No. 1 today: Helix Kit, 9.6/10.See the ranking
9 welders and 6 starter kits scored on dated prices, joules, eye protection, training and warranty: No. 1 costs $2,399.
Prices checked Nov 13, 2026 · 5 brands, official pages only · public formula
See the ranking9.6/10ExcellentStarter kit · 1–30 J · 25 ft of chain · 3-year warranty
Our No. 1. The Helix Starter Kit gives you the most hardware for the least money: a 1 to 30 joule welder that weighs 2 lb, a folding darkening screen with magnification, 25 ft of gold-filled chain in five styles, 200 jump rings, 14 connectors, grounded pliers and cutters, for $2,399 on November 13, 2026 (crossed-out price $3,300). The welder carries 3 years of warranty. Its weak spot is teaching: one free 30-minute Zoom session. If you have a mentor, a friend in the trade or a course elsewhere, buy this one.
$2,399$3,300at Pepetools, checked November 13, 2026
Highest-scoring welder sold alone, $1,749. Best for anyone buying a welder alone who wants to see the weld without dark glasses.
9.2/10$1,749$1,899checked Nov 13, 2026
Lowest price in the top half of this ranking: $1,499. Best for the best price on a 30-joule welder with glasses and a 3-year warranty.
9.1/10$1,499$1,999checked Nov 13, 2026
Best for most people opening a permanent jewelry business who have someone to learn from.
The catch: Training is a single 30-minute Zoom call, the thinnest of the six kits. It's a sale price, and the page showed "limited stock" that day. Pepetools can charge a restocking fee of up to 25% "in some instances", and the precious-metal chain can't be returned. No argon in the box.
Best for beginners who want a mentor, a course and argon in one order.
The catch: Eye protection is shade 5 glasses, where two rival kits include a screen that darkens. It costs $800 more than the Helix kit and $200 more than Everlinx's. Colored finishes push it up to $3,308. Returns cost 10%, about $320.
Best for first-timers who want a full course and a screen that darkens, without argon.
The catch: Returning it is costly: $750 non-refundable, $150 restocking, return shipping on you, so about $900 gone. No argon is included if you later decide you want it. The welder tops out at 20 joules. And no safety certification is named on the pages we read.
Best for anyone buying a welder alone who wants to see the weld without dark glasses.
The catch: "Training Not Included", says the bundle page: you get a manual. The range stops at 20 joules. Everlinx names no safety certification on the pages we read. And the screen protects the person holding the stylus; your client still needs to look away or wear glasses.
Best for the best price on a 30-joule welder with glasses and a 3-year warranty.
The catch: The price is a sale price: without it, the Helix costs more than a Zapp Plus 2. Steps are a full joule. Pepetools' refund policy allows a restocking fee of up to 25% "in some instances", the stiffest wording we read. And the darkening screen is a $449 to $499 extra.
Best for artists who want one light Sunstone welder they won't outgrow.
The catch: Steps are a full joule, where the EVERARC and the Orion mPulse move by half. Eye protection is a pair of shaded glasses: an auto-darkening lens is an extra $312 or $510 at Sunstone. There's no course in the price, and returns cost 10%.
Best for studios that will do repairs and want Sunstone's top welder from day one.
The catch: It's the most expensive product in our list, and $1,800 more than a Dream kit with the same training. Eye protection is still shade 5 glasses. Sunstone doesn't publish the mPulse's weight. A 10% restocking fee on a return is about $500.
Best for starting inside Sunstone's training system for the least money.
The catch: The welder is the Zapp: 3 to 10 joules, the narrowest range we list, and you can't upgrade it inside the kit. Eye protection is glasses, not a screen. No one-on-one mentoring at this level. And if you return it, Sunstone keeps 10%, about $240, paid back by check.
Best for artists who want half-joule control and plan to weld without argon.
