Check out the best PLA filament brands available on the market right now! Find the best 3D printer filament for your needs and budget!
PLA is the most popular material used in FDM 3D printing. It’s safe, affordable, easy to print, and has outstanding material properties. You can use PLA filament for a wide range of applications, and it comes in an equally diverse range of composites and colors.
Given the popularity of PLA in the 3D printing community, the market is flooded with options. With so many different brands offering the same material, it can be tough to discern which are good-quality products created by reliable manufacturers. You don’t want the cheapest filament if it means it’ll give you lousy print results, but you also don’t want to buy the most expensive filament when a cheaper one would have been just as good.
We’ve curated this list of the best PLA manufacturers to help you narrow down your filament selection and make an informed purchase. When possible, we’ve also linked to our reviews of these filament brands to give you a better idea of how they perform.
METHODOLOGY
Our top PLA filament picks have been chosen using two main factors: Price and quality. These are based on the consensus of community reviews we’ve trawled through, as well as our own personal use — because we 3D print a lot at All3DP!
Read on to find out which PLA filament you should be stocked up on. To see what’s new and changed from our last update, check out the new “What’s Changed?” section.
eSUN PLA+
eSUN is a Chinese manufacturer based in Shenzhen. Its PLA range spans a wide range of colors, as well as a large assortment of different properties and finishes. This is achieved by adding some additives to the PLA recipe — which is why this range is known as “PLA+”.
The bulk of eSUN’s range is 1.75 mm with a dimensional accuracy of ± 0.03 mm. If you need, it’s also possible to find 2.85 mm filament, but this is in shorter supply. The eSUN range offers PLA for every occasion: You can find PLA that prints with a matte surface, wood-filled PLA, eMarble PLA for printing marble-like busts, and e-Silk PLA for models with a silk-like luster (this particular PLA is available in a “rainbow variant”, to produce 3D prints with a blend of different colors for an impressive aesthetic effect).
On the practical side, eSUN PLA-ST is PLA with ultra-high toughness. There’s also eSUN ePLA-LW, which prints objects with a lower mass than typical PLA, making it ideal for 3D printing RC planes or drones.
Most eSUN PLA comes as a 1-kg spool, although they also offer standalone PLA filament refills for anyone that makes use of reusable spools (which you can also buy from them – or even print your own).
If you have a problem with filament going bad over time, you can also buy a 3D printer filament storage kit, which includes a vacuum-sealable bag and pump to keep your filament fresh.
eSUN sells directly from its website, or you can buy from Amazon. A standard spool will cost you around $20, with specialized filaments going up from there.
Inland PLA+
Inland PLA+ is produced by MicroCenter, an IT company based out of Ohio, USA. This brand of PLA+ is ideal for cosmetic prints, prototypes, desk toys, low-stress applications, and other consumer products.
Inland filament comes as a 1-kg spool and is available in a range of colors, including black, white, primary colors, and more specialist colors such as Magenta or “Luminous Blue”. Filament is offered in 1.75 mm diameter, with a dimensional accuracy of ±0.05 mm.
This PLA+ blend should print with minimal warping and puts out little to no odor. MicroCenter recommends printing with an extrusion temperature of 205 °C – 225 °C and heated bed temperature of 60 – 80 °C. The majority of 3D printers today are capable of this without issue.
You can buy this PLA filament directly from MicroCenter online, or, if you’re in the USA, from one of MicroCenter’s 25 brick-and-mortar stores dotted around the country. The general consensus of Inland PLA+ reviews is positive, stating that this is a good, consistent, tough filament for general use. For more detailed information, you can find datasheets and other tech specs on the MicroCenter website.
Hatchbox PLA
Hatchbox is one of the more popular filament brands over at Amazon. It offers good-quality PLA at a reasonable price, making it the perfect filament to use daily. Its PLA is a unique blend of bioplastics and polymers, featuring a number of positive traits to look for when choosing PLA:
- It’s offered in 1.75 mm diameter with a high-quality ±0.03 mm tolerance
- It’s available in a range of 70 different vibrant colors
- It produces prints with excellent resolution and detail
Hatchbox spools come sealed in a plastic bag which is packed in a recyclable cardboard box. Since the bag is not resealable, you’ll probably need a dry box or a suitable compartment to protect your filament from humidity. Still, it’s a minor drawback that can be resolved by finding a proper storage solution.
Eryone PLA
Eryone is a manufacturer of 3D printers, 3D printing accessories, and popular filament blends. Aside from a wide assortment of colors, Eryone also provides more exotic blends of PLA, including silk, marble, translucent, or multicolor, to give your prints a different kind of appeal. All its PLA filaments are made from organic material.
This PLA filament brand enjoys favorable reviews at Amazon, with plenty of users praising its quality, features, and smooth surface finish. It’s also a brand of material we often use at All3DP for these reasons. All in all, this filament should prove easy to print with. It is available in 1-kg spools, in 1.75 mm diameter, with a tolerance of ± 0.03 mm.
