Standard

PETG: full cost overview

PETG sits between PLA and ABS: stronger than PLA, much easier to print than ABS, food-safe with a clean hotend. Slightly translucent, good chemical resistance and survives sun and warm weather without sagging. The stringing is real — slow retractions and clean the nozzle between colors.

Specs

Typical price: ~$25.00/kg
Print temperature: 230–250 °C
Bed temperature: 70–80 °C
Enclosed chamber: Optional
Food-safe: Yes
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

When to use

• Food containers (with clean hotend)
• Outdoor parts in mild climate
• Translucent or naturally transparent prints
• Light functional parts: brackets, clips, hooks

When NOT to use

• Thin, intricate decorative parts (stringing)
• When you need PLA's matte finish
• Acetone smoothing (PETG doesn't react)
• Parts that face engine-bay heat

Sample calculation

For a 50 g part on a Bambu Lab A1, 6 h print time and 8% failure rate. Currency follows your selection at the top.

Filament$1.25
Energy$0.14
Amortization$0.15
Failures (8%)$0.12
Unit Cost$1.66
Final Consumer Price (3× / 6% / 2%)$7.23

Best printers for PETG

These models in our catalog handle PETG reliably out of the box — picked by enclosure, hotend temperature and drive system, not marketing.

PETG head-to-heads

PLA

~$22.00/kg · 190–220 °C

PLA+

~$28.00/kg · 200–230 °C

ABS

~$22.00/kg · 230–260 °C