The catch: The box lists no eye protection: no glasses, no screen. You must add something before your first weld. The ceiling is 20 joules, lower than the 30 of the Helix and the Zapp Plus 2. Everlinx names no safety certification on the pages we read, and its course comes with the starter kit, not with the welder.
Best for studios that also do bench work and want Sunstone's finest control.
The catch: Price, mostly. It costs nearly twice a Zapp Plus 2 for the same 30-joule ceiling and the same glasses-only eye protection. Sunstone doesn't state its weight on the page we read, so it's missing from our pop-up ranking. No course is included, and a return costs 10%, about $320.
$1,249Nov 13, 20268.5/10
Best for a first welder on a tight budget, if you'll only close small jump rings.
$1,999Nov 13, 20268.4/10
Best for outdoor markets and events where you can't count on an outlet.
$2,997Nov 13, 20268.1/10
Best for people who want LINKED's course first and a welder to follow it with.
$299.90Nov 13, 20268.0/10
Best for learning at a bench for the price of a dinner out, not for client work at events.
$997Nov 13, 20267.6/10
Best for students of LINKED's course who want the welder it teaches on.
| Product | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Starter kit | Starter kit | Starter kit | Welder only | Welder only | Welder only |
| Power range | 1–30 J | 1–30 J | 0.5–20 J | 0.5–20 J | 1–30 J | 1–30 J |
| Eye protection in the box | Auto-darkening screen | Shaded glasses | Auto-darkening screen | Auto-darkening screen | Shaded glasses | Shaded glasses |
| Training in the price | 30-min live session | Course + mentoring | Online course | Manual + support | Manual + support | Manual + support |
| Chain included | 25 ft | 27 ft | 27 ft | None (welder only) | None (welder only) | None (welder only) |
| Welder weight | 2 lb | 1.9 lb | 3 lb | 3 lb | 2 lb | 1.9 lb |
| Warranty | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year |
| Where to buy | Check price at Pepetools | Check price at Sunstone | Check price at Everlinx | Check price at Everlinx | Check price at Pepetools | Check price at Sunstone |
✓ marks the best figure of the row. "Not stated" means the brand doesn't publish it. Every figure is the brand's own. Prices checked November 13, 2026.
Every welder and kit gets one score out of 10, built from the brand's own figures and a dated US price: joule range, eye protection in the box, training, warranty, weight, returns. What a brand doesn't publish scores low, and no two products share a score.
Sienna Blake, editor, permanent jewelry equipment · prices checked Nov 13, 2026 · links disclosed
Read the full method$2,399$3,300Nov 13, 20269.6/10
The Helix welder, a folding darkening screen, 25 ft of gold-filled chain, 200 jump rings and tools, on sale.
$3,199$4,265.33Nov 13, 20269.5/10
The Zapp Plus 2 with Sunstone's course, one-on-one mentoring, 27 ft of chain, connectors and argon.
$2,999Nov 13, 20269.4/10
EVERARC welder, EVERSHIELD dimming screen, 27 ft of chain, tools and an accredited course in an app.
$1,749$1,899Nov 13, 20269.2/10
The EVERARC plus EVERSHIELD, a stylus-mounted screen that dims for each weld: our top welder sold alone.
$1,499$1,999Nov 13, 20269.1/10
1 to 30 joules, a 72-inch stylus, 2 lb, shade 5 glasses and 3 years of warranty, on sale under $1,500.
$1,699Nov 13, 20269.0/10
1 to 30 joules on a locking dial, a 72-inch removable stylus and 1.9 lb: Sunstone's all-rounder.
$4,999$5,951.19Nov 13, 20268.9/10
The Orion mPulse with the course, mentoring, 45 ft of chain, connectors and four argon tanks.
$2,399$3,427.14Nov 13, 20268.8/10
The Zapp welder with Sunstone's online course, a tool kit, 21 ft of chain, argon and a regulator.
