On the surface, two different PETG and PLA filaments may look similar at first glance. But, there are some fundamental differences in their make-up that you’ll want to consider before making your next filament purchase.
Differences Between PETG and PLA
| PETG | PLA | |
| Extrude Temp. | 210° – 240° | 190° |
| Doesn’t Require Heated Bed | ❌ | ✅ |
| Easier to Get Started With | ❌ | ✅ |
| Easier to Get Cleaner Prints | ❌ | ✅ |
| Better for Painting | ❌ | ✅ |
| Easier to Glue Together | ❌ | ✅ |
| Wider Variety of Filaments | ❌ | ✅ |
| Can Be Re-Extruded for Reuse | ✅ | ✅ |
| Better for Outdoor Uses | ✅ | ❌ |
| Stronger Prints | ✅ | ❌ |
| Odorless When Printing | ✅ | ❌ |
| Better For Transparent Prints | ✅ | ❌ |
What is PLA?
PLA is often one of the first go-to materials for those who are new to 3D printing. Being so widely used in 3D printing means that most 3D filament printers are able to easily reach it’s extruding temperature of around 190°.
Colors and Varieties
From a dizzying-array of colors to filaments made to look like you’re printing copper or marble, there is no shortage of different types of PLA filaments. Being one of the most commonly printed materials, the color and type of PLA filament you’re looking for is almost certainly on the market.
Printing Challenges
Printing with PLA is certainly more beginner-friendly than printing with PETG, if only slightly. You don’t typically need to worry about using a heated printed bed with PLA. PLA also has a very low melting point when compared with PETG, meaning almost any filament printer on the market will be capable of extruding PLA with ease.
Painting & Gluing
There are many options for gluing PLA pieces together. Regular adhesives such as “Gorilla Glue” or “Loctite” work well with PLA. Though a bit of prep such as sanding and priming is needed, PLA prints can be painted fairly easily with either acrylic paints or spray paint depending on the level of detail needed.
Strength & Durability
PLA has a lower tensile strength than PETG, and is also less heat-resistant. PLA is also more brittle than PETG. If strength is going to be a deciding factor in your prints, you should definitely consider a stronger material such as PETG or ABS.
Eco-Friendliness
PLA is a type of bioplastic, meaning that it is made from plants such as corn and sugarcane. Though somewhat difficult, PLA filaments can be ground-up and re-extruded for re-use later. However, most recycling facilities that accept things like milk jugs and other every-day plastics do not accept PLA.
What is PETG?
You may have seen the material “PET” on a label somewhere before. PET stands for Polyethylene Terephthalate, and is a plastic commonly used to make water bottles. PETG is a modified version of this (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol). Similarly to the characteristics of PET, PETG is water resistant.
Colors and Varieties
While there is a wider variety of PLA filaments available than there is for PETG filaments, PETG has one important advantage over PLA: clearer transparent prints. While you can find transparent PLA filaments, in general, transparent PETG filaments require less post-processing work to achieve good results.
Printing Challenges
Printing PETG filament requires a higher extruder temperature than printing with PLA. Before purchasing PETG filament, you need to make sure that your extruder can reach temperatures of around 210° – 240°. Printing PETG also requires a printing bed heated to anywhere from 50° – 75° . The temperature required can vary even between PETG filaments though, so be sure to check the specifications for specific filaments before purchasing them.
PETG is also more prone to stringing than PLA is, so it may take some time to tune your printer settings to get high-quality prints with PETG. Of course once your settings are dialed in, printing with PETG shouldn’t be any more difficult than with PLA.
Painting & Gluing
If you’re looking to paint your prints or glue multiple prints together though, you will want to go with another material. While not impossible with PETG prints, you will have a much harder time getting paints or other parts to stick to the surface.
Strength & Durability
With the slightly higher difficulty of printing with PETG comes several benefits. Your PETG prints will be stronger when compared to PLA prints of the same quality. Similarly to it’s PET counterpart, PETG is safe for contact with food. PETG is also UV and weather resistant, making it better suited for outdoor use cases or cases where your printed part will be exposed to the sun for extended periods of time.
Eco-Friendliness
Unlike it’s PET counterpart, PETG can not be recycled at normal recycling facilities. But like PLA, it can be turned back into filament for reuse if you half the right equipment.
So which should you go with?
Well, as is often the case with 3D printing, the answer is: it depends.
If you need extra strength in your prints or you’ll be leaving your prints outside in the sunlight, you may want to go with PETG. If you’re just starting out with 3D printing though and toying around with different things to print, you’ll probably want to start with PLA, as it is slightly more beginner friendly.
All in all, it’s important to think over what your goals are with printing something before getting started and assess the best filament suited to the job.