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

I carry my fair share of nicer, more expensive pens, but budget pens are good to have around too.

I keep a bunch of them around the house, in the car and on my desk, ready whenever they're needed.

Watch the full video for everything shown on camera.

Here are five of my absolute favorites. Each one has a different style, a different ink and a different reason I love it.

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

My Zebra Sarasa Clip is the vintage edition, one of my favorite versions of the pen. It looks and feels amazing.

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

Its vintage color is my absolute favorite. The ink is nicely saturated and gives a very consistent line, especially on high-quality Rhodia paper.

The pen itself has a lot of character.

I also own the Sarasa Grand edition in the green colorway, which is one of my favorite pens. I love the gold accents with 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 gel ink pen is a recent addition to my collection, and it's a super clean pen. Its minimal design is obvious at a glance.

The ink writes beautifully, and the click is very satisfying.

The Muji pen does feel plasticky, especially the knock, which is a little wobbly. I don't enjoy writing with it as much because of that.

Muji's capped gel pens solve that issue and keep the same minimal feel, so they're an option as well. I have a few of those too.

The Muji ink is very saturated and full, but it takes a little longer to dry.

Even on Rhodia paper, it smudges a little because the ink sits on top of the paper longer. Keep that in mind if you're left-handed or don't like any smudging.

The see-through barrel shows how much ink is left. Mine is the 0.5 mm. These pens are cheap and easy to replace, so I keep one with me most of the time.

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

Uni-ball One

A very recent addition to my collection is the Uni-ball One.

Uni-ball makes a few variations of this pen. Mine is the white version, and it's a really classy pen.

It comes in different colors, and some of the variations are shorter and stubbier, which can be more comfortable to write with if you like that shape. Overall, it has a very minimal, sleek profile.

The ink is excellent: a very full, saturated black. Mine writes the broadest line of the first three pens.

It also dries a little slowly, though not as slowly as the Muji, and it doesn't smudge much.

It's a great pen with great ink, and the white body with black ink looks super classy.

Best for bold notes with a full black line.

Pilot G2

The Pilot G2 is an instant classic, and I've carried one for a long, long time.

At work, I've used it for marking up drawings as well as for simply writing down notes.

The knock is satisfying, and you'll recognize this pen anywhere you go.

There is always a Pilot G2 at the office, ready to go.

The G2 ink is super full, and I like it so much that I've even swapped G2 refills into some of my other pens.

Mine is the 0.7 mm version.

I generally prefer a 0.5, but the 0.7 is great for marking things up, when I want a thicker line and don't need neat, small handwriting.

In person, the G2 ink looks less saturated than the Uni-ball One.

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

Uni-ball Vision Elite

The last pen on the list is the Uni-ball Vision Elite. I picked it up at a previous job and fell in love with it.

It's the only capped pen of the five, and I don't love the cap.

I have typically used it for long-form journaling, though I did that more in the past.

The capped design has another drawback: the ink is not easy to change.

Even so, the Vision Elite has one of the nicest writing experiences of the five. It writes beautifully, and I really enjoy how it glides across the paper.

Its ink is not as saturated as the Uni-ball One or the Pilot G2. The line looks a little washed out, but the pen is a pleasure to write with.

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 want a pen that does a lot of what the Zebra Sarasa Clip does, with a similar clip mechanism, the Zebra Sarasa 3C is really comparable, and it holds three colors at once.

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

It costs a little more than $5, so it's technically not on 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 could keep only one pen under $5, it would be the Zebra Sarasa Clip. I use the vintage edition, and I enjoy writing with it quite a bit.

Which cheap pen is best for a thicker line?

The Pilot G2 in 0.7 mm is my pick when I need a thicker line for marking things up.

Which of these smudges the most?

The Muji gel ink pen smudges the most, because its ink takes a little longer to dry. Keep that in mind if you're left-handed.