Side by Side Comparison of: Nopro vs Ateco

This is a very nice little decorating set. It has 12 tips to choose from and can provide decorating fun for the whole family when making cupcakes. To prepare the bag just unscrew the tip of 1 of the couplings shove the wider back piece into the bag to the tip and screw the other coupling end back on then attach whatever tip you want to start with and fill with icing. They are pretty easy to clean (we hand wash ours). The cleaning brush makes cleaning the tips a breeze. This is our first decorating set and we all love it and find ourselves making more baked goods just to use it.

I'm a beginner when it comes to decorating cakes. I bought this set to decorate my first cake for my husband's birthday. The tips are sturdy and there is a good variety for writing and doing basic decorations. There are 2 bags which are easy to fill and handle. They're also easy to clean. It comes with a little brush so you can get into all of the crevices of the tips. The kit is small and fits easily into my kitchen drawer. The box is sturdy, so I know I won't have random tips in my drawer if it gets jostled around.

I am a total newbie - first time I've ever used a pastry bag - so maybe I have no business writing a review. But this bag + tips were perfect for me. I made and decorated large dog biscuits as Christmas gifts for friends. When I shopped for this it was hard to tell what to get without spending a bunch of time figuring out the conflicting info on the tip sizes and shapes. These worked out great. The bag is easy to clean. The tips are easy to change. Advice from a newbie: be careful about your frosting consistency. Directions in the package give some tips. It's worth getting it right. If you're making something more important than doggie treats, practice practice practice first with each tip you'll use.

I bought this for my initial foray into decorating. It works great!I made one batch of royal icing (3 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg whites, 2 tsp lemon). I divided the batch in half. I added more sugar to one half so it was thicker for piping. I put that half into this bag. The entire half batch fit in this bag. I used the included #2 tip to outline 18 sugar cookies. There was no mess while piping; no leakage. When I was done I washed the bag and tip in warm soapy water and left it air dry. Then it was ready for the next time.I've uploaded some photos of my work (yellow stars and a gingerbread man). Please keep in mind I'm a complete newbie. This was the very first time I baked cookies and the first time I ever held a piping bag! I'm sure professionals would outgrow this bag asap. I actually bought a Wilton 16 Bag before seeing this Norpro. The Wilton is a much nicer bag; feels thicker and sturdier. But the Wilton is a bag only. I also had to buy couplers for it and an Ateco piping tip set. Total price was about $25. Oh and the piping set had two different size tips circumferences so the couplers only worked on half of them. I would have had to buy bigger couplers to use the other half of tips. Anyway, it was quickly becoming an expensive hobby lolSuffices to say I'm returning the Wilton gear. I can always repurchase if I get more into pastry decorating. However, for doing an occasional batch of sugar cookies this Norpro bag is perfect for my needs. For ~$7 this set is a great value.The included tips are:#2 Writing Tip#27 Star Tip#30 Large Start Tip#60 Petal Tip#67 Leaf Tip#98 Shell Tip(I've upload photos of the box front/back that illustrates the patterns these tips make.Hope that helps! Thanks :)

Read the instructions before you use/assemble this thing. If you don't put the pieces in properly or follow the directions about frosting types or how much to use -- of course you're going to either break it or end up with a giant mess. Seriously, it's not that complicated.For the price this thing is awesome and you can do some very basic decorating. You're probably not going to design anything that will get you on cupcake wars but you will make something that looks nice compared to just using a knife. Yes, the bag is small and the tips are extremely basic. If you want a pastry chefs set -- go to a foodie store and buy an expensive set. If you want an extremely basic set that will serve you well for the price -- this is a nice purchase.

We decided to bake homemade for our son's birthday party this year, and since we decided on cupcakes it was essential to have a decorating set. My husband and I both enjoyed using this set. It comes with 12 stainless steel tips which was a godsend to us since we were unable to clean them right away. When you open the packaging the cardboard supporting the tips shows examples of the different uses for the various tips. That was very helpful since we had no idea what we were doing. We played around a bit with different looks until we found what we were looking for. I believe we used the 30 tip the most for the cupcakes. The only problems we came across had to do with packaging. As nice as it is to have a container for the tips, I wish there was a better way to organize them. For example, when you open the packaging it is pretty and organized. The tips come through the cardboard from the bottom, but when you want to pull one out you have to pull all of them out and the cardboard. It gets really messy and hard to put back together. As that issue is minor and does not affect the way the product works, it gets five stars. It was very easy to use and professional quality.

