Klipper vs Marlin: A 3D Printer Firmware Comparison

There are two major firmware ecosystems for desktop 3D printers. Marlin is the classic solution that runs directly on the printer’s own mainboard: mature, stable, and compatible with a very wide range of hardware. Klipper, on the other hand, offloads the computation to a Raspberry Pi: the mainboard only executes commands while the Pi handles the complex calculations.

Klipper’s advantages: clean high-speed printing with input shaping (vibration compensation), sharper corners with pressure advance, browser-based management (Mainsail/Fluidd), and configuration changes that take effect instantly via a plain text file. The trade-off: additional hardware and a more technical setup process.

For hobbyist use Marlin is more than sufficient; if you are chasing speed and fine-tuning, a Klipper conversion is well worth it. On our rental and custom production machines we provide support for both systems.