Acrylic vs polycarbonate sheet
Updated: 23 October 2026
You are choosing a clear plastic for a greenhouse side, a shed window, or a panel that might take a football, and the two names keep swapping places in the search results. Acrylic vs polycarbonate sheet is a polymer choice: acrylic when you want a clearer, polishable face on a supported pane, polycarbonate when the pane has to survive impacts that already show up as flex in acrylic reviews. None of the twelve listings in our [acrylic glass pane comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/acrylic-glass-pane) is sold as polycarbonate. Peter F. used those amazon.co.uk listings, read on 19 October 2026, plus Perspex data and UK trade guides. We did not impact-test any sheet.
You are choosing a clear plastic for a greenhouse side, a shed window, or a panel that might take a football, and the two names keep swapping places in the search results.
You are choosing a clear plastic for a greenhouse side, a shed window, or a panel that might take a football, and the two names keep swapping places in the search results. Acrylic vs polycarbonate sheet is a polymer choice: acrylic when you want a clearer, polishable face on a supported pane, polycarbonate when the pane has to survive impacts that already show up as flex in acrylic reviews. None of the twelve listings in our acrylic glass pane comparison is sold as polycarbonate. Peter F. used those amazon.co.uk listings, read on 19 October 2026, plus Perspex data and UK trade guides. We did not impact-test any sheet.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Material stated | Thickness | Nominal size | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Sheetcuts Sheetcuts acrylic sheet, 610 × 610 mm, 3 mm | Acrylic | 3 mm | 610 × 610 mm | 8.4 | about £13.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  GSHUR GSHUR A4 acrylic sheets, 3 mm, pack of 2 | Acrylic (material field: Plastic) | 3 mm | 210 × 297 mm | 7.8 | about £6.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Pixly Pixly acrylic sheet, 5 mm A4 | Acrylic / Perspex (title) | 5 mm | A4, 210 × 297 mm | 7.4 | about £7.99 | View offer |
On this page
They are different polymers
Acrylic is PMMA. Perspex is a brand of acrylic, not a type of polycarbonate, and plexiglass on a marketplace title is the same family when the material line agrees. Polycarbonate is the impact neighbour. A buyer comment on the Sheetcuts 610 × 457 mm pane guessing Lexan does not change that listing. The material line says acrylic.
PET is the third plastic in this comparison, and it is easy to buy by mistake. Art3d's five-pack is titled as acrylic. A bullet says PET sheet, and a verified UK review on 5 August 2026 states that the sheets are PET, not acrylic. Exclude that pack from both an acrylic shortlist and a polycarbonate shortlist. Cast versus extruded, inside acrylic, is a further split these listings do not print. The acrylic sheet buying guide keeps that argument in one place.
Clarity, scratches, and the impact claims
Acrylic is the clearer of the two in UK trade writing, with a limit on what clearer means. Perspex's cell-cast data sheet puts light transmission above 92 percent at 3 mm for that Perspex product. Plastic Sheets Direct says acrylic greenhouse sheet can reach up to 92 percent, which they describe as more than glass, and that scratches in acrylic can be polished. Those figures are not a meter reading on GSHUR or Sheetcuts. Cut My calls acrylic a little clearer and easier to polish, and calls polycarbonate the impact sheet.
The impact multiples are the retailers' citations, not a test of this set. Cut My cites polycarbonate at more than 30 times the impact resistance of glass, and acrylic at 10–24 times. Do not treat unbreakable on an amazon.co.uk bullet as the same claim. Both plastics scratch if you clean them with an abrasive. Acrylic is the one those guides say you can polish back. On the Sheetcuts 610 mm square, UK reviews already include sag against glass. One buyer concluded they should have chosen polycarbonate. That is a use limit on this 3 mm sheet, not a laboratory delta.
Fire class is not fire resistance
Fire wording is where the two polymers get swapped. Perspex's design guide puts cast acrylic at BS 476 Part 7 Class 3 from 3 mm upwards, and Class 4 under 3 mm. Extruded Perspex is Class 4 across the thicknesses in that table. Plastic Sheets Direct's Class 1 line is attached to their polycarbonate, not to Perspex. Do not give a marketplace acrylic pack a class it never states.
Class 3 and Class 4 are surface-spread results. London Fire's note on fire-resisting glazing describes a tested system: glass, frame, and glazing method together. Do not use either polymer as a fire door, an escape-route screen, or critical glazing under the Building Regulations.
Which to buy for a UK greenhouse
Choose acrylic for a supported side pane or a picture frame, where clarity and a face you can polish matter more than a football. In this set, that is the Sheetcuts 610 × 610 × 3 mm sheet when you measured 610 mm, with the roof-sag reviews as the reason to refuse it overhead. The best acrylic sheet UK page names that pick and the A4 best value. Choose polycarbonate when the pane is a roof that must not dish, a play-area screen, or a site that takes hail. You will not find that sheet among these twelve listings. Twin-wall polycarbonate is a different product from a single solid pane: it is lighter on clarity, and it is not what you substitute, millimetre for millimetre, into a rubber that held 3 mm glass.
Cut My describes acrylic as a little cheaper than polycarbonate on trade pages. That is a direction, not a live GBP gap we measured. A qualifying purchase through our amazon.co.uk links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. If the decision is acrylic, measure the rebate. If the decision is polycarbonate, leave this comparison.
Common questions
Which scratches less, and which can be polished?
Both scratch if you use an abrasive or a dry cloth. Trade guides treat acrylic as the face you can polish, and polycarbonate as the one that shows scuffs. Perspex's cleaning line is water and a little detergent, without solvents. A polishable scratch is not an impact-proof sheet.
Can I use acrylic as fire-resisting glazing?
Perspex publishes BS 476-7 Class 3 for cast sheet from 3 mm and Class 4 for extruded sheet. Those classes are