Pellet 3D Printer Buying Guide (2026): Costs, Payback and G5 Ultra vs MS01 vs G12

Short answer: a pellet 3D printer is worth buying when your parts are large and you print enough plastic for the lower material cost to pay for the machine. At Eolas prices, PLA pellets cost €8.91 less per kg than PLA filament, so a PioCreat G5 Ultra pays back its €4,993.75 price in about 5.6 months at 100 kg of PLA a month. Choose the G5 Ultra for parts up to 500 × 500 × 400 mm, the MS01 for materials that need a heated chamber, and the G12 for parts up to 1200 × 1000 × 1000 mm.

This guide covers the numbers behind that answer: payback at different volumes, running costs, which machine fits which job, which pellets each one prints, and what to prepare before delivery. For the full specification of each machine, see our pellet 3D printers page.

Pellet or filament: is a pellet printer right for you?

A pellet 3D printer, also called an FGF (fused granular fabrication) printer, melts 2–5 mm plastic granules in a heated screw extruder instead of pulling a filament into a hot end. That changes three things: material is cheaper because nobody has made it into filament, output per hour is much higher, and nozzles and layers are larger.

A pellet printer makes sense if most of these apply:

• Your parts are large: prototypes, moulds, jigs, furniture, signage or sculptures that take days, or several sections, on a filament printer.
• You use tens or hundreds of kilos of plastic a month, so the price per kg matters more than the price of the machine.
• You print mostly one or two materials, so you rarely need to purge the screw.
• You want to print recycled plastic, blends or your own colour with masterbatch.

Stay with filament if your parts are small and detailed, you print in several colours per part, you use only a few kilos a month, or you switch materials every day. A filament printer with a 0.4 mm nozzle still gives finer surfaces than any pellet machine.

How fast does a pellet printer pay for itself?

The saving comes from the price gap per kilo. These are Eolas prices for the same material in both forms, in EUR including Spanish VAT, as of 10 November 2026:

Dividing the machine price by the monthly saving gives a simple payback period. For PLA:

*The G5 Ultra extrudes up to 0.8 kg/h, so 500 kg a month would mean running at full output for about 625 of the month's 720 hours. The MS01 and G12 extrude up to 3 kg/h. With PETG the saving is smaller (€6.60/kg): a G5 Ultra printing 100 kg of PETG a month pays back in about 7.6 months. The figures cover material only. They leave out freight, installation, purging, drying, failed prints and labour, and prices change, so treat them as an illustration and check the product pages.

What about electricity?

Power use is small next to the material saving. At an example tariff of €0.20 per kWh and full rated power, the G5 Ultra (1,450 W) costs at most €0.29 an hour, or about €0.36 per kg at its 0.8 kg/h maximum output. The MS01 (4,200 W) works out at about €0.28 per kg and the G12 (7,000 W) at about €0.47 per kg, both at 3 kg/h. Heaters cycle, so real consumption is usually lower, but slower prints use more energy per kilo.

G5 Ultra, MS01 or G12: which one fits your work?

Choose on part size first, then on material temperature, then on how much you print.

Why does the MS01 cost more than the much larger G12? You pay for the heated, sealed chamber. The G12 has an enclosed cabinet, but PioCreat does not specify a heated chamber for it, while the MS01 holds up to 100 °C around the part to keep engineering materials from warping. If your material prints well at room temperature, size is the deciding factor and the G12 gives you more of it.

Key specifications at a glance

Source: PioCreat product pages and user manuals. All three take 2–5 mm pellets. Full specifications are on each product page.

Which pellets can each machine print?

PioCreat lists PLA, PETG, ABS and TPU, along with PC, PP, PETG-GF and carbon-fibre grades, for the G5 Ultra and G12. For the MS01 it specifies high-temperature composites without naming a list. This is how the pellets we sell match up:

Our rPET pellets are 2–3.5 mm spheres, inside the 2–5 mm range. For the other grades, ask us to confirm the pellet size before a large order. Our guide to 3D printing pellets compares the five materials in detail, and the rPET buyer's guide covers recycled feedstock.

