The 5 Best Filaments You Can Buy for 3D Printers

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No matter who makes an FDM 3D printer or how much it costs, cheap filament won’t give users the results they expect. In my experience, investing in a cheaper 3D printer and buying the right filament is a better choice than buying an expensive printer and using dodgy spools of filament from the weird corners of eBay.

Many users, myself included, generally stick with one of the two brands because they simply work. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but there are so many filaments and brands worth trying that produce different or better results. This goes beyond where you get STL files, which can include open source 3D project models. It’s a question of hardware. PLA is popular for 3D prints, but there are also very interesting uses for stronger filaments such as PETG and flexible filaments like TPU. For those who want to step out of their comfort zone, there are all kinds of projects, including work handles for a workshop, or shock-absorbing phone cases, that they can make with different filaments.

Buying from popular 3D printer brands is a good place to start. A spool of filament from industry names like Prusament PLA is a great way to guarantee better results than a $5 roll from a random dropshipper on TikTok. Believe me, I’ve been there. Below are five brands and types of filament that I would happily use (and try) for any of my projects on my Prusa XL 5 head and Elegoo Centauri Carbon.

Starting with the basic PLA filament, Voxel PLA+ is a great choice that can be purchased for $16.99 for a 1 kilogram (2.2 pound) spool, while 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) costs $50.97. Buying in bulk is where Voxel’s pricing really comes into play, with 6-10 1-kilogram spools costing $16.55 each, 11-30 at $16.15 each, and 31-50 for $15.98 per spool.

PLA has a low melting point, low thermal expansion, good layer adhesion, minimal warping and is perfect for all ornamental and low stress applications. Voxel PLA+ has a printing temperature between 200 degrees Celsius and 220 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit to 428 degrees Fahrenheit). Its bed temperature can reach 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Reels are vacuum packed in 21 basic colors. For bulk buyers, these colors can be a mix of whatever suits their needs.

All Voxels filaments are designed and manufactured in Southern California, where the company also operates a farm of 250 3D printers. In my opinion, there’s nothing like a company putting its money where its mouth is, and each spool is plastic, meaning it will work in all automatic AMS multicolor setups. Don’t try using a cardboard spool, it didn’t end well for me. Overall, Voxel PLA+ prints very well and follows my favorite brand, Prusament, in terms of quality and adhesion. Assuming you stick to the slower print speeds and good media, there is very little post-processing to do each time I use this filament.

Prusament is the benchmark for me and is often considered a premium option. At $26.99 per kilogram of PLA, the consistency of this brand is excellent. The company even includes a QR code on each reel that records how and when each was made.

Quality control is also excellent, with Prusa claiming that each batch is tested against the standard colorway before shipping. This is a godsend for massive prints, like when I printed a two-tone white Stormtrooper helmet using two rolls of cheap filament at first. Prusa claims to maintain a strict diameter tolerance limit of ±0.04 millimeters and publishes information about this on its website.

One of my pet peeves with cheap spools is that they sometimes contain tangled filaments that can stop a long project overnight. Prusa says its coils are wound on machines that use controlled tension to ensure consistency. It’s nice to see a manufacturer paying so much attention to things like this that are often overlooked. Best of all, Prusa coils are now also manufactured in Delaware as well as the Czech Republic, so manufacturers don’t have to worry about import duties and long shipping times. Every type of Prusa filament I’ve tried, including PLA, PETG, and glow-in-the-dark, all work perfectly on both of my 3D printers. I would rather spend a little more and save on the headaches of failed prints.

In my experience, PETG is best described as “taking the training wheels off” when going over PLA. PETG is stronger and resists heat and sunlight better, with more flexibility than PLA. This combination makes it perfect for practical use for outdoor items like bird feeders or air vents. But it is also more difficult to print due, among other things, to the higher temperatures required.

I found Polymaker’s PolyLite PETG to be a good budget option at $15.99 for a 1 kilogram spool. It has a heat resistance of up to 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit), so it’s a great material for printing cases and shrouds for electronics like a Raspberry Pi version. It doesn’t tangle and comes vacuum-packed to avoid moisture, which is ideal for storing bulk filament.

Higher temperatures create more wear and tear on the 3D printer, so before you commit to printing in PETG, be sure to check the instruction booklets on what your 3D printer can handle. Budget 3D printers generally do not work with PETG filament unless otherwise specified, due to temperature constraints. Additionally, even if your printer can handle PETG, it is also advisable to replace standard brass nozzles with hardened steel. Polymaker’s approach to PETG wasn’t a problem for me, I just made sure to turn off my printer head fans in the slicer for the first layer so it adhered properly.

I love creating things with TPU. It bends without breaking and has a rubber-like feel, making it ideal for practical projects like doorknobs, phone cases, and gaskets. Overall strength is determined by the amount of filler provided in the slicer, with around 50% being enough for a strong but flexible build when I used it, just use less for more flexibility.

The most important point to make when working with TPU like that produced by Inland is that you must use a direct drive print head. This means that the motor and gears that push the filament into the extruder must be positioned directly above the print head due to the flexibility of TPU. If you’re not using direct drive, it’s not worth trying and hoping for the best. In my experience it fails otherwise.

Inland TPU currently costs $21.99 at Micro Center for a 1 kilogram spool. It needs a print temperature between 210 and 240 degrees Celsius to flow properly with a bed temperature between 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) for good adhesion. For anything that needs to absorb shock, grip or flex, TPU is the best filament for the job, with Inland readily available for delivery from Micro Center.

For makers looking for a bargain while still getting the same quality as the premium alternative, Protopasta Recycled PLA is a great choice. The company collects its own waste stream from filament production to make fully compounded recycled PLA for the same performance when printed. It can contain different colored sparkles depending on the waste stream used for a particular batch, which works well when trying STL files from obscure 3D printing sites.

It’s also cheaper. Protopasta charges $19.99 for its 1 kilogram spool, a savings of $10 compared to its standard black PLA spool for $29.99 on Amazon. This is great for designers like me who print in any color and then prime and paint whatever colors they need. Recycled and Standard PLA spools are made in the USA and are standardized to a diameter of 1.75 millimeters while ensuring they contain less embedded moisture to flow better than other standard PLA filaments. This helps prevent excessive heat absorption and forms better on the build plates.

As mentioned before, I love tangle-free spools, and Protopasta’s recycled filament is just that, albeit on a single-use cardboard spool. Make sure to avoid putting it in an automatic filament dispenser unless it’s on a filament hook like on the side of the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 or Prusa XL.