PLA and PETG are the two filaments most people own first, and the choice between them comes down to one question: does the part need to survive heat or abuse, or just look good on a shelf?
The short answer
- Print PLA for models, prototypes, and anything that lives indoors at room temperature. It is the easiest material to print well.
- Print PETG for functional parts — brackets, enclosures, anything left in a hot car or outdoors. It trades a little print-ease for real toughness and heat resistance.
Print difficulty
PLA is forgiving. It sticks to almost any bed, rarely warps, and tolerates a wide range of temperatures and speeds. If a print fails with PLA, the cause is usually mechanical, not the material.
PETG is a step harder. It is stickier in the melt, so it strings more and can ooze on travel moves. It also bonds aggressively to a bare PEI sheet — to the point of pulling chunks off — so a thin layer of glue stick as a release agent is the standard fix. Once dialed in, it prints cleanly and reliably.
Strength and temperature
| Property | PLA | PETG |
|---|---|---|
| Stiffness | High (but brittle) | Slightly lower, much tougher |
| Impact resistance | Low — snaps | High — bends before it breaks |
| Heat resistance | Softens ~60 °C | Holds to ~80 °C |
| Outdoor / UV | Poor | Good |
PLA is stiff but brittle: stress it and it cracks. PETG flexes and absorbs impact, which is exactly what a functional part needs. PLA also softens around 60 °C — a closed car in summer is enough to deform it — while PETG holds its shape well past that.
Typical print settings
- PLA — nozzle 200–220 °C, bed 50–60 °C, no enclosure needed.
- PETG — nozzle 230–250 °C, bed 70–85 °C, slower travel and a glue-stick release layer.
For dialing either one in precisely, see our guide on print temperature.
Pick by the part
- Display models, miniatures, tabletop prototypes → PLA
- Brackets, clips, enclosures, anything load-bearing → PETG
- Outdoors or near heat → PETG
- Fastest, lowest-fuss print → PLA
Want to see how specific spools stack up? Put two side by side in the comparison tool, or browse all PLA and PETG reviews.