Best Budget Filament 2026: PLA, PETG & TPU Under £20/kg That Actually Print Well
Not every print needs premium filament. Here are the best budget options for PLA, PETG, and TPU in 2026 — brands that keep costs low without the stringing, snapping, and diameter variance that makes cheap filament a false economy. All prices are UK market rates; US equivalents are noted where relevant.
Quick Picks — Best Budget Filament 2026
Best budget PLA: Sunlu PLA — £12–£16/kg
Best budget PLA+: eSUN PLA+ — £15–£20/kg
Best budget PETG: Sunlu PETG — £14–£18/kg
Best budget TPU: eSUN TPU 95A — £18–£22/kg
Best multipack value: Overture PLA 5-pack — £13–£16/kg equivalent
Best US budget pick: HATCHBOX PLA — ~$19–$24/kg
What "Budget" Actually Means in 2026
Budget filament used to mean accepting clogged nozzles, brittle layers, and inconsistent diameter as part of the deal. That's largely not true anymore. Manufacturing has standardised enough that the gap between a £14/kg spool and a £28/kg spool is mostly about consistency at scale and surface finish — not whether it prints.
For hobbyists printing occasional projects, budget filament is a sensible choice. For sellers, the maths depends on your margins. If you're printing 50g keychains at volume, the difference between £0.014/g (Sunlu) and £0.022/g (Polymaker) is £0.40 per unit — meaningful at 100+ units per month.
Cost difference on a 50g print — 100 units/month
| Filament | Cost/g | Per print | 100 units/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prusament PLA | £0.027 | £1.35 | £135 |
| Polymaker PolyTerra | £0.020 | £1.00 | £100 |
| eSUN PLA+ | £0.018 | £0.90 | £90 |
| Sunlu PLA | £0.014 | £0.70 | £70 |
Enter your actual spool price into our cost per gram calculator to get exact figures for your filament.
Best Budget PLA Filament
Sunlu PLA
Price: £12–£16/kg | Cost/g: £0.012–£0.016 | Rating: 4.4/5
Sunlu is the most popular budget brand for good reason — it prints reliably at standard PLA settings (200–220°C, 60°C bed) and comes in one of the widest colour ranges of any brand at this price point. Diameter consistency is ±0.05mm, which is looser than premium brands but fine for most applications. Available in 5kg and 10kg rolls for further savings.
- Lowest cost-per-gram of any reliable brand
- 5kg multipacks reduce cost further — around £11/kg equivalent
- 80+ colour options including silk, marble, and dual-colour
- Slight batch-to-batch variance — dry spools before use
- Good for prototypes, decorative prints, and high-volume runs
Verdict: Best pure budget pick. Not for precision work or premium retail products, but excellent for everything else.
Overture PLA
Price: £14–£18/kg | Cost/g: £0.014–£0.018 | Rating: 4.5/5
Overture sits between Sunlu and mid-tier brands in both price and quality. Diameter consistency is noticeably tighter than Sunlu — closer to ±0.03mm — and surface finish is cleaner. It's particularly popular among US makers where it's widely available on Amazon Prime. Each spool comes with a build surface sheet, which is a nice touch at this price.
- Tighter diameter tolerance than most budget options
- Prints cleanly at 190–220°C with minimal stringing
- Build surface sheet included with each spool
- Excellent availability on Amazon UK and US
- Good for sellers needing consistent results without premium spend
Verdict: Best value-to-quality ratio in the budget PLA category. A step up from Sunlu for not much more.
eSUN PLA+
Price: £15–£20/kg | Cost/g: £0.015–£0.020 | Rating: 4.7/5
eSUN PLA+ is the best budget option if you need functional strength. The modified formulation gives around 40% better impact resistance than standard PLA without requiring an enclosure or higher print temps. At £15–£20/kg it's at the upper end of "budget" but undercuts mid-tier brands by £5–10/kg while outperforming them on layer adhesion.
- Significantly stronger than standard PLA — good for clips, brackets, hooks
- Print temp 205–225°C — slightly higher than standard PLA
- Less brittle than standard PLA in cold environments
- Available in 5kg rolls for volume printing
- Consistent across batches — important for repeat product runs
Verdict: Best budget PLA for functional parts. If your prints need to handle any mechanical stress, start here instead of standard PLA.
Best Budget PETG Filament
PETG is harder to print cheaply — moisture absorption causes stringing and bubbling, and low-quality resin can cause consistent under-extrusion. These brands have been tested to avoid those issues at budget prices.
Sunlu PETG
Price: £14–£18/kg | Cost/g: £0.014–£0.018 | Rating: 4.3/5
Sunlu PETG is the cheapest PETG that prints consistently. It strings more than premium PETG at standard settings, but dialling retraction up to 6–7mm (Bowden) or 1–2mm (direct drive) and reducing print speed to 40–50mm/s eliminates most of it. Dry it before use — Sunlu PETG is particularly moisture-sensitive. Once tuned, print quality is genuinely good for the price.
