Best Bullet Journal Pens for Beginners

Are you looking for a way to stay organized, plan for the future, and make progress on your goals? Bullet journaling is the perfect tool to help you do it all and more! But finding the best bullet journal pens can be overwhelming, especially if you’re just getting started with this creative system.

Don’t worry – in this blog post we’ll go over some of our favorite bullet journal pens and markers, so that you can find exactly what works best for your creative needs. So grab those notebooks and let’s get ready to plan out our lives (in style)! You with me? If you are new journaling, I recommend you check out our bullet journaling 101. It is a collection of our posts that we wrote to help beginners with their new journey.

First I want to say that the pens and markers do not have to be super expensive, especially in the beginning. You are trying stuff out, getting in your groove and making sure this works for you in the beginning.

Trust me some markers are expensive, my daughter’s professional markers are over $40 for just 6 markers (think they are up to $50 now)- yikes! She is creating a comic book and needs top markers but they come at a very high price. You DON’T need any pens or markers this expensive for bullet journaling.

Of course later on you may want to branch out and try other pens and markers, but keep it simple in the beginning. Your wallet will thank you!

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Bullet Journal Best Pens and Markers

These are not the only pens that will work for you, but these are the pens that I have the most experience with. I won’t recommend a pen without testing it, so just because it didn’t make my list doesn’t mean it’s not good. It just means I haven’t personally used it.

You can certainly experiment with your own bullet journal pens!

Sharpie

Sharpie is a classic that has been around for ages, especially their markers. But did you know that Sharpie also makes fine tip pens? I picked up a couple at our local Michael’s store in the open stock bins a while back and use them a lot! After trying them I ordered a package of them as well so I had more colors. They also have brush pens that are more like a marker and don’t bleed through paper as bad as other markers.

Pros-

• A classic household name that has a great reputation. They are well known for the quality of their products and their pens are no different.
• They hold up well! I use mine a lot and (knocking on wood right now) none of them have dried up.
• The fine tip pens are very fine (.4mm) making it easier to write neatly in a bullet journal.
• Dry on paper quickly and you can erase over them to remove any pencil marks without erasing the pen.
• I have never had a fine tip sharpie pen bleed through the paper.

Cons-

• They are a little more expensive then some of the others (but not as expensive as some.)
• They have a more limited selection of colors then other brands in their pens, but their markers have a lot of colors.

Pilot

Pilot is a brand that I don’t think many people go to when they think of bullet journal pens, but these gel pens are great if you love gel pens. I used to not like gel pens due to smearing and drying up, but the pilot pens do last and they dry quickly for a gel pen.

Pros

• Dry quickly for gel pens
• Refillable (tho I have not refilled mine so I have not tested that.)
• Easy to find – usually sold in stores and online

Cons

• Limited colors for a bullet journal pen, but they do offer more colors then other gel pens.
• More expensive then ball point pens.

Bic

You don’t have to start out with expensive bullet journaling pens! You can actually just use Bic ball point pens if you want in the beginning. Or if you prefer gel, I have a few Bic Gelocity pens and I honestly don’t have a preference between them and Pilot (I have both.)

Pros-

• Cheaper then many other pens that people sell as bullet journal pens.
• You can buy locally or online
• A classic household name with pens that last
• The gel pens do dry fast for a gel pen

Cons-

• There is not a big selection of colors

Sunacme

I found these markers just before Christmas by chance. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like them for bullet journaling because they were really cheap in price compared to any other markers/pens I have been using. But as an experiment I ordered them so I can try them out for you guys! Turns out this set of 110 markers by Sunacme was well worth the $30 I spent! Ok they were $30 when I bought them in 2022, I cannot guarantee the price will be the same as you are reading this.

Pros-

• Inexpensive
• They are dual tip – 1 end is a fine pen and the other is a marker you can use for lettering.
• 110 shades of colors – tho some are pretty close in shades, still worth it tho!
• Nice carrying case to keep all the markers/pens perfectly organized.

Cons –

• Can only be purchased online as of the time of writing this post.

Tombow Markers

These are my favorite bullet journal markers along with my new discovery of the Sunacme markers. Tombow markers are a bit more expensive then Sunacme, but they are still a bit cheaper then Prisma and Copic.

Pros –

• Double tipped markers
• Big selection of colors
• Can buy in packs of 10 if you only need certain colors. Quite often you can buy markers individually in craft stores.
• Look nice on paper – Tombow markers are the ones I used in the featured image above.
• Usually available in stores and online.

Cons –

• Can only buy in smaller packs, not sold in packs over 20. Can be a pro or a con depending on the markers you need.
• More expensive then Sunacme
• The smaller tip on these markers is still a marker and not a fine tip pen.
• May bleed through thinner journal paper when coloring. But they do not bleed through thick drawing paper.

Outlining pens

While not everybody uses outlining pens in their bullet journal, I love to use them! I first started using them when drawing in sketchbooks. Please note that the outline pens here are black, not colorful pens. Also note that you can use the black Sharpie pen to outline, but these markers below can be purchased in different tip sizes.

• Tombow drawing pens – This pack comes in 01, 03 and 05. I use 05 for most of my outlining here, but we all have our preferences! You can often find these in stores and online.
• Pigma Micron – A classic that you find in many stores as well as online. This is the one I reach for most when outlining. This pack comes in 6 sizes – 005, 01, 02, 03, 05 and 08.

Conclusion

I know we covered a few different bullet journal pens and markers above here. These are the pens and markers I have and use all the time. I do have Prisma markers for lettering as well, but most of the Prisma lettering markers (specifically sold as lettering markers) WILL bleed through. That is not a maybe, they absolutely will. They bleed through my thick sketchbook paper.

Which ones do I recommend for you? If you are just starting out, I think getting the Sunacme markers will be the best bet and then you can expand out from there. Why? Because you get 110 colors in double tips marker/pen. You can do lettering and have the fine tip for all of your journal writing. The markers can be used to color in anything you add to your bullet journal too.

Once you find your groove you can definitely try out new ones!

Frequently asked questions

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