Ender 3 hotend upgrades compared

A Creality Ender 3, Ender 3 Pro or Ender 3 V2 takes four kinds of hotend upgrade: a drop-in all-metal kit on the stock mount, an E3D Revo, a V6-format hotend on a printed mount, or a replacement print head such as Creality’s Sprite Extruder Pro Kit. The Ender 3 Neo and V2 Neo take a separate Micro Swiss kit. Any all-metal option removes the limit of the stock PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) liner, which TH3D puts at 235 °C, but Marlin’s Ender 3 firmware still caps the nozzle at 260 °C.

What hotend upgrades fit the Ender 3?

Hotend upgrades that fit the stock mount on the Creality Ender 3, Ender 3 Pro and Ender 3 V2 are Micro Swiss’s all-metal kit, E3D’s Revo Creality and Phaetus’s Dragonfly BMS. An E3D V6, Revo Six or Trianglelab Dragon needs a printed V6 mount. Micro Swiss’s NG REVO and Creality’s Sprite Extruder Pro Kit replace the whole print head.

Sorted alphabetically by maker. “Fits” is each maker’s own list for the Ender 3 family; prices exclude shipping.

Notes on the rows:

• Creality. On October 30, 2026, its US store listed no all-metal hotend kit for these printers. The one hotend it listed for them was E3D’s, as the “E3D Revo Creality Ceramic HotEnd Kit” ($53.10, sold out). The $18.00 Sprite Extruder SE carries no hotend: Fabreeko’s listing says “Hotend is not included, but the extruder is compatible with the original Hotend”. The Sprite Extruder Pro sold alone on that store is a part for the Ender-3 S1 series.
• V6 mounts. Hero Me Gen7 is one printed mount. Its designer, Andrew Soderberg, lists the Ender 3, 3 Pro, 3 Neo, 3 V2 and 3 V2 Neo among supported printers. Its hotend list includes the E3D V6, Revo Six, Revo CR, Phaetus Dragon, Dragonfly BMS and Trianglelab Dragon.
• Not on the list. Micro Swiss lists its FlowTech hotends for the Ender 3 V3 series, not for the Ender 3, Pro, V2 or Neo models.
• Prices. E3D’s own store prices in pounds, so the E3D rows use Printed Solid’s US prices. Printed Solid’s 24 V V6 came only in the direct-drive version. Phaetus and Trianglelab prices are from their own US-dollar stores.

Ender 3 Revo hotend options

E3D lists the Revo Creality for the Ender 3, 3S, 3 Pro and 3 V2 with “no firmware changes or printed parts”, though it warns some printers may need the Z limit switch adjusted. A Revo Six fits a V6 mount instead. E3D tells Creality owners to order the 100k (Creality) HeaterCore, Marlin type 1; its 104NT HeaterCore is type 5. High Flow nozzles fit the same HeaterCore, “just one nozzle swap away”, in E3D’s words.

Ender 3 Dragon hotend options

Phaetus’s Dragonfly BMS has mounting holes for the Ender 3, takes V6 nozzles and ships without a heater cartridge or thermistor, so the stock ones move over. The Trianglelab Dragon V2.0 is a V6 replacement, so on an Ender 3 it needs a V6 mount plus a heater and thermistor.

Do the Ender 3 V2 and Ender 3 Pro take the same hotend upgrades?

Yes. The Ender 3 V2 and Ender 3 Pro appear together on every Micro Swiss, E3D and Creality fit list for these kits, so both take the same hotend upgrades as the original Ender 3. Two differences remain: Phaetus says the V2 may need an adapter for its Dragonfly BMS, and Creality publishes Sprite firmware per model.

What differs by model:

• Ender 3 Pro. The board matters only when an upgrade needs new firmware. TH3D says older V1.1.x boards usually lack a bootloader, so reflashing one starts with installing a bootloader. Klipper’s 2020 Pro configuration describes a 32-bit Creality 4.2.2 board, which has one.
• Ender 3 V2. Klipper’s 2020 V2 configuration targets its 32-bit STM32F103 board and factory bootloader. Marlin gives it the Ender 3’s hotend settings: thermistor type 1, 260 °C cap.
• Ender 3 Neo and V2 Neo. Micro Swiss sells these a separate $63.50 kit, shared with the CR-10s Pro and CR-10 Max. E3D’s Revo Creality list, the Sprite Extruder Pro Kit and the NG REVO leave them out. Hero Me Gen7 lists both, so a V6-format hotend on that mount is the other route. Creality’s Sprite Extruder SE-Neo has no hotend and was sold out on October 30, 2026.

How hot can an Ender 3 print with an all-metal hotend?

Up to 260 °C without a firmware change. Marlin’s example configurations for the Ender 3, Pro, V2 and V2 Neo set HEATER_0_MAXTEMP to 275 °C with a 15 °C HOTEND_OVERSHOOT margin. Klipper’s example configurations for the same printers set max_temp: 250. Kits sold as needing no firmware change print only to that cap.

Past the firmware, each part sets its own ceiling:

1. Firmware. Raise the maximum as in firmware temperature limits. Keep THERMAL_PROTECTION_HOTENDS on; Marlin’s Ender 3 configurations already enable this protection.
2. Thermistor. The firmware expects a 100k thermistor: Marlin type 1, Klipper EPCOS 100K B57560G104F. E3D rates its Creality-thermistor Revo and 104NT HeaterCore to 300 °C. Above that, E3D’s V6 needs a PT100 or PT1000 platinum sensor. A PT1000 is Marlin type 1047, on the same 4.7 kΩ pullup as type 1.
3. Heater block and cartridge. E3D’s V6 reaches 500 °C only with its plated copper block. Micro Swiss sells a 500 °C plated copper block for its Ender kit at $19.50. The heater cartridge must be rated for the target too.
4. Board. A V1.1.x board needs a bootloader before new firmware, per TH3D; V4.2.2 and V4.2.7 boards have one.

The temperature limits explainer covers each part. When you change the heater or thermistor, set the firmware’s sensor type to match it, or thermal runaway protection works from a wrong reading.

Creality’s warranty excludes “Hardware or software malfunctions caused by flashing third-party firmware on the product without authorization” and “Unauthorized modifications or additions to the product not guided by official instructions”. See does upgrading void the warranty.

Which Ender 3 hotend upgrade fits what you print?

No option suits every Ender 3 or Ender 3 V2; the deciding factor is what you print:

Each maker ran its own flow test, so the figures do not compare across brands. Other Ender 3 upgrades are in the Ender 3 upgrades list.

What does installing an Ender 3 hotend upgrade involve?

A drop-in kit is a parts swap with hand tools: remove the fan shroud, move the heater cartridge and thermistor or connect the new HeaterCore, refit the Bowden tube, then re-level the bed or reset the Z offset. Micro Swiss says the NG REVO puts the nozzle about 2.5 mm lower and takes about 30 minutes, with Allen wrenches, spanners, flush cutters and pliers. Finish with a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) tune (M303 in Marlin, PID_CALIBRATE HEATER=extruder in Klipper) so the firmware learns the new heater. Firmware changes come only with a new thermistor type, a higher temperature cap or Creality’s Sprite kit.