen around, this is without a doubt the right choice for you.

The black fiberglass barrel combines with brushed stainless steel to create Makrolon, and you need not know what that means, you just have to know it’s good. The quality doesn’t stop there, though. The 14 karat gold nib is coated in platinum to ensure longevity and style and also explains why it’s so damn expensive.