If you do a lot of baking, this set comes super handy. I used this to make Macarons and it made my life so much easier. Prior to this, I was using zip lock bags where I'd cut a little hole in the corner. If you want to make good looking circles or other shapes, this kit will make it easy for you. It comes with a case for you to store the bag and the various tips so that you don't lose them. It's also very easy to clean and dry.

We use this product all the time to make our deviled eggs it's awesome. My daughter uses it to decorate birthday cakes and thinks it does a super job. We love the reusable bag that was included with the tips.

Maybe it's just because I'm new to this whole piping business, but I found myself attempting to reciprocate the designs shown on the package and failing miserably. I wanted to believe it was the product and not me, because I was so eager to use the item... but then my baker friend took over for like 15 seconds to show me how to recreate the pretty shapes and it was then that I realized that I was the defective one. The items come just as advertised, no secret monster in the piping bag, no switcheroo pieces, nothing fishy. Great deal, Great price, Great products!But seriously, if you don't know how to use these items, don't worry, practice makes perfect, its you not me. :)

I really liked this set. It's inexpensive, easy to clean, reusable, and I felt like it was easy to use and made frosting cupcakes much faster as a novice, for both buttercream and egg-white based frosting. The different decoration caps screw on, so don't have to worry about seepage, which I like. It seemed like every cheap set you'd see at places like Bed, Bath and Beyond were just clear plastic throwaway bags where you just cut a corner of the bag and push the cap inside the bag, which just makes for a mess. So finding this on amazon just in time for St Pat's day Guinness chocolate cupcakes was perfect. I can't say personally if its a good set or not if you are really good at decorating, which I'm not at all, but I would certainly recommend it if you occasionally need to frost a cake or cupcakes and aren't that into making it look pretty.

I ordered this a little while ago, but waited to write my review until I had used the product. I can say I have used this numerous times and have never been disappointed! It's easy to use and even easier to clean! The only advice I have is to clean the bag right after use to prevent the icing from drying out inside the tip. I definitely think that this was worth the price!

Nice beginner set. I would recommend clear disposable piping bags as it's nice to see the contents as you pipe down. This bag is a nice heavy vinyl, the coupling collar and cuff fit snug and are easy to connect. The piping tips are well made. These tips are not for fine line work as they pipe out a generous amount of icing or batter, about the size of your little finger. It makes nice stars and flowers.

I struggled between 3 or 4 stars... and decided upon a 4, because my issues may just because I'm a complete novice and not due to the product itself.This is a good beginner's set. I'm not a big frosting type of person so I didn't want to invest in anything great or fancy, so I decided to get this. I'm still learning on proper piping techniques and still have a long way to go; this was my first decorating set and my first time using a piping bag and tips. It does have a good variety of metal tips, but I find that it also doesn't have everything, so some of the recipes I need this for, I would need to purchase additional tips (would it still work with the same set??) because they were smaller than what was needed (e.g. eclairs). It has instructions on how to put it together but not the most detailed, so I had fun attempting to put it together, then have some of the filling squeeze out from around the tip/couplings the first couple of times because I guess I didn't assemble them properly/tightly (I don't use it often enough to have consistent practice). I can say that I'm okay with it now after several uses (and one or two YouTube video tutorial sessions).The bag is fairly easy to clean; I don't use the cleaning brush since I try to clean the bag almost immediately after using so nothing can get a chance to dry, but there is a plastic inner lining that helps, which I like. The reusable aspect of this is a great plus! I just wish there were a larger variety of sizes to the tips. Perhaps an actual piping teacher would be helpful as well. ;)

Let me start by saying that the quality of the product seems pretty good so I don't want to rate it to bad. But overall almost everything is too small. The bag is smaller than I expected. All the tips are relatively small so it's hard to decorate a cupcakes let alone an entire cake. I would recommend buying disposable bags and then a small set of tips with multiple sizes. With that being said we still had a lot of fun and its a fun kit to get your feet wet. I'm going to attach a few pictures of the things we made on our very first try.

I have been using the product for around three months now, predominantly to make macarons and use as an icing tool. For icing—as its intended purpose—it works well. However for pipetting out macaroons, I wished there was a thicker tip. I manually forced the largest tip into a larger round shaped which worked for my purposes. One disadvantage is that since this is designed to be reusable and the bag can't be replaced, you have to take care to wash out the bag very carefully. Mine has changed into a slight off brown color, invariably from the food colorings that I have used. Nevertheless, I feel that this product deserves four stars as it is very affordable and serves its intended purpose well. If you're just getting into pipetting for cakes and desserts, this is a perfect product to start with!

