Filamentive is a well-established UK brand known for being one of the first to adopt cardboard filament spools. Not only that, their natural PLA is 87% recycled, and it’s always a nice touch to be able to help the planet in a small way.

The filament has had a positive reception and has even been used for “eco-friendly” chandeliers by B-lumen, as seen on Filamentive’s website. Despite its post-industrial origins, we love this filament because of its beautiful print quality. Not only is it made from recycled material, but it also comes in biodegradable packaging and can be purchased from a variety of sites globally.

• Price per kg: ~$31
• Diameter: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Natural
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Filamentive Natural Transparent PLA

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Protoplant makes several unique filaments under the brand name ProtoPasta, mainly in their own version of PLA known as HTPLA. HTPLA is said to have improved thermal and strength properties over regular PLA filament. The company offers translucent HTPLA filaments in a few different “translucent” colors, and their clearest is called Iridescent Ice.

Despite being their clearest filament, Iridescent Ice is still more translucent than transparent. Customers have noted that this semi-clear filament works great for printing vases and lampshades because it transmits light very well.

• Price per kg: ~$70
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Iridescent Ice
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: Not specified

ProtoPasta Translucent Ice HTPLA

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Fillamentum is a popular filament manufacturer that sells a huge range of materials and colors. Their Crystal Clear line of filament is food-contact approved, but make sure you follow other food-safe printing guidelines. Like a few other options on this list, Fillamentum offers its translucent filament in different colors.

According to the manufacturer, these prints should look very clear and glossy. It’s also stated that the filament works best when printed with a small layer height. One customer mentioned that you have to crank up the temperature for the best bed adhesion, and another confirmed that the filament yields shiny results.

• Price per kg: ~$34
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: 6 options
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Fillamentum Clear PLA

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Prusa Research is a widely-known manufacturer of open-source 3D printers like the Prusa i3 MK3S and the Prusa Mini. It also sells its own line of filament, Prusament. All Prusament PLA is made from Natureworks 4043D resin, including their clear PLA.

The filament has a low melting temperature of around 175 °C, and Prusa states that it doesn’t warp a lot. Prusa also states that due to its hardness, their clear PLA is quite brittle.

• Price per kg: ~$27
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Color: Clear
• Level of transparency: High
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Prusament Clear PLA

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While Elegoo got started in the world of 3D printing with resin printers, their move into FDM with the Neptune series of printers has been well received. Now, their PLA filament has also been met with good reviews for being a low-cost but reliable option.

With an impressive 0.2-mm tolerance, many users reported successful prints right off the bat with this filament. However, some also stated that drying the filament was needed for best results. Although shared images from users working with this filament indicate a tendency for prints to come out cloudy, this does make a great option for printing LED diffusers.

• Price per kg: ~$18
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Color: Clear
• Level of transparency: Low
• Tolerance: ±0.02 mm

Elegoo PLA Clear

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Giantarm is a popular filament manufacturer among hobbyists, as they offer high-quality filaments at a low price. While they only offer completely transparent PLA filaments with no assortment of translucent colors, they are still a top pick for their low cost and good print results.

Their filament provides a medium level of transparency but is easy to print. It requires a low nozzle temperature ranging from 190 to 220 °C, with users reporting the ideal temperature being around 205 °C. Giantarm states their filament has an astounding dimensional tolerance of ±0.02 mm, which should mean virtually no nozzle jams.

Many users have commented on how well the results come out. However, a reviewer noted that they had to do a bit of tweaking, mainly reducing the temperature when they had stringing issues.

• Price per kg: ~$23
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Transparent
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.03 mm

GIANTARM Transparent Clear PLA

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Sunlu is another popular 3D printing supply company, selling its own 3D printers, filament, and more. According to many customer reviews, their clear PLA filament is semi-transparent.

Sunlu states that its filament is clog-free, bubble-free, and prints easily. As a bonus, each filament spool is dried for 24 hours before packaging. One customer praised the filament’s bed adhesion, describing it as excellent. Others, however, mentioned that they experienced clogs.

• Price per kg: ~$25
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Color: Transparent
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.02 mm

Sunlu Transparent PLA

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Next, Eryone is a company that makes and sells its own line of 3D printers and filaments. Eryone offers a clear PLA filament that it states was specially designed to prevent nozzle jams and filament tangles.

