Perler vs Hama vs Artkal

The short version

1. Pick a size firstDecide between standard midi beads of about 5 mm and mini beads of about 2.5 to 2.6 mm; the two never share a board.
2. Compare colorsChoose the brand whose palette has the shades your project needs, especially skin tones, pastels and greens.
3. Test before mixingIf you combine brands in one piece, iron a small test strip to check that the beads melt at a similar rate.

Are all perler beads the same size?

Nearly, within each size class. Perler, Hama, Artkal's S series and Nabbi all make a standard bead of about 5 mm diameter, often called midi. These fit the common 29 by 29 square pegboards from any of these brands, so a board bought from one maker generally takes beads from another. Small differences in height, wall thickness and hole size do exist, and you can sometimes feel them when placing beads or see them after ironing.

Mini beads are a separate class of about 2.5 to 2.6 mm and need their own fine boards. Some brands also sell large beads for young children, such as Hama Maxi at about 10 mm, which again use their own boards. The word perler is often used for any fuse bead, much like a brand name becomes a generic word, so a pattern labeled perler may have been made with any brand.

Packaging rarely states diameter to a tenth of a millimeter, and measurements vary slightly between batches, so treat all sizes on this page as approximate. If you need two brands to sit perfectly flush, for example in a large mosaic, buy a small bag of each and test on one board first.

Perler

Perler is the name most North Americans know and is widely sold in US and Canadian craft stores. Its standard range covers the core colors well, including several skin tones, neons and translucents, and specialty finishes appear regularly. Perler also sells mini beads. Codes on bags are long product numbers, which is why color names are often used informally.

Because Perler is so widespread in the US, many patterns online list Perler colors by default. If you work from such charts with another brand, you'll need to translate colors, which is where a cross-brand comparison helps.

Perler colors fuse into a fairly smooth surface when ironed through to a flat finish, and many people prefer to iron them lightly so the individual ring shapes remain visible. As with any brand, practice on a small piece first to learn how your iron behaves with them.

Hama

Hama is a Danish brand and the most common fuse bead in much of Europe, the UK and Australia, which is why British crafters often say hama beads where Americans say perler beads. It offers midi, mini and maxi sizes, making it a natural choice for families with small children who start on maxi and move down. Colors carry short numeric codes, such as 01 for white.

Hama midi beads fit standard pegboards from other brands. Their palette overlaps heavily with Perler's basics but the exact shades differ, so a Hama light blue is not a drop-in replacement for a Perler light blue.

Hama boards come in a wide variety of shapes, from circles and hearts to animals and letters, and are common in schools and nurseries in Europe. Maxi beads are a separate size and need maxi boards.

Nabbi, the smallest range in our chart at 30 colors, also makes standard 5 mm beads that fit common boards, so it can be combined with the bigger brands for basic colors.

Artkal

Artkal is popular with pixel artists because of the sheer number of colors: our data lists 199 shades in the 5 mm S line and 174 in the 2.6 mm C line. That range makes subtle shading, realistic portraits and large pixel art much easier, since you have more in-between tones to choose from. Artkal is mostly bought online, in bulk bags.

Artkal sells several series identified by letters, which differ in size and in how firm the beads are. The two most common are S for midi and C for mini, and those are the two our tools support. For other series, check the seller's description for diameter and intended use before buying.

Because Artkal has so many colors, finding a matching shade for a pattern made in another brand is often easiest in Artkal. The trade-off is availability: for a quick top-up of one color, a local store stocking Perler or Hama may be more practical.

Can you mix brands in one piece?

Physically, yes: midi beads from all four brands sit on the same boards. The catch is ironing. Beads from different makers can melt at slightly different rates, so in a mixed piece some beads may close up their holes while neighbors still look barely fused. On small projects this rarely matters. On large pieces, or when you want an even look, keep big areas of one color in one brand and use other brands for accents.

Iron a short test strip of the beads you plan to combine, and follow the ironing guidance from each manufacturer. An adult should handle the iron when children are involved, and a ventilated room is sensible with any heated plastic.

Mixing also affects counting. A pattern planned in one brand gives counts for that brand's codes; if you substitute a few colors from another brand, note the substitutions in the key so you buy the right bags next time.

Matching colors across brands

Names do not travel between brands. Two beads both called pastel green may be clearly different, and an equivalent color can carry an unrelated name. The reliable way is to compare measured colors. On the perler bead color chart, tapping any bead shows the nearest color from each other brand of the same size, with a note on how close it is, from very close to far.

Better still, avoid translation entirely: the perler bead pattern maker can build a pattern directly in the brand you own, using only that brand's colors and codes. Ready-made designs in the perler bead animal patterns can be switched to any of the four brands. New to designing? Read how to make perler bead patterns first.

If you are translating a whole pattern rather than one color, compare the nearest-match notes for every color in the key. Where several suggestions read as noticeable or far, consider building the pattern again in your own brand instead, since a converted palette can drift away from the original look.

Which should you buy?

Buy what is easy to get where you live, then fill gaps. In the US, Perler is on most craft store shelves; in Europe and Australia, Hama usually is. If you love detailed pixel art or need many skin tones and grays, a bulk set of Artkal S adds a lot of colors. Nabbi is a smaller range of basic colors. For toddlers, maxi-size beads are easier to handle, and for jewelry or very detailed pieces, minis give finer results at the cost of more patience.

Price and bag size vary by region and seller, and promotions change constantly, so compare the price per thousand beads rather than per bag. For large pieces, buying the background color in bulk usually brings the cost down considerably.