Before delivery: site, power and drying

• Space and access. The G5 Ultra is 765 × 890 × 1040 mm and 42 kg. The MS01 stands 1995 mm tall and weighs 274 kg; the G12 is 2135 × 1775 × 2305 mm and 750 kg, with lifting rings for unloading. Check door widths, floor load and pallet access.
• Power. The G12 needs a 7 kW single-phase 220 V supply (a 110 V version exists for the US); PioCreat also asks for compressed air above 0.6 MPa. The MS01 is rated at 4.2 kW and the G5 Ultra at 1.45 kW.
• Drying. PETG, rPET, TPU and ABS absorb moisture and print with bubbles and stringing when wet. Size the dryer to the printer: it has to deliver dry pellets at least as fast as the machine uses them, so up to 0.8 kg/h for the G5 Ultra and up to 3 kg/h for the MS01 and G12. Dry PETG and rPET at 65–70 °C and TPU at 70–80 °C for 4–6 hours.
• Ventilation. Melting plastic releases fumes and fine particles. Print in a ventilated space; the MS01 has a HEPA filter.
• Slicer and nozzles. The G5 Ultra and G12 work with PioCreat Slicer, Cura and Simplify3D. Start with a mid-size nozzle (1.0 mm on the G5 Ultra), then go larger for speed or smaller for detail.
• Material changes. Switching material or colour means purging the screw, so plan jobs in batches by material.

Buying a pellet printer from Eolas Prints

All three machines are made by PioCreat (Shenzhen PioCreat 3D Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China), founded in 2015 and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creality. Eolas Prints, in Reocín, Cantabria (Spain), sells the printers and the PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU and rPET pellets they run on, and makes its own filament from the same PLA, PETG, ABS and TPU pellets. Machine and material come from one supplier, at one checkout.

• G5 Ultra: buy online; the current lead time is shown next to the price.
• MS01 and G12: the price is shown on the product page, and freight, installation and training are quoted per project. Contact us with your country and application.
• Shipping: worldwide, as pallet freight. Outside the EU we ship DAP, so the recipient pays import duties and taxes.
• Warranty: provided by the manufacturer. PioCreat gives a 1-year limited warranty from the date of purchase, excluding nozzles, toolbox items and pellets.

Frequently asked questions

Is a pellet 3D printer worth it?

It is worth it when you print large parts and use enough material. At Eolas prices, PLA pellets cost €8.91 less per kg than PLA filament, so a PioCreat G5 Ultra pays back its €4,993.75 price in about 5.6 months at 100 kg of PLA a month, or about 11 months at 50 kg. Below about 25 kg a month, or for small detailed parts, a filament printer is usually the better choice.

How long does a pellet 3D printer take to pay for itself?

Divide the machine price by the monthly material saving. With PLA at €8.91 per kg less than filament, the G5 Ultra pays back in about 5.6 months at 100 kg a month; the G12 takes about 9 months and the MS01 about 10 months at 500 kg a month. These figures cover material only and leave out freight, installation, purging, drying and failed prints.

Which pellet 3D printer should a first-time buyer choose?

The PioCreat G5 Ultra. It costs €4,993.75 including VAT, prints parts up to 500 × 500 × 400 mm from PLA, PETG, ABS or TPU pellets, runs on 1,450 W and weighs 42 kg, and it can be bought online. Move to the MS01 for materials that need a heated chamber, or to the G12 for parts up to 1200 × 1000 × 1000 mm.

What is the difference between the PioCreat MS01 and the G12?

The MS01 is the high-temperature machine: a fully enclosed chamber up to 100 °C, a 400 °C nozzle and a 500 × 500 × 650 mm build volume. The G12 is the large-format machine: 1200 × 1000 × 1000 mm, a 450 °C extruder and a 130 °C zoned bed in an enclosed cabinet. Both extrude up to 3 kg/h. The MS01 costs €43,750 and the G12 €40,000, both including VAT and sold by quote.

How much electricity does a pellet 3D printer use?

At full rated power and an example tariff of €0.20 per kWh, the G5 Ultra (1,450 W) costs at most €0.29 an hour, about €0.36 per kg at 0.8 kg/h. The MS01 (4,200 W) and G12 (7,000 W) work out at about €0.28 and €0.47 per kg at 3 kg/h. Real use is usually lower because the heaters cycle.

Do I need a dryer for a pellet 3D printer?

Yes, for PETG, rPET, TPU and ABS, which absorb moisture and print with bubbles and stringing when wet. The dryer should deliver dry pellets at least as fast as the printer uses them: up to 0.8 kg/h for the G5 Ultra and up to 3 kg/h for the MS01 and G12. PLA is less sensitive but also prints better dry.

What pellet size do PioCreat printers take?

PioCreat specifies 2–5 mm pellets for the G5 Ultra, MS01 and G12. The rPET pellets sold by Eolas Prints are 2–3.5 mm spheres. For other grades, ask us to confirm the pellet size before ordering in volume.

Do you ship pellet 3D printers outside the EU, and who pays import duties?

Yes. Eolas Prints ships worldwide, including the UK, the Middle East and Latin America. The printers travel as pallet freight, and outside the EU the Incoterm is DAP: we deliver to your address and you pay import duties, taxes and customs clearance. For the MS01 and G12, freight, installation and training are quoted per project.