Looking for the best pens to use in your bullet journal? Follow our guide and fill your pencil case with fineliners, highlighters and brush pens...
The easiest way to create a cohesive colour palette to match your journal aesthetic is to choose a ready-made set designed to do just that.
What are the best pens for bullet journaling?
- Fineliners (e.g. Pentel Pointliners or Archer & Olive Monographs) - best for clean layouts and structure.
- Gel pens (e.g. Pentel Energels or Pilot G2) - best for smooth everyday writing.
- Brush pens (e.g. Tombow Fudenosuke or Pentel Brush Sign Pens) - best for headers and lettering.
- Highlighers (e.g. Writech Retractable Highlighters) - best for colour-coding.
The most recommended all-around choice is a fineliner + gel pen combination for clarity and comfort.
Create Your Own Pen Set
- Back fineliner;
- Mechanical pencil;
- Comfortable writing pen;
- Highlighters;
- Colourful gel pens;
- Brush Pens;
- Multi-tip pens.
Fineliners
You can't go wrong with a good black fineliner. Choose the width of the tip based on the size of your handwriting. 0.4mm is a good place to start. If you would like to use stencils or a ruler, choose one with a metal tip so that it doesn't become damaged easily. If you like to use highlighters or water-based brush pens with your fineliner, choose one with pigment-based ink so that it doesn't smudge and turn your colours dirty when you layer them.
The Pentel Pointliner is available in lots of widths and colours.
Mechanical Pencils
As with fineliners, choose a propelling pencil with a metal tip and your preferred width and hardness of lead. 0.7mm, and HB is a good place to start.
Best Pens for Writing in a Bullet Journal
Choose something super smooth that glides over the paper. You want to be able to write for ages, so a refillable ballpoint or rollerball are good options. If you would like to have the flexibility to use different coloured inks, a fountain pen is an excellent choice. One with a converter will mean you can use any fountain pen friendly ink and won't have any plastic cartridges to dispose of.
If you are a planner perfectionist, why not try an erasable pen? You can use friction to make the ink disappear, just like magic!
Highlighters
Highlighters are a quick way to add colour to your page. They are also great for colour-coding your notes and plans to make it easier to see at a glance what is important.
Gel Pens
Known for super smooth ink and a huge range of colours, gel pens are available at every price point. Look for metallics, milky or even matt ink to create interesting effects and for use on coloured or shiny paper.
Best Pens for Brush Lettering
If you are feeling artistic and would like to add some pretty lettering or illustrations to your journal spreads, then brush markers will become an essential part of your toolbox.
Those with water-based inks can be used to create beautiful blends or colour washes, whereas pigment inks are more opaque and won't fade or run when layered with other media.
Multi-Tip Pens
If you are low on space in your pencil case, choose pens that will work harder for you. Many pens are now available with twin tips or more.
The Multi-Sync from Penac combines two different colour ballpoint tips with a mechanical pencil. It even has an eraser hiding under the cap.
Midori Dot Pens
Another great tool for colour coding is the connectable dot pens from Midori.
Each pen has three different colours and can be used like a highlighter, or vertically to create perfect little dots or bullets. Ideal for colour coding your bullet journal spreads.
| Pen Type | Best For | Example | Why |
| Fineliner | Layouts, Grids | Archer & Olive Monographs | Precise, no bleed |
| Gel Pen | Writing | Pentel Energel | Smooth, fast drying |
| Brush Pen | Headers | Pentel Brush Sign Pens | Line variation, colour |
| Highlighter | Colour Coding | Writech Retractable Highlighters | Match your aesthetic |