- Lowest-cost PETG from a reliable brand
- Print temp 230–245°C, bed 70–85°C
- Dry before use — store in a sealed bag or dry box
- Good chemical resistance and layer adhesion once tuned
- Suitable for food-adjacent prints (containers, holders) unlike PLA
Verdict: Best budget PETG if you're willing to dial in settings. Not plug-and-play, but the price justifies the tuning effort.
eSUN PETG
Price: £16–£21/kg | Cost/g: £0.016–£0.021 | Rating: 4.5/5
eSUN PETG is more forgiving than Sunlu out of the box — less stringing at default settings and better layer adhesion consistency. It's slightly pricier but still well under mid-tier options like Polymaker or Prusament. For sellers printing PETG products at volume, eSUN offers the better balance of cost and reliability.
- Less stringing than Sunlu at default retraction settings
- Good inter-layer bonding — parts hold up under mechanical stress
- Print temp 235–250°C, bed 80°C
- Available in 5kg rolls
- Recommended for PETG beginners — easier to start with than Sunlu
Verdict: Best budget PETG for sellers and anyone who doesn't want to spend hours tuning. Worth the extra £2/kg over Sunlu.
Best Budget TPU Filament
Budget TPU is a higher-risk category than PLA or PETG. Poor-quality TPU tangles, stretches inconsistently, and can have shore hardness that varies by 5–10A between spools. These picks have been vetted for consistency at their price point.
eSUN TPU 95A
Price: £18–£22/kg | Cost/g: £0.018–£0.022 | Rating: 4.5/5
eSUN TPU 95A is the go-to budget TPU. At 95A shore hardness it's flexible but not so soft that it's difficult to feed — important for Bowden-setup printers. It prints well at 220–235°C with a direct drive extruder and reasonably well with a Bowden at reduced speed (20–30mm/s). Shore hardness is consistent across batches, which matters for repeat product runs.
- 95A shore hardness — firm flex, not overly soft
- Consistent between spools — important for product sellers
- Good abrasion resistance for wearable prints
- Print at 20–30mm/s on Bowden; up to 40mm/s direct drive
- No enclosure needed
Verdict: Best budget TPU overall. Consistent, printable, and significantly cheaper than Bambu or Polymaker TPU.
Sunlu TPU 95A
Price: £15–£19/kg | Cost/g: £0.015–£0.019 | Rating: 4.2/5
Sunlu TPU is cheaper than eSUN but has more variance in shore hardness between batches — fine for prototypes, less ideal if you're selling products that need to feel consistent. On direct drive printers it's straightforward; on Bowden setups expect more troubleshooting. For hobbyists who print TPU occasionally, it's a good cheap option.
- Cheapest reliable TPU option
- More batch variance than eSUN — check shore hardness per order
- Best on direct drive extruders
- Dry before use — TPU absorbs moisture quickly
Verdict: Fine for hobby use and prototyping. Go with eSUN if you're selling products that need consistent feel.
When Budget Filament Is the Wrong Call
Budget filament makes sense for a lot of printing. It doesn't make sense for all of it. Here's when to spend more:
- Retail products with a brand reputation: Diameter variance shows up in surface finish. Customers notice.
- Miniatures or fine detail work: Tight diameter tolerance matters. Use Prusament or Bambu Lab.
- High-speed printing (200mm/s+): Budget filament is more likely to snap or tangle at high speeds. Bambu Lab and Polymaker handle it better.
- Engineering or load-bearing parts: Use verified brands with published mechanical specs — eSUN publishes data sheets; many budget brands don't.
- Multi-colour AMS prints: Budget filament is more likely to cause AMS jams. Use Bambu Lab filament on Bambu printers.
Full Budget Filament Comparison (2026)
| Brand & Material | Price/kg | Cost/gram | Consistency | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunlu PLA | £12–£16 | £0.012–£0.016 | ⭐⭐⭐ | Prototypes, volume decorative |
| Overture PLA | £14–£18 | £0.014–£0.018 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Reliable everyday printing |
| eSUN PLA+ | £15–£20 | £0.015–£0.020 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Functional parts |
| Sunlu PETG | £14–£18 | £0.014–£0.018 | ⭐⭐⭐ | PETG on a tight budget |
| eSUN PETG | £16–£21 | £0.016–£0.021 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Reliable PETG for sellers |
| Sunlu TPU 95A | £15–£19 | £0.015–£0.019 | ⭐⭐⭐ | Hobbyist flexible prints |
| eSUN TPU 95A | £18–£22 | £0.018–£0.022 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Consistent TPU for products |
UK market prices, March 2026. Use our cost per gram calculator to enter your exact spool price.
Getting the Best Results from Budget Filament
Dry it first
Budget filament is often stored in poor conditions. Run it through a food dehydrator or filament dryer at 45–50°C for 4–6 hours before your first use. The difference in print quality is significant, especially for PETG and TPU.
Calibrate per spool
Don't assume one tuned profile works forever. Budget brands have more batch variance. Run a temperature tower on a new spool if print quality dips unexpectedly.
Buy in bulk
Most budget brands offer 5kg spools or multipacks at further reduced per-kg prices. Sunlu 5kg spools can bring PLA to around £11/kg. Only bulk buy a brand once you've tested a 1kg spool.
Store properly
Seal unused spools in zip-lock bags with silica gel sachets. Budget filament absorbs moisture faster than premium alternatives and degrades more quickly when left open.
Calculate Your Exact Filament Cost
Once you know your cost per gram, plug it into LayerMath to get accurate per-print costs including electricity, labour, and platform fees.