It’s difficult to have a hard-and-fast rule for ideal printing temperatures, but we have discovered some 3D printers (such as Prusa 3D printers) may need to print this filament at a slightly higher temperature to yield the best results. Other than that, this is a brand we like!
Prusament PLA
Prusament PLA is manufactured by Prusa Research in the Czech Republic. It’s available in 1.75 mm diameter and many vibrant colors.
All Prusament PLA filaments have a pinch of glitter in them — this helps enhance the visual appearance and hide potential imperfections on the surface. Special variants of Prusament PLA, such as “Mystic Green”, have a unique ability to change color depending on the nozzle temperature and layer height, so you can create unique aesthetic effects, ideal for presentation models.
Prusa Research claims its PLA filament prints easily, provides reasonable toughness, and has an extremely low warping potential. Our review of “Galaxy Black” Prusament PLA and the community feedback it has received only confirms this.
Prusa Research also guarantees a professional manufacturing precision of ±0.02 mm, making it one of the most dimensionally accurate PLAs available. As an extra quality assurance step, Prusa has made it possible to inspect every filament spool’s testing parameters by scanning the product’s QR code and reading the details online.
Overture PLA
Overture is another producer of affordable, reliable 1.75 mm filament that has gathered thousands of positive reviews at Amazon.
Interestingly, each spool of Overture PLA comes with a 200 mm x 200 mm magnetic removable build surface with a grid layout — this can be used to monitor print dimensions and counter any bed adhesion issues. Although arguably a little small for today’s 3D printer standard, it is a neat little addition that might come in handy when playing around with more demanding materials such as ABS or Nylon. What’s more, each spool comes with handy little indicators, showing you the length and weight of the filament left.
The filament has a tolerance of ±0.05 mm, is available in 1-kg spools, and comes in many different shades and colors. Overture also offers a “PLA Professional” (formerly “PLA Plus”), which it claims is “five times tougher than regular PLA.”
Amolen PLA
Filament manufacturer Amolen offers PLA in a gamut of colors and unique composites, such as a thermochromic PLA, which changes color as the temperature changes, or glow-in-the-dark filaments. Besides exotic blends, Amolen has earned a reputation for relatively affordable spools. Amolen PLA is available in 1.75 mm diameter and with a tolerance of ±0.03 mm, and customers can choose between 0.5- or 1-kg spools.
We’ve had excellent results when testing Amolen materials at All3DP: The material has good layer adhesion, but, like any filament, you may benefit from applying extra adhesion to the build surface. The only nitpick we have is this spool comes in a non-resealable plastic bag, which means you’ll need a solution to keep your filament from going bad.
Sunlu PLA
Sunlu is a popular filament manufacturer widely known for the large variety of materials it offers at affordable prices.
Standard Sunlu PLA is offered in a number of colors and variants, including Silk, Marble, and a special PLA-PETG blend, which it calls SPLA. Reviewers across the web attest to the excellent printing performance of Sunlu PLA: it prints with crisp detail, great adhesion, vibrant color, and little-to-no warping.
FormFutura PLA
Dutch filament manufacturer FormFutura convinces with a large material portfolio, consisting of specialized PLA and other blends.
Its most general-purpose PLA includes “EasyFil PLA”, an easy-to-use, warp-free blend for your day-to-day print jobs, and “Premium PLA”, a high-end, more rigid filament with excellent thermal stability — geared towards professional applications and prototyping.
Among the most interesting of FormFutura’s PLAs are “Volcano PLA” a high heat-resistant, biodegradable filament with properties similar to ABS, and more exotic blends such as the glittery “Galaxy PLA”, and metal, cork, or even stone-filled PLA.
FormFutura is a big proponent of sustainability. Its filament ships on fully-recyclable cardboard spools, and the company even offers “ReForm rPLA”: EasyFil PLA made from residual extrusion waste re-processed into usable PLA filament.
All FormFutura PLA spools are available in 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm, with spools ranging from 250 g to 8 kg.
Polymaker PLA
Polymaker is a well-known filament manufacturer that sells a variety of different PLA options, among other materials. According to the consensus of user reviews, Polymaker’s PLA filament shows barely any stringing when printing, and performs well when printing overhangs and bridges.
The “PolyTerra” PLA variety has gained popularity for its easy printing properties and vibrant range of colors. It also takes a unique approach to eco-friendly materials: Instead of just touting how PLA is compostable, PolyMaker offers compostability details, only ships filament on cardboard spools, and plants a tree for every purchase (or so the PolyMaker marketing people claim). You’d expect this would drive the cost up, but the material is still relatively inexpensive at just ~$20 per kg. For these reasons, it’s a top filament choice for the All3DP Editing crew when it comes to reviewing new machines.
Besides this, Polymaker offers a general-purpose PLA filament known as “PolyLite”, and a more enterprise-focused “PolyMax” PLA. PolyMax has the desirable properties of ABS without the downsides, so you can expect the easy-to-print properties of regular PLA without the undesirable toxic fumes of regular ABS. According to PolyMaker, this PLA also has nine times greater impact resistance than standard ABS.
