Finding the perfect bullet journal pen isn’t easy. There are so many brands on the market. We bought 22 pens and tested how each pen bled, ghosted, smudged, etc. Here are the best 10 pens for a bullet journal.
Best Pens for Bullet Journal
The top things to consider when buying bullet journal pens
When it comes to bullet journal pens, the most important things to consider are if they smudge and if they bleed through to the next page. The only way to ensure that they don’t bleed is to use a good pen and a notebook with good-quality paper. A good pen might not bleed on thicker paper but it still might bleed on very thin paper.
Ghosting (or shadowing) is another problem to look out for. This is where you can see writing or doodles on the back of the page. This too can often be prevented by using good-quality paper and a good pen.
Other considerations are if the pen is comfortable to use.
Does it allow you to write without pressing too hard since this will also cause it to show on the back of the page?
There are two kinds of pens: pigment-based and ink-based. Pigment molecules are much bigger and more chemically complex than dye molecules. This allows the color to stay within the top layer of the paper rather than absorbing through the paper and staining the back and sometimes the next page. This is really important with a planner or journal.
You will also need to consider if you are making a planner for the next few years or a journal that you will want to last for a lifetime or more. Some pens will fade after a while. Journaling pens should last a lifetime.
What is ghosting and bleeding?
The paper you use affects the bleed and ghosting (show through).
Bleeding occurs when ink soaks through the paper to the other side. If it bleeds too much then you might not be able to write on the other side of the page. Even pens that don’t bleed might bleed if you go over the same area a few times.
Ghosting is where you can see the writing on one side of the paper from the other side (see the image below). The ink hasn’t necessarily bled through to the other side but it shows through. Ghosting can be a problem if you like using both sides of the paper in your notebook since the writing or drawing on one side of the paper can interfere with the other side. Some notebooks have paper that is thick enough to prevent this and both sides can be used safely.
The thicker the paper the less it will show through. With thinner paper, the ink might bleed through to the other side. The more absorbent the paper is the more likely it is to bleed.
Which colors do you need?
Black Pens
For basic everyday writing, you will want a black pen. You can use gel pens, fine liners, ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, etc. See the pros and cons of each below.
Colored Pens
There are many kinds of colored pens. See the pros and cons of each below. The number of colors you need really depends on how colorful you want your bullet journal to be and how much time you want to devote to embellishing it. Most of the pens offer an option for packs with different colors. The difference in price isn’t usually that much to get more colors, so it makes sense to buy a pack that you can use for a while instead of having to buy a new pack at a later stage. If you don’t plan on using color, you can also get packs of black pens only and add color at a later stage if you decide to.
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Pens that don’t bleed
In my search for pens that don’t bleed through paper, I tested 22 pens. I used the official bullet journal notebook (Leuchtturm). The pages are 80 gsm which is considered relatively thin paper compared to other notebooks. It has the thinnest pages of all the bullet journal notebooks I reviewed so I figured that the best pens for bullet journal Leuchtturm would be suitable for all notebooks. If you use any of the recommended pens, your results will be equal or better, depending on the notebook you use. None of the pens in the list below bled except for the Pilot V5 which bled in one small spot and only when I used a stencil. You can see that spot on the top of the heart next to the blue pen. It was where I started and finished drawing with the stencil and only in that small spot so it isn’t such a big deal. None of the pens bled when I wrote the same two words “Testing Pen” with each. I specifically wrote the same words to test all pens.
I also drew a tick with each pen and none of them bled.
