I have a pen addiction. A big one. From the many, many pens I’ve purchased over the years, if I had to narrow it down to just 3 of my favorite gel pens, this would be them:

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1. Papermate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm

Yes they are pricey and yes they are worth it. As soon as I tried these pens I regretted not buying the 14 pack. The colors are bright and you can actually see the yellow ink.

I love these pens so much I convinced my sister to stock them in her planner supplies shop (wasn’t hard to convince her once she tried them).

2. Muji Gel Ink

When I found these at the Muji shop in London and did some pen testing I finally understood what all the rave was about with these pens!

Related: Favorite London Stationery shops for planner supplies

They write smoothly, the colors and nice, and best of all there’s no useless yellow pen in the pack.

3. Kaco Green Retractable Ballpoint

A relatively recent find on Amazon – the Kaco Green Pure Plastic Ballpoint Pens in 0.5mm tip write so smoothly. They come in a 20 pack as well – which I wish I had bought as the colors are really nice.

Why do these 3 pens make it to my favorites list?

• They all write smoothly on any paper
• They all have vibrant colors (that are also true to the colors of the actual pens / pen lids)
• They all come in enough colors for color coding
• The ink doesn’t skip when you write
• The packs all have a black pen
• They all have a decent shade of green (and a light green, some pen packs only have a dark green)
• They don’t bleed through paper

More pen posts

• Planner pens I don’t recommend (prone to smearing, bleed through etc.) 
• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• How to store planner pens (5 ways – and my favorite method!)

Planning Tips

• 6 Ways to color code your planner to increase productivity
• Why I plan my day using planner stickers (and why you should too!) 
• 20 Productivity & Time Management ‘Rules’ I Live By 
• How to color code bill paying in your planner (7 different ways) 

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