One reviewer commented that the bag included in this set is ridiculously small; so it is, but that's easily solved. Peel it off the coupling, throw it away, and use a gallon ziploc with the corner cut off instead. Save yourself the trouble of cleaning it, too. The tips are easy to use, and there's a nice variety for getting started with decorating - NB, though, something I didn't realize (as a novice myself): decorating tips come in two sizes, and these are the smaller size, so you won't get large swirls/flourishes out of them, and don't plan to cover a whole cake this way. I found decorator tips and couplings in both sizes and all shapes available singly at my local cooking store, and they're cheap. You might want to check out that option if you have it in your town.

Good product. As Grandma, I was enlisted to make a Winnie the Pooh cake just a week before my little granddaughter's second birthday party. Having always done designs free-hand and with a little help from the old icing tubes bought in the stores, I decided it was time to get something real quick and a whole lot better for future years of birthday cakes! The price was perfect and the product arrived quickly. I found it to be very easy to use. Some people found it hard to clean, but if you use hot water right away it cleans up darn good. I also had some black icing, but was still able to get it clean without any trouble. I love the tips and had a ball using this decorating set. It also made things go quicker so I could get off my feet sooner and enjoy the compliments later!!

The product I received was exactly as expected. The included piping bag and assorted tips worked well for making French macarons. The other tips offer a wide variety of decorative options but I have only used the #12 tip so far. I rated 4 stars due to the fact I believe the addition of a #8 (or so) tip would make this set even more useful. Overall, really pleased with my purchase.

I love this set for baking! The plastic bag is not stiff like others that I have had, making it easier to squeeze out its contents. The tips cover all basic decorating needs. It comes in a plastic clear box that is really plain and adorable. I use it as a lipstick holder.One complaint is that when you are flipping the bag inside-out to clean, be sure not to pull too hard or the bag will come off of its couplet attachment.

I recently fell in love with baking and bought this set. I used to have a ziplock bag as my piping bag. I did okay with that and wanted perfect decorated cupcakes. This was a great product at a great price. The bag is washable. People said the icing is hard to remove but if you wash it right away with hot water it doesn't stick. The tips are great. SO much variety. I made flowers and leaves and daffodils. However, it does not have the giant tip for the big roses. But you can buy an additional one for almost $1. Which I did so no worries. The pieces come off easily when washing. Great Buy!

The tips in this kit are of nice variety, and I've found them to be reasonably rust resistant. They all have a pretty small opening, I find myself not using a tip when piping cream-puff dough. The small tips are great for filling them though. The bag that comes with this is a very durable plastic, and it handles dense dough just fine. I found the bad serviceable but a bit small for piping large quantities of anything, filling it several times keeps everything much cleaner. The coupler is sturdy and basic.A good starter kit, but you may find yourself looking for larger tips sooner rather than later.

I've used this set a few times, and I have to say it's a great value for the price if you need a decent selection of icing tips.My only complaint (but easily remedied) was the included bag with the attached coupler. The bag is only useful for small decorating jobs -- I'm on a macaron-making kick, and it definitely is a pain having to constantly refill the bag. It's also not that easy to completely clean.My solution? I took a pair of scissors and a paring knife and just cut the bag off (it came off quite easily) and threw it away. I kept the coupler (rather than buying a separate one) and just purchased a roll of larger disposable plastic bags.

This is a great basics set for someone that would just be doing basic decorating of cookies, cakes, maybe some pretty decorations on appetizers or deviled eggs and the like. The tips are nice quality and they're the standard size, so the kit would be easy to upgrade if you get more into this kind of stuff. The bag is small if you're going to want to do a large quantity of any particular color or type of icing, but you can easily get a larger one as you progress into the hobby. Overall, I think it's a great value.

Needs more bags

It is ok ... Just one issue for me ... Of the two bags, one has a stitched top and the other one does not. Thought the one I received is like that and asked for a replacement ... Unfortunately, replacement is also the same. For some reasons, they seems to not stitch the second one which I could not think of why. Problem is, threads have started coming off loose in the un-stitched one ... Just after one decoration ... Might not survive a few more ...

The set works reasonably well but the piping cloth stains easily and the stains won't come out. Also, the plastic ring that holds the tip on is very cheaply made plastic. Luckily you can buy a replacement but you shouldn't have too. If you need to use it more than a couple of times buy s better set.

