The Best Pens Under $5: Five Gel and Rollerball Picks

I do have my fair share of nicer, more expensive pens that I carry with me. And budget pens are something that is good to have around.

Have a bunch of them just laying around the house or different places like the car or just laying on the desk for whenever they're needed.

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I wanted to show you five of them that are some of my absolute favorites. And they all have different styles and different reasons why I love them so much, as well as just different inks that they work with.

Short answer: the Zebra Sarasa Clip is my overall pick. The Pilot G2 is the safe classic, and the Uni-ball Vision Elite has the smoothest writing of the five.

Zebra Sarasa Clip

This is the vintage edition of the Zebra Sarasa Clip. These are some of my favorite ones, and they look and feel amazing.

The click is super nice, super responsive, and I love writing with it.

This color is just my absolute favorite. It is super nicely saturated and it gives a super consistent line, especially on high quality Rhodia paper.

And the pen itself just shows so much character.

And I actually do own the grand edition in the green colorway, which is one of my favorite pens. Love the gold accents and the green.

Best for daily writing. It is the one I would keep if I could only keep one.

Muji gel ink pen

The Muji is one that I recently added to my collection and it is just a super clean pen. You instantly recognize how minimal it is.

The ink writes super nice. The click is also very satisfying.

This one does feel a little more plasticky, especially the knock. It's just a little more wobbly. And I don't enjoy writing as much with it because of this.

I do have a few of the capped ones which solve that issue and still have that nice Muji minimal feel. So that's an option as well.

The ink is very saturated, really nice and full, but this one does take a little longer to dry.

So even on Rhodia it does tend to smudge just a little bit because it sits on top of the paper a little longer. So keep that in mind if you're a lefty or don't like any smudges on the paper.

The plastic tells you how much ink you have left, and this one is the 0.5. They're cheap and easy to replace, so I like to keep them with me most times.

Best for a minimal setup. Skip it if a wobbly knock or slow drying ink will bother you.

Uni-ball One

The next one on the list is a very recent addition. This is the Uni-ball One.

Uni-ball does have a few variations of a similar pen. This one is just a really nice, classy pen in the white.

And they do have different colors, different options. A few shorter ones are a little more stubby and a little more comfortable to write if you like that pen, but overall just a very minimal and sleek profile.

The ink is also super nice. You get a very full ink. This is the broadest line of the first three.

It also tends to dry a little slower, but not as bad as the Muji gel pen, and there's not too much smudging.

So, really great ink, really great pen, and it looks super classy, the white and the black.

Best for bold notes with a full black line.

Pilot G2

Moving along, the instant classic that is the Pilot G2. And this one is one that I've carried with me for a long, long time.

And I've used it for marking up drawings or simply writing down notes.

The knock is super satisfying as well. And you recognize this pen anywhere you go.

The Pilot G2 is definitely one that is always at the office ready to go.

Ink is super nice, super full, and one that I have even swapped into some of my other pens just because I like it so much.

This one is a 0.7.

I do prefer 0.5, but at the same time, this one is great for marking up stuff where I need to just have a little thicker line and not really care too much about having neat and small handwriting.

I would say in person it is not as saturated as the Uni-ball One, but it's an instant classic.

Best for marking up and quick notes. You can never go wrong with the Pilot G2.

Uni-ball Vision Elite

And the last one on this list is one that I casually just found or was given to me at a previous job.

And this one is the only one that is capped. I don't love that it is capped.

I typically use this one for long form journaling, at least I used to a lot more in the past.

Being the only capped one has that drawback.

This Uni-ball Vision Elite has one of the nicest writing experiences of the five. Super nice pen, writes beautifully, and I really enjoy how well it just glides on the paper.

It is not as saturated as the Uni-ball One or Pilot. It's a little washed out, but the writing experience is super nice.

Best for long-form writing. Skip it if you want a retractable pen or an easy ink swap.

The one just over $5

If you're looking for a pen that does a lot of the same things as the Zebra Sarasa Clip, with the same clip mechanism, the Sarasa 3C is really comparable.

It's my go-to pen for marking stuff in my planner and it just stays with it at all times.

It's a little bit out of the $5 price range, so it's technically not included in this list.

The gear worth a look

• Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen: my overall pick under $5.
• Uni-ball One: the fullest black of the group.
• Muji Gel Ink Pen: the minimal option, in 0.5.
• LOCHBY Quattro: the pouch I carry my pens in every day.
• LOCHBY Venture Pouch: the larger pouch I carry alongside it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is your favorite pen under $5?

If I were to pick just one pen to have a lot of the time, it would be this Zebra Sarasa Clip. The vintage edition is super nice and I enjoy writing with it quite a bit.

Which cheap pen is best for a thicker line?

The Pilot G2 in 0.7 is great for marking up stuff where I need to just have a little thicker line.

Which of these smudges the most?

The Muji does take a little longer to dry. It does tend to smudge just a little bit, so keep that in mind if you're a lefty.