PLA vs PETG: which should you buy?

The two filaments that cover nearly everything. What each is actually good at, where PETG is worth the extra difficulty, and why PLA is still the right default.

Between them, PLA and PETG cover the overwhelming majority of home 3D printing. Choosing between them is mostly a question of where the part will live and what will happen to it.

The short version

PLA if the part sits indoors and is not load-bearing. Easiest to print, sharpest detail, cheapest, no enclosure needed.
PETG if the part will be handled roughly, needs to flex without snapping, or will get warm — a car, a window sill, near a heat source.

If you are new, start with PLA. Learn the machine on the forgiving material.

Where PLA wins

PLA is stiff, dimensionally stable, prints at low temperatures without an enclosure, and bridges and overhangs beautifully. It gives the crispest surface detail of the common filaments. It is also the cheapest, and the most widely stocked, so the per-kilo price is usually the lowest on the page — see PLA ranked by £/kg.

Its weakness is heat and brittleness. PLA begins to soften around 55 °C, which a parked car exceeds easily on a summer day. It also fails by snapping rather than bending.

Where PETG wins

PETG is tougher, more temperature-resistant (usefully so to around 75 °C) and far less brittle — it bends before it breaks, which is exactly what you want in a bracket or a clip. It is also more chemically resistant and handles moisture and UV better outdoors.

The costs are real but manageable: it strings more, it needs slightly higher temperatures, overhangs are less crisp, and it absorbs moisture noticeably faster. It also sticks to smooth PEI beds too well — use a glue stick as a release layer or print on a textured plate. Compare current prices at PETG ranked by £/kg.

Print settings, roughly

	PLA	PETG
Nozzle	195–215 °C	230–250 °C
Bed	55–60 °C	70–80 °C
Cooling	Full	Reduced — too much cooling weakens layers
Enclosure	No	No

These are starting points. Every filament is slightly different and manufacturers print a recommended range on the spool — begin there.

What about PLA+?

PLA+ is a toughened PLA: the same easy printing with better layer adhesion and impact resistance. It usually costs a little more and it is generally worth it for functional parts that do not need PETG’s heat resistance. It is not a different material class, and the exact formulation varies by brand. See PLA+ ranked by £/kg.

The honest answer

Most people should keep PLA as the default and a spool of PETG for the handful of parts that need it. Buying PETG for everything because it is “better” means fighting stringing on prints that would have been fine in PLA at two-thirds the price.