Each spool of PolyMaker PLA ships in a resealable plastic bag, and is available in 1.75 and 2.85 mm formats which can be purchased as 0.5-, 1-, or 2-kg spools.
ProtoPasta PLA
ProtoPasta launched after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013 and is now a well-established filament manufacturer, garnering popularity with users for its high quality filament blends.
This unique filament manufacturer produces some extremely interesting specialty filaments, such as “Rustable Metal PLA”, “Stainless Steel PLA”, and “Composite Conductive PLA” filament — and yes, the latter does work for basic circuitry. It’s worth noting that ProtoPasta suggests using a 0.4 or 0.6 mm nozzle for some of these filaments, and advises they can be very abrasive, so if you’re using brass nozzles, you may need to replace them from time to time, or upgrade to something abrasion resistant.
ProtoPasta also offers a special HT-PLA, which claims similar ease of printing to standard PLA, but can also be heat-treated for extra stability and strength. This should allow it to hold its shape at temperatures approaching 200 °C — considerably more than PLA’s average deformation temperature (around 50 °C). The newest version of HT-PLA is the result of many years of refinement and user feedback from the community.
ProtoPasta’s basic PLAs are available in 1.75 mm diameters and spools of 1 or 3 kg. More complex PLA variants are also available in diameters of 2.85 mm and a wider variety of spool sizes — including 50 g samples.
MatterHackers PLA
With “MH Build Series” PLA, MatterHackers provides a filament with a dimensional accuracy of ±0.05 mm, which they claim it’s “designed and priced for every maker.” A 1-kg spool of MH Build Series PLA is available in both 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm formats, and comes in a large variety of colors. The material is available for under $20 per kilogram, making it one of the best deals on the market. When bought in bulk, it costs even less.
If you’re after something of professional quality, MatterHackers also offers Pro Series PLA with low tolerances of just ±0.02 mm for tinkerers with more demanding needs.
Fillamentum PLA
Fillamentum is a manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. It’s probably best known for its extravagant range of colors. Its general-purpose blend, “Extrafill PLA”, comes in 53 astonishing colors with names as vivid as the colors themselves, including “Vertigo Chocolate” or “Everybody’s Magenta”. The community has noted the ease of printing, and great visual quality and details of this PLA.
In our own testing, we’ve found Fillamentum PLA shows no signs of warping, and only needs a slight bump in retraction settings to give spectacular prints in the fanciest color versions. (Of course, every 3D printer is different, so your mileage may vary.)
Fillamentum’s “Crystal Clear” PLA produces objects with clarity and gloss, as well as an improved heat resistance compared to standard PLA filaments. It can also be annealed to increase chemical, mechanical, and temperature resistance further.
“NonOilen” filament is a food-safe PLA/PHB blend that offers increased toughness, temperature resistance, and superior biodegradability.
All Fillamentum materials are available in 1.75 or 2.85 mm diameter, have a dimensional accuracy of ±0.05 mm, and each spool is available in 750 g packages.
ColorFabb PLA
ColorFabb is a filament manufacturer in the Netherlands. The secret behind ColorFabb’s PLA is a little extra ingredient – PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoate). This makes the filament stronger and more durable than many other PLAs, with excellent layer adhesion properties and reduced warping tendencies — all while retaining ease of printing.
ColorFabb will also sell you a lightweight PLA (LW-PLA), which promises to reduce the weight of printed parts by up to 65% over regular PLA, making it especially suited to lightweight applications, such as RC planes and drones.
As you might have guessed, ColorFabb is available in a number of different colors. It also offers a unique “Color on Demand” service where you can buy color-matched filament for specific applications — although this comes at a relatively high cost for the average hobbyist.
As far as technical specs and quality control go, ColorFabb PLA filaments are top-notch, with jaw-dropping tolerances of ±0.1 mm. You can choose from both 1.75 mm or 2.85 mm diameters, and the spools are typically available in 750-g or 2.2-kg spools, though in some cases, spool weight can go as high as 8 kg.
Paramount 3D PLA
Paramount 3D isn’t as well-known as some other filament manufacturers on this list, but this US-based firm has received some good community feedback and offers unique colors at reasonable prices. “Iron Red”, “Tuxedo Midnight Blue”, and “British Racing Green” are some ideas of what colors are on offer, and community prints demonstrate excellent layer adhesion with clear detail and consistency.
Paramount 3D PLA is available in 1.75 mm diameter, but they don’t list exact manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try it, small samples are available to order, or you can get a sample pack of six colors to test out. Typical 1-kg spools go for ~$26, or you can order a bulk case of eight 1-kg spools at a discount.
WHAT’S CHANGED?
Follow our shifting opinion of the best PLA filaments over time. Here is how we’ve updated this guide.
Update – November 23, 2022: We’ve added Inland PLA+ and eSUN PLA+ to the list. Our top picks remain unchanged.