$1,549$1,699Nov 13, 20268.7/10
0.5 to 20 joules in half-joule steps, 3 lb, built in the USA, 3-year warranty, but no eye protection in the box.
$3,199Nov 13, 20268.6/10
Sunstone's touchscreen welder: 1 to 30 joules with half-joule steps up to 15, three ground ports, shade 5 glasses.
$1,249Nov 13, 20268.5/10
Sunstone's entry welder: 3 to 10 joules on one dial, shaded glasses in the box, a 3-year warranty.
$1,999Nov 13, 20268.4/10
The only rechargeable welder we list: up to 1,500 welds per charge (Everlinx), 3.4 lb, same half-joule control.
$2,997Nov 13, 20268.1/10
The Luxe welder with 20 ft of chain, tools and LINKED's full online course; all kit sales are final.
$299.90Nov 13, 20268.0/10
A generic bench spot welder at $299.90: 50 to 600 amps, 17.6 lb, no joule scale and no eyewear in the box.
$997Nov 13, 20267.6/10
LINKED's own welder at $997: argon compatible, 110/220 V, 12-month warranty, but no joule range published.
Kit, insurance, argon, chain: a start-up budget built from prices read on November 13, 2026, from $2,399 for a full kit, with every source linked.
Sunstone says argon makes a stronger weld; Everlinx says "Short answer: no" and cites a test. What each maker claims, what a tank costs, and how to decide.
A certificate isn't a license. What Sunstone, Everlinx, LINKED and Pepetools teach, from a 30-minute Zoom to mentoring, and the kits that include it.
One insurer's average quote is about $700 for general and professional liability; event cover is advertised from $49. What a waiver can't do.
Joule range, eye protection, training, warranty and returns, weight: the five checks that separate 15 welders and kits; prices dated November 13, 2026.
A $300 bench welder against $997, $1,249 and $1,499 machines: what the cheap one leaves out, what it costs to add back, and when it makes sense.
A permanent jewelry welder is a small pulse arc welder: you bring a tungsten tip to a tiny jump ring, and one short pulse fuses it shut around a wrist. The machine fits in a tote bag. The decision doesn't, because you're rarely buying a tool. You're buying the first piece of a business: a chair in a salon, a table at a Saturday market, a bridal party booked for June.
So the questions aren't the ones on the product pages. How low does the power go, since fine chain is welded at the bottom of the range, not the top? What protects your eyes from a flash a few inches away, dozens of times a day? Does anyone teach you, or do you get a manual? And if it isn't for you, what do you get back?
We read the product, warranty and returns pages of nine welders and six starter kits from Sunstone, Everlinx, Pepetools, LINKED and Tooltos, and noted each price on the maker's own US store on November 13, 2026. They run from $300 to $4,999. Then one formula scored all of them the same way, kits against kits and welders against welders on price.
Our No. 1, the Pepetools Helix Starter Kit, costs $2,399 on sale: a 1 to 30 joule welder, a folding darkening screen, 25 ft of gold-filled chain and a 3-year warranty. If you want a full course and a mentor, the Sunstone Dream Kit (9.5/10) is right behind. If you already own chain and tools, the Everlinx EVERARC + EVERSHIELD (9.2/10) is the best welder sold on its own, at $1,749.
This site helps you buy equipment; it isn't safety, legal or financial advice, and it promises no income. Licensing, sales tax and insurance rules change from state to state and city to city: check yours before your first event.
By Sienna Blake, editor, permanent jewelry equipment · updated November 13, 2026
Pick up to three: price, joule range, eye protection, training, chain, weight and warranty in one table, with the best figure of each row ticked.
Photo: Tahlia Doyle / UnsplashTell her where you'll weld (salon chair, market stall, parties), what you already own and your budget. She'll point you to two or three welders or kits from the ranking, with the reasons. We answer within two working days. We can't give legal, tax or safety advice: your state, your insurer and your welder's manual have the last word.
