Filament comparison

PLA reviews

With increasing popularity of 3d printing, it gets more and more affordable to create various objects at home. Applications in design, prototyping, or printing of spare parts, toys, and presents make 3d printing attractive. Although it may help for creating or optimizing your own 3d printers it is not imperative to grow specific knowledge about the technical parts of 3d printing or 3d filament anymore. Most printers are very user-friendly. Also the variety of materials helps to get into 3d printing easily. One of the most common materials is PLA, short for polylactide. Properties of PLA like biodegradability and ease to handle are big benefits of this 3d filament. PLA is even used for body implants and further medical purposes. Our filament reviews try to gain more insights into filaments of different manufacturers. Test criteria are quality, price, solidity, ease of use, and durability. That way we created a comparison between different filament products and try to give an honest opinion as buying decision.

ABS reviews

Besides the very popular PLA filament, other materials are used very often as well. Another common one is ABS, short for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. ABS filament is often used for professional 3d printing purposes because of its light weight. Not only assembled 3d printers are able to handle ABS filament. Also, self-built kits usually support ABS material. Printing results made with ABS are more flexible and less brittle compared with PLA filament. Usually, ABS has to be printed at higher temperature than PLA. Due to the higher melting point of ABS, not only the nozzle but also the heat bed has to be hotter. When printing ABS, light fumes emerge which can create discomfort in small rooms. ABS fumes are not poisonous per se but they can be problematic for people with dyspnea or other breathing related problems. Also, small pets like birds, hamsters or mice should be placed in other rooms when printing. Generally printing ABS is recommended in aired rooms with no permanent presence of people or pets. So if you’d like to print in your bedroom, better use PLA or try to look for another room instead.

PVA reviews

Besides ABS and PLA filament we’re also testing further 3d printing materials. We’re expanding the range of products and categories steadily to cover all popular materials. Although PLA and ABS filament cover a lot of 3d printing purposes already, we always like to give impressions on alternative and new materials. PVA and HIPS filament, for example, are better options as support material than PLA. This is why some makers and 3d printing enthusiasts upgrade their 3d printer from a single to a dual extruder. With such a dual extruder, support filaments like PVA or HIPS can be used easily in combination with PLA or ABS material. The support filament can be removed afterwards. HIPS material, for example, can be dissolved in Limonene. PVA filament even dissolves in cold water while the PLA, ABS, or PETG parts will remain unchanged.

PETG reviews

Another popular material for 3d printing is PETG. It is well-known due to plastic bottles, made of the similar material PET. PETG filament is a stronger modification of PET material. Its advantages are that it is very strong, stable, and persistent. Usually, it is way more persistent than ABS filament. The downside is, that it takes longer to print and can not be reworked very well. Since PETG filament is pretty heat-resistant, it takes a high temperature to melt and print it. Dense and clear objects are the result when working with PETG material.

Woodfill reviews

While PLA, ABS, and PETG filament is mostly easy to use and print, there are other materials, that need some practice to deal with them best possible. Woodfill, in short often referred to as wood or wood filament, is a good example for an exotic material. Although the name says wood material, woodfill is not fully made of wood fiber. Mostly the wood fiber is mixed with PLA filament. The mixing ratio varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Usually, the ratio is somewhere between 50% and 70% PLA, while the smaller part is wood fiber. Due to this mixing ratio wood filament has similar printing properties as PLA. Still, working with it shows that some experience is beneficial, as the temperature settings need to be adjusted more in detail and the printing nozzle can get blocked easier.

Further 3d printing materials

There are further attractive options for printing, for example, special materials like Flex, Nylon, or other elastic materials. Experimental and creative tasks, but also commissioned work can be done with these filaments. These materials even show similarities to industrial 3d printing purposes. Out there metal or concrete printers are creating cars, houses, food, and way more objects that need to be stable on the one hand, but flexible on the other hand.

Printed steampunk cube with rotatable parts.

Information about our filament tests

A lot of manufacturers had to pass our reviews so far. New products, materials, and manufacturers are added steadily. We compared them on the basis of colors, diameter, and general material quality. Our tables above display review ratings and links to the reviews. We’d like to create a handy and easy to understand guide by providing information for buying the proper 3d filament. The filament tests show our subjective opinion and represent an excerpt of all available products on the market. Besides our filament reviews, we also provide news articles and interesting 3d printing tutorials routinely. New and promising topics are added steadily.

Printed cube colored with chrome spray and lighting.

Last updated: 2025-08-15 at 22:21. We use affiliate links and images from the Amazon Product Advertising API.