When somebody asks me to compare PCTG and PETG, I usually answer fairly plainly. PCTG is the tougher, optically cleaner variant of classic PETG. That, in essence, is the main thing said. The rest is about details and about what exactly you expect from your print. I have been printing functional parts for years, on Prusas and on fast machines from Bambu Lab alike. Dozens of kilometres of filament and plenty of ruined prints have passed through my hands. I gathered my experience with PCTG gradually. I ignored it for a long time, precisely because of the price. Why would I pay more for something that looks almost the same? In the end I found that for certain specific projects this material makes an enormous amount of sense. Let us look at how the two materials really differ and when it is worth reaching for the more expensive one.
What actually is PCTG?
The name sounds like a typo, but it is not. What PCTG is can be explained quite easily without complicated chemical formulas. It is a copolyester. That is the family of plastics the old familiar PETG belongs to as well. The letter G on the end stands for glycol. It is added to the classic PET that water bottles are made from. The aim is to keep the material from becoming brittle as it cools and from starting to crystallise. The difference between PCTG and PETG lies purely in which glycol goes into the mix and how much of it. PCTG contains more of it, and of a slightly different type. The result is a plastic that takes the best of PETG and moves it a step further. It is not an outright revolution. It is more of a clever evolution of a material we all know intimately from everyday printing.
The main differences, up front
Paper will take anything. Manufacturers sometimes promise outright miracles, but when you then pull the finished part off the bed, reality is often somewhere else. I prefer to stick to what I actually see and what I can test or measure myself.
Toughness and impact resistance
This is where PCTG filament is genuinely strong. Classic PETG is fine for static parts. But as soon as you knock it hard against something, it happily cracks along the layers or a piece of plastic chips off. Anyone who has ever dropped a heavy print on a concrete floor probably knows the feeling. Notched Izod impact strength for PETG sits at roughly 5 to 7 kJ/m2. With PCTG you will measure roughly 8 to 10 kJ/m2. I say roughly on purpose. There is quite a lot of chaos in manufacturers' datasheets. Some measure notched, some unnotched. Insane numbers and strange claims about the material being three times tougher come out of that. Do not believe them. The real-world experience is that PCTG simply takes impacts better and is tougher overall. Always treat the table figures as indicative only.
What is interesting is that both materials have practically the same tensile strength. It sits at around 45 to 46 MPa in both cases. PCTG therefore does not hold a greater static load per square millimetre, but it absorbs dynamic blows far better. If you are printing a drone shell or a bike mount, PCTG will take considerably rougher handling than its cheaper brother.
Transparency and appearance
A lot of people print in PETG because they want semi-transparent prints. Often these are lampshades or various light diffusers. PETG is fine, but during printing it tends to haze slightly and lose clarity. PCTG crystallises considerably less. Thanks to that it keeps a far clearer structure. If you print the uncoloured variant slowly, at a higher temperature and with thicker layers, you can get beautifully transparent parts out of PCTG. The surface also tends to be a little glossier and feels smoother to the touch.
Printability and stringing
We all know that annoying PETG stringing. Those fine cobwebs you have to burn off after printing with a heat gun or a lighter. PCTG suffers from it slightly less. It is not as perfect as well-tuned PLA, but it flows a little more smoothly out of the nozzle and does not leave such a mess behind. The decisive advantage, though, shows up on modern fast printers.
PETG often has extrusion problems above 150 millimetres per second. The plastic cannot melt fast enough and the layers then bond poorly. The specific material we sell, 3DPower Hyper PCTG, is optimised for high-speed printing up to 300 mm/s. I tried it myself on a printer with an automatic filament feeder. The material is fully compatible with AMS and other feeders, incidentally. It printed beautifully even on the basic fast profile. The printer also does not require an enclosed print chamber at all. The material is odourless and has very low shrinkage, so it does not warp on the bed. The filament diameter is exactly 1.75 mm with a very tight tolerance of 0.03 mm, which prevents any jamming in the extruder.