I had a hard time getting the tips to stay in place. Maybe it's just me but I had a rough time. That being sad, this kit comes with a lot of nice stuff for a great deal. The assortment of it all was great and I love the reusable pastry bags. I think once I get the hang of it, it'll all be good.

This set provides basic decorating tips, ok to get started and do some very basic designs. The bag seems to be of ok quality, vinyl inside and cloth outside, so it is not as easy to clean and dry as I would like. The problem with it, though, is that the opening is so small it is hard to get the frosting/filling into the bag. I prefer bags that are a bit wider at the top making it easier to fill and clean. I have a much larger set of decorating items in storage, so I didn't want to purchase another large set, just something to get by. This set does provide for that, just the basics, and works well. I just need to maybe find some bags that I can purchase separately.

This is a good beginner starting set but it's not the best for frosting cupcakes. Like other reviewer said, it's more for smaller details and frosting cookies. The glue that is used to hold these tips in place to the packaging is very difficult to wash off without a good scrubbing. The bag is some kind of fabric material with coated polymer on the inside so it's fairly easy to clean, but still a pain. I think I'll stick with disposable bags from now on.

Hard to clean, but works ok.

Ok for a starter set. Not something I would buy again. The quality is ok for the price, but if I had to pay shipping too, I probably would have given it one less star. I bought this with other items, and this was the only reason I kept it. It is cheap, and ok if you need something quick, but not my go to item for decorating. I have used it a few times, and I am afraid the screw on tip is going to let go any time now. I don't mean to be negative, but this is my honest opinion of the item. As far as positives go, I would say the storage case is nice, and keeps all the pieces together for storage. If you are not overly serious about decorating, this is an inexpensive starter kit, and might be just fine. I got what I paid for, and cannot give my recommendation for this item. I paid full price for this item, and this is just my opinion. I hope this review is helpful when making your decision as to whether or not to purchase. Happy decorating!

Seems to be non-standard sizes

They are all very small nozzles. You wont be able to pipe a thick layer of frosting onto a cupcake in 2-3 circles.

Bought it for class but didnt have the tips i really needed but made it work

This set was ok, but it was too small to make the traditional swirls. It was great for beginners! It was not what I was hoping for.

The material that this was made out of was something I wasn't prepared for, but i throw it in the washing machine and it works out ok. The different pieces were exciting to have, but they didn't allow the frosting that had decorations in them to flow freely.

The tips are ok, but the bag is way too small and stiff to be useful. It was very difficult for me to fold the bag in order to fill it. I threw the bag away and will be looking for one that is better quality.

The bag is so small I'm going to have to fill it twice just to do 12 cupcakes and of all the attachments the one I need wasn't included.

Do the tips fall off for anyone else? Multiple times I've tried to use this and the tip will fly right off. When I place the tip on it seems very loose... Not sure why it was designed so loose.

The bag is really only good for one use, it completely fell apart after I washed it. Saw nearly the same exact set at the dollar tree, wouldn't buy again.

It is impossible to clean the bag out properly. I have tried everything, but even if I manage to clean all the frosting out, whatever color was in the frosting dyes the bag, meaning the next batch of frosting (if it's a lighter color) takes on the hue of a previous cake.I don't have a dishwasher, though, so perhaps if you put this in a dishwasher it would come out cleaner.

Not functional

The bag absolutely stinks and I mean that quite literally. I will just use the tips but I find there's still more tips needed in order to properly decorate.

too small

not pleased with product.

Doesn't work at all :(

I cant give zero stars. Not the product pictured. DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM. TOTAL SCAM

This product felt like it was made really well but when push came to shove it fell through. After one use the bag and tips were separating, the tips kept getting clogged and there was frosting everywhere. Not an easy product to use

this product was not worth the money. I had to throw it all away after the first use. the majority of it broke in the middle of use. it was just sad and not worth a dime

I understand this is inexpensive, but it isn't even work what little I paid. The bag split almost the first second I went to use it. I then put the tips at the end of a plastic bag and used that. So if you do buy it, have some zip locks handy.

I didn't like this product. The icing bag is too small and it's hard to clean. The only good thing about this purchase was the decorating tips, which I still use, but with the plastic icing bags that you throw away. If you want to be more eco-friendly and purchase a re-usable icing bag this might be better for you, but I did not like it.

Had to cancel order. Months we talked by.

cheap Chinese junk!!!

arrived damaged

The quality of this product is good, but the bag is really hard to clean every time, also the tips in this set are not useful for me since I want to use it for making butter cookies, because the size of tip is smaller, can not make perfect cookies, not satisfied, got refund from amazon. I will looking for something else.