The company claims to have tested its filament on a few different brands of 3D printers. Based on the images provided, their filament looks to be very transparent. One customer mentioned how they had to experiment with a few different temperatures before getting great prints.

• Price per kg: ~$23
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Color: Transparent
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Eryone Clear PLA

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MatterHackers is an online seller of 3D printing supplies from brands like LulzBot, Creality, and UltiMaker. MatterHackers also offers its own line of filaments, including a line of translucent PLA filaments as a part of the Pro series.

In addition to translucent clear, there’s a large assortment of colors, including blue, violet, and red, among others. The filament is manufactured in 1.75- and 2.85-mm diameters, though not every color is always available in both sizes.

• Price per kg: ~$52
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: 8 options
• Level of transparency: Low-medium
• Tolerance: ±0.02 mm

MatterHackers Clear Pro Series PLA

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You can’t go looking for transparent filaments without coming across Atomic Filament’s frosted PLA. This is semi-transparent; not quite as opaque as white PLA, and not as transparent as natural PLA. This seems to be a good choice for those wanting to experiment with snow-themed prints, but it can also provide a nice neutral tone for those wanting to paint parts.

This filament offers really high tolerance, meaning you can get good control and print some trickier and finer details than you might otherwise expect, including tight slots for knives. Users of this filament rave about their quality, as often is the case with Atomic Filament.

• Price per kg: ~$30
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Natural
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.02 mm

Atomic Filament Natural PLA

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FormFutura offers a wide range of filaments, amongst which is their Natural PLA that you have the option of purchasing as a spool-less refillable. You can print your own neat little holder for the filament and reuse that holder every time.

Form Futura recommends printing their filament at a 0.1-mm layer height and 215-230 °C, slightly hotter than normal PLA filaments, for best results. While they don’t specify the tolerance of their filaments, you can see good-quality prints from users who’ve tried it and posted their results.

Overall, this seems to be a nice option for a well-rounded semi-transparent filament with decent properties, good printability, and an affordable price.

• Price per kg: ~$30
• Diameter: 1.75 mm, 2.85mm
• Colors: Transparent
• Level of transparency: Low
• Tolerance: Not specified

FormFutura Premium PLA Transparent

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Amz3D may be a relatively lesser-known brand than others we’ve covered today, although this lovely transparent filament has some positive user feedback. It’s at a fairly competitive price, and users have said that it adheres nicely to their bed. It’s mostly transparent, like many of the PLA examples here. Some users recommend adding gloss or resin to the print to produce an even more crystal look!

The manufacturer claims to have good tolerance and an ideal printing temperature is reportedly around 200 °C. If you’re in need of a transparent filament quickly, you can rely on this filament’s availability at Amazon.

• Price per kg: ~$35
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: 6 options
• Level of transparency: Medium
• Tolerance: ±0.03 mm

AMZ3D Transparent PLA

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Of course, there are other alternatives to PLA when printing transparent objects. While PLA is generally chosen for its printability, other material options are available, such as PETG.

A reliable transparent PETG is from Overture, which offers bubble-free, high-tolerance filaments in transparent blue, red, green, and clear. The Prusament transparent PETG has also been well-received.

If you need something completely transparent and not slightly frosted, you may have to look at more exotic filaments such as PMMA, also known as acrylic. A nice place to start could be the filament offered by Push Plastics.

PVB is a filament material type known for its ability to be smoothed with IPA. Polymaker’s PolySmooth is a popular choice for PVB that is also available in transparent. The ability to eliminate layer lines with ease has produced some glass-like results without needing special equipment.

Polycarbonate might be the clearest filament you can print, but it requires temperatures in excess of 300 °C, which only 3D printers with metal throats in their extruder can handle. Though, with polycarbonate, you’ll get the added benefit of high strength and temperature resistance. You’ll find more polycarbonate filaments than you will for PMMA, but Polymaker has a particularly nice option.

On the other end of the mechanical spectrum, transparent flexible filaments can be a pretty cool choice for printed accessories, such as phone cases. If you’re headed in this direction, it’s worth looking at the transparent TPU offerings from MatterHackers.