PCTG versus PETG: properties compared
Relative rating on a scale of 1 to 5 (higher = better). Based on typical datasheet values and hands-on printing experience.
Temperatures and print settings
Moving to PCTG does not require any complicated calibration, but you do have to add a few degrees. Nozzle temperature for ordinary PETG sits between 230 and 250 °C. With PCTG you have to turn the heat up a bit. The ideal range is 240 to 260 °C. It depends of course on how fast you print. At the speeds mentioned, around 300 mm/s, do not be afraid to go all the way to the upper limit so the plastic can keep up with melting. Bed temperature stays exactly the same for both materials. 70 to 85 °C will be enough to keep the print stuck down as if nailed.
The heat resistance of the finished print is very similar for both plastics. The deflection temperature, often given as HDT, is roughly 70 to 76 °C for PETG. PCTG manages roughly 74 to 78 °C. The difference is therefore really small and in practice you will barely notice it. Neither of these materials can go in the dishwasher or be left on the dashboard of a baking car in summer. They will warp, guaranteed.
One absolutely essential thing is drying before printing. Now and then I read on forums that PETG does not need drying. That is a dangerous myth. Both are hygroscopic. It means they soak up moisture from the air like a sponge. If your print is spitting, bubbling, stringing heavily or the outer walls are lumpy, your filament is simply wet. Before printing, put both PETG and PCTG in a dryer at 65 °C for 4 to 6 hours. The difference in print quality and layer strength is enormous. 3DPower state good moisture resistance for their PCTG, and every spool of theirs arrives carefully vacuum-packed with a desiccant. But once you unpack it and leave it lying on a table in an ordinary room for a week, you will not avoid the dryer anyway.
Recommended nozzle temperature
PCTG prints a little hotter than PETG. Always take the exact figure from the filament manufacturer.
The full comparison
Sometimes it is better to see the numbers clearly side by side. I have put together an overview summarising the most important values for both materials. Again, do treat the impact-strength numbers as nothing more than a rough guide. A great deal depends on which direction you print your part in and how well the layers bond. Note the difference in density, by the way. PCTG is fractionally lighter. It is 1.23 g/cm3 against 1.27 g/cm3 for PETG. In practice that means you will print a tiny bit more material from a one-kilo spool.
Summary table
| Property | PETG | PCTG |
|---|---|---|
| Nozzle temperature | 230–250 °C | 240–260 °C |
| Bed temperature | 70–85 °C | 70–85 °C |
| Impact strength (notched Izod) | ~5–7 kJ/m² | ~8–10 kJ/m² |
| Tensile strength | ~46 MPa | ~45 MPa |
| Deflection temperature (HDT) | ~70–76 °C | ~74–78 °C |
| Density | ~1.27 g/cm³ | ~1.23 g/cm³ |
| Drying before printing | 65 °C / 4–6 h | 65 °C / 4–6 h |
| Price per spool (1 kg) | from €6.50 | €23.95–25.95 |
Note: impact strength is reported inconsistently across sources (notched versus unnotched method), so we work with representative ranges. The main difference is unambiguous: PCTG is tougher and takes an impact better, PETG wins on price and availability.
Price: how much extra you pay, and for what
This is where the fun stops and hard economic reality begins. Price is exactly the main reason people ask whether to choose PCTG or PETG at all. In our online shop, standard PETG costs from €6.50 for a one-kilogram spool. That is an absolutely fantastic price for a material that does an enormous amount of the heavy lifting for a lot of people. PCTG, by contrast, costs between €23.95 and €25.95 for a spool of the same 1 kg weight, depending on the market.
Your arithmetic is right. That is roughly triple. For one single spool of PCTG you can buy three full spools of PETG. I have to state that figure clearly, because it is an enormous difference that cannot be ignored when deciding. Is it worth it at all? Honestly, for ordinary prints, definitely not. If you are printing plain boxes for the workshop, simple tool holders or test prototypes, there is no sense in spending the best part of twenty-five euros on a kilo of plastic. Ordinary PETG will do that job comfortably and save you a lot of money.
