I recently asked my TikTok followers a simple question:
What’s your favorite everyday pen?
I was looking for a new pen myself. I’m pretty much a beginner when it comes to pens, so I figured I’d let people who actually know about them give me some suggestions.
The video got around 1,000 comments.
After cleaning up the responses, I ended up with roughly 800 actual pen recommendations. Here are the results.
The 6 Most-Recommended Pens
| Pen | Mentions |
|---|---|
| Zebra Sarasa | 67 |
| Pilot G2 | 53 |
| Pentel EnerGel | 50 |
| Sharpie S-Gel | 47 |
| Uni Jetstream | 47 |
| Uni-ball Zento | 47 |
The brand numbers were interesting too:
- Uni: 162 mentions
- Pilot: 148 mentions
- Zebra: 105 mentions
- Pentel: 72 mentions
All four are Japanese brands.
One commenter summed it up pretty simply:
“something from Japan!!!”
The Biggest Surprise: Expensive Pens Didn’t Win
I specifically told people price didn’t matter when I asked for recommendations.
I expected that to produce some pretty expensive suggestions.
There were a few. Montblanc came up seven times, along with Sailor, Esterbrook, Diplomat, and several expensive metal pen bodies.
But they didn’t come close to the top.
Not one premium pen made the top 20.
The pens people recommended most were mostly inexpensive pens you can find at regular stores.
That was probably the biggest surprise to me.
Best Fast-Drying Pen: Zebra Sarasa Dry
The Zebra Sarasa Dry was one of the most specific recommendations I got.
The Sarasa family was mentioned a lot, but the Dry version was specifically named 16 times.
The reason was almost always the same: it dries quickly.
Since I’m left-handed, that came up constantly.
One commenter put it this way:
“zebra Sarasa dry x20 please listen do not listen to the pilot comments those smudge QUICK.”
The regular Sarasa also got a lot of recommendations, especially for its color selection.
If you’re left-handed and want to try a gel pen, this was probably the strongest recommendation I got.
Check the Zebra Sarasa Dry on Amazon
Best Ballpoint: Uni Jetstream
The Uni Jetstream was the clear winner among ballpoint pens.
This optiob kept coming up from people who wanted a smoother ballpoint.
A lot of commenters basically described it as a ballpoint that writes more like a gel pen.
If you prefer ballpoint pens but want something smoother, this is the one I’d try first based on the recommendations.
Check the Uni Jetstream on Amazon
The Pilot G2: People Either Love It or Hate It
The Pilot G2 was the second-most recommended pen overall.
It was also one of the most argued-about.
Some people absolutely love it.
Others said it smears badly, especially for left-handed writers.
“controversial but I hate the Pilot G2 on regular paper”
But then other people came back and said they use G2s all the time without any problems.
The interesting part was that several people blamed the tip size.
A 0.7 mm G2 might smear for someone while a 0.38 mm version works much better.
That was one of the first things I learned from the comments that I hadn’t really thought about before.
Same pen. Different tip. Completely different experience.
Check the Pilot G2 on Amazon
Best Easy-to-Find Gel Pen: Sharpie S-Gel
The Sharpie S-Gel was another big favorite.
People called it everything from “life changing” to the “king of pens.”
The reasons were pretty straightforward: it’s inexpensive, easy to find, writes smoothly, and dries relatively quickly.
A few people did mention that it can bleed through thinner paper.
That actually matters to me because I (mostly) use Field Notes-style pocket notebooks.
So apparently the paper you’re writing on can make a pretty big difference in which pen you should use.
Check the Sharpie S-Gel on Amazon
Best Beginner Fountain Pen: Pilot Kakuno
Then there was the fountain pen crowd.
I don’t know much about fountain pens, so this was probably the area where I learned the most.
People started talking about nib sizes, different inks, different paper, and which pens were good for beginners.
The Pilot Kakuno was the one that came up the most.
Other recommendations included the Lamy Safari, TWSBI Eco, Pilot Metropolitan, and Pilot Varsity.
The interesting part was that almost all of the fountain pen recommendations were beginner-friendly pens. Nobody was telling me I needed to spend hundreds of dollars.
Several people also told me that, because of my paper and the fact that I’m left-handed, I probably shouldn’t bother with a fountain pen.
So even the fountain pen people couldn’t agree.
Check the Pilot Kakuno on Amazon
A Few Other Popular Recommendations
These didn’t have enough recommendations for me to call them definitive winners, but they came up enough to be worth mentioning.
Rollerball: Pilot Precise V5
Metal body: Zebra F-701
Fineliner: Sakura Pigma Micron
Minimalist: Muji gel pens
Write anywhere: Fisher Space Pen
Click pen: Parker Jotter
The Parker Jotter recommendations were particularly funny because several people basically said they liked the way it clicks.
Uni-ball Zento
The Uni-ball Zento had some of the most enthusiastic recommendations in the entire thread.
One person said:
“UNIBALL ZENTO TRUST ME.”
Another simply wrote:
“Uniball Zento or Uniball Zento.”
I had never heard of it before making the video.
Several people mentioned the Signature version being difficult to find, and the main criticism was that it can run a little wet.
But based on the comments, this is definitely one I want to try.
Check the Uni-ball Zento on Amazon
TUL
TUL was another surprise.
It got 26 mentions, but the people recommending it were extremely loyal to it.
Two people said they’d been using TUL pens for 10 years or longer.
One person said they’d used the same pen for almost their entire adult life.
I’d never even heard of the company before this poll.
What I Learned About What Makes a Good Everyday Pen
After going through all of these recommendations, a few things came up over and over.
Tip Size Matters
About 148 comments specifically mentioned a tip size.
The most common sizes were 0.5 mm and 0.38 mm, with some people going even smaller.
I had never really thought about tip size before this.
But the G2 arguments made it pretty clear that it can make a huge difference.
If you don’t like a popular pen, it might be worth trying the same pen in a different tip size before giving up on it.
Paper Matters
I mentioned that I use Field Notes-style pocket notebooks, and that changed some people’s recommendations. I’m starting to brand out more into the Midori’s of the world, but, I haven’t tried much.
A pen that works great on one kind of paper might bleed or smear on another.
So when someone says a pen is the best, the next question should probably be:
Best on what paper?
The Refill Can Matter More Than the Pen
There were quite a few people who cared more about the refill than the actual pen body.
They’ll take the refill they like and put it into a completely different pen.
That’s also where the more expensive pens started to make more sense to me.
Some people aren’t paying more because the ink is better. They just want a pen body that feels better in their hand, and then they put the refill they like inside it.
So What’s the Best Everyday Pen?
Based on the recommendations, these are the ones I’m going to start with:
Most recommended overall: Zebra Sarasa
Best fast-drying: Zebra Sarasa Dry
Best ballpoint: Uni Jetstream
Most popular gel pen: Pilot G2
Best easy-to-find gel pen: Sharpie S-Gel
Best beginner fountain pen: Pilot Kakuno
But I don’t think there’s one pen that’s going to be the best for everybody.
I’m still a beginner, but after going through 800+ recommendations, I have a much better idea of what I want to try.
And apparently I need to pay a lot more attention to things like tip size and the paper I’m writing on.
What’s your everyday pen?
If you have one you swear by, leave a comment and tell me why you like it.
