Key takeaways
- INDX is a passive toolchanger: the tools have no wires, no heater and no motor. The nozzle itself is the heating element, brought to temperature in seconds by the induction coil on the Smart Head.
- Prusa states about 12 seconds per change and 13 mg of priming per swap, done outside the print area — no wipe tower on the bed.
- The trade-off is build volume: 248 × 205 × 270 mm with INDX versus 250 × 220 × 270 mm for the bare printer, per Prusa's product page.
- The supplied nozzles are surface-hardened, not fully hardened as Bondtech originally specified. Prusa estimates about 10 kg of PETG-CF or 5 kg of PC-CF per nozzle.
- In the same month Prusa refreshed the whole lineup — CORE One+ Gen 2, CORE One L+, XL+ — with GT1.5 belts and an integrated nozzle wiper, at unchanged prices.
Multi-tool printers are the clearest trend of 2026, and the toolchanger article lines up the Snapmaker U1, Flashforge Creator 5 Pro, Sovol M1D and Creality K3. Prusa took a different road: not a new printer but a conversion for one it already sells — the CORE One+ — built with Bondtech, the Swedish extruder maker that holds the patent on the design.
How INDX works
In a conventional toolchanger every tool is a complete hot end: heater, thermistor, fan, sometimes an extruder motor — multiplied by four or eight. INDX inverts that. Each “tool” is only a filament path and a special steel nozzle. Everything expensive and heavy lives on a single Smart Head on the gantry: the induction coil that heats the nozzle, the electronics that read temperature without contact, and the extruder motor.
Prusa writes that there is no heater block: the nozzle itself is what heats up, reaching print temperature from cold “in just a few seconds”. Because each material has its own nozzle, there is no shared path to flush on a colour change — which is why waste is so much lower than on a single-nozzle printer with a filament swapper.
What Prusa publishes
| Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) INDX | |
|---|---|
| Tools | 4 or 8; the 4-tool version has empty docks for more |
| Tool change time | ~12 s per change, depending on material |
| Priming per change | 13 mg, outside the print area, no wipe tower |
| Max nozzle temperature | 300 °C |
| Chamber | Enclosed, heated to 55 °C, vents automatically for low-temperature materials |
| Build volume | 248 × 205 × 270 mm (bare printer: 250 × 220 × 270 mm) |
| Supplied nozzles | 0.4 mm, high-flow, surface-hardened |
| Calibration | Eddy-current tool offset sensing ~15 s per tool; load cell for bed mesh |
| First-batch conversion kit | $749 (4T) · $999 (8T), tariffs included · €669 · €899, VAT included |
| Compatibility | CORE One / One+ / One+ Gen 2; CORE One L+ has its own kit. Not MK4S, MK3S+ or XL |
Prusa lists PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, TPE, PVA, BVOH, HIPS, PC, nylon, PP, PBT and other non-abrasive materials as fully supported. In the comments, Prusa staff said TPU profiles were still being tested, and the company says the biggest remaining work is software and print profiles.
Nozzles and carbon-fibre filament
This is the easiest detail to miss in the shipping announcement. The supplied nozzles are surface-hardened, not fully hardened as Bondtech originally specified. Prusa estimates about 10 kg of PETG-CF, 5 kg of PC-CF, or only 0.5 kg of the highly abrasive Ultraglow per nozzle, and says outright that a machine running only highly abrasive materials is not the right fit for the current nozzles.
If you print carbon- or glass-filled filament, that means: budget nozzles as a consumable by the kilogram, and dedicate one or two tools to filled materials rather than rotating all eight. Why fibres wear nozzles is covered in the nozzle article and the carbon-fibre nylon guide.
What 13 mg means for your spool
On a single-nozzle printer with a filament swapper, each colour change has to push the old colour out of the hot end, and the purge-waste article shows that can outweigh the part itself. Prusa estimates a large multi-material print on INDX wastes only about 20–30 g in total, and the primed material is pressed into pellets for recycling. Prusa also compares: filament-swap systems take over 40 seconds per change.
Another consequence: because each material has its own nozzle, pairing PLA with PETG supports, or PETG with soluble PVA, is no longer limited by two plastics with different temperatures sharing one path. Support material pairings are in the soluble supports article.
Prusa's August 2026 lineup refresh
| Printer | Build volume | Main changes |
|---|---|---|
| CORE One+ (Gen 2) | 250 × 220 × 270 mm | GT1.5 belts, integrated nozzle wiper, no heat-soak wait for materials ≤ 85 °C bed, tool-less top panel |
| CORE One L+ | 300 × 300 × 330 mm | GT1.5 belts, nozzle wiper; its own INDX kit from 27 Aug 2026 |
| XL+ | 360 × 360 × 360 mm | 360° cooling, eddy-current tool offset sensor, better-sealed enclosure ~50 °C passive, 60 °C with an upcoming heater. No INDX |
Unshipped orders for the CORE One+, CORE One L and XL were upgraded automatically; existing owners have upgrade kits. In the same post Prusa announced automatic pressure-advance calibration before each print using the load cell, and a PrusaSlicer 3.0 alpha. The CORE One hardware licence story is in the open-source printers article.
Frequently asked
What is Prusa INDX?
INDX is an automatic toolchanger designed by Bondtech for the Prusa CORE One+, with 4 or 8 passive tools. The nozzles are heated by an induction coil on a single Smart Head, so each tool is just a filament path and a nozzle.
How much does Prusa INDX cost?
Per Prusa, first-batch conversion kits were $749 (4 tools) and $999 (8 tools), tariffs included; €669 and €899 including VAT. Assembled CORE One+ Gen 2 printers with INDX opened for orders on 20 August 2026.
Does INDX fit a Prusa MK4S or XL?
No. Prusa says INDX is not compatible with the MK4S, MK3S+ or other printers, and there are no current plans for INDX on the XL. The CORE One L+ has its own conversion kit, on order from 27 August 2026.
Can INDX print carbon-fibre filament?
Yes, but the supplied nozzles are only surface-hardened. Prusa estimates about 10 kg of PETG-CF or 5 kg of PC-CF per nozzle, and says a machine running only highly abrasive materials is not the right fit.
How much filament does INDX waste per colour change?
Prusa states 13 mg per change, primed outside the print area with no wipe tower; by the company's estimate a large multi-material print wastes about 20–30 g in total.