You buy PCTG at the moment PETG's properties start running out of breath for your project. When that particular PETG bracket has cracked for the third time because something keeps knocking into it. Or when you need the cleanest possible transparent part, which you simply cannot make as nicely from ordinary material. At that point you are paying for specific mechanical and optical properties. You are not paying for a universal material to print with unthinkingly every day.
When to choose PETG and when PCTG
The decision about which of these two filaments to buy depends purely on your specific project and budget. There is no universal winner here that beats the other at everything.
Take plain ordinary PETG in these cases:
- You need to print large volumes of functional parts and you are watching your material budget.
- You are printing static objects that will not be particularly exposed to hard impacts. Ideal for boxes, stands or drawer organisers.
- You do not need absolute transparency and partial translucency is enough for you.
- You do not mind having to trim a few whiskers off the print now and then, or burn off the stringing.
Put the special PCTG from 3DPower in your basket when:
- You are making stressed parts that have to withstand mechanical loads and unexpected impacts. Typically parts for RC models or protective covers for electronics.
- You want the clearest possible structure for transparent prints without needless haze.
- You print on a very fast machine and ordinary materials no longer flow smoothly through the nozzle at speeds around 300 mm/s.
- You need a material with high chemical resistance, because PCTG stands up to many substances better than ordinary plastics.
Conclusion
Let me come back to the question I asked right at the start. Is it worth paying more for "better PETG"? For me personally, yes, but I treat it only as a highly functional addition to my printing arsenal. I will never replace good old PETG with it across the board. The price gap is simply too big for that. I do always keep one or two spools of PCTG filament in the workshop, though. I reach for it every time I know the print is going to take a beating.
I also like using it when I want my transparent part to look genuinely professional and clean. The consistency of 3DPower's material suits me. The 1.75 mm diameter with a 0.03 mm tolerance guarantees that printing runs without a single jam. And that is often more important to me than the few euros saved. If you have never tried PCTG and your prints in ordinary materials crack now and then, take one spool and try it. You will see for yourself whether that extra toughness and the great looks are worth the money.
Frequently asked questions
Is PCTG better than PETG?
In terms of impact strength, optical clarity and behaviour in very fast printing, PCTG really is better. On the other hand it has practically the same tensile strength and the same heat resistance as PETG. So it is better only for specific applications where you need impact resistance or clarity. It is not a material that is better at absolutely everything, especially once you factor in its price.
Is PCTG harder to print than PETG?
No. On the contrary, it often prints a little better. It strings less, flows better at higher speeds and has very low shrinkage, so you do not need an enclosed print chamber. The only change from PETG is the need to raise the nozzle temperature by about ten degrees, to 240 to 260 °C.
Do I have to dry PCTG before printing?
Yes, drying is absolutely essential. Even though the spool arrives vacuum-packed, the material is strongly hygroscopic and quickly soaks up moisture from the surrounding air. Before printing, put it in a dryer at 65 °C for 4 to 6 hours. If you skip it, you risk a poor print surface, bubbling in the nozzle and much worse layer bonding.
Is PCTG suitable for food contact?
The base PCTG material itself does not contain bisphenol A (BPA). For safe food use, though, I always recommend verifying the certification of the specific filament directly with the manufacturer. And do not forget one essential thing. Every FDM print has micropores between the individual layers. Food residue lodges very easily in those tiny gaps and bacteria multiply there. Without an additional surface treatment, such as a food-contact epoxy coating, no 3D print is safe for contact with food in the long term.
Is it worth paying extra for PCTG?
If you print plain boxes, figurines or desktop prototypes, the extra cost is not worth it. For the price of one spool of PCTG you get three of PETG. But if you need to print mechanically stressed parts that have to survive impacts, or you demand a perfectly transparent surface, then investing in PCTG is clearly worth it. A destroyed part and having to print it again can end up costing you more time and more money.