PLA+ (also sold as "PLA Pro") costs a little more and claims a lot more. Here's the honest engineering breakdown — when it's worth the upgrade and when standard PLA is the smarter buy.
What's actually different?
PLA+ adds impact modifiers and tougheners to the base polylactic acid. The result is roughly 30% higher impact strength, better layer adhesion and less brittleness — while keeping PLA's easy printing behavior and low warp.
Side-by-side
| Property | PLA | PLA+ |
|---|---|---|
| Print difficulty | Very easy | Very easy (same profile) |
| Impact strength | Baseline | ≈30% higher |
| Layer adhesion | Good | Better |
| Detail quality | Excellent | Excellent |
| Heat resistance | ≈55 °C | ≈58 °C (similar) |
| Price / kg | Lower | +8–12% |
Choose PLA+ if…
- Parts get handled, dropped or snap-fitted
- You print functional prototypes, jigs or enclosures
- Student labs and classrooms where prints get roughed up
- You want one PLA for both looks and function
Stay with standard PLA if…
- Parts are visual — models, figures, display pieces
- You print mostly fast cosmetic prototypes
- Every cent of material cost matters at high volume
Both are available from VOXFIL in 1 kg, 3 kg and 5 kg spools: PLA specs and PLA+ specs. Not sure? Order both samples — the price difference is pennies per part, and you'll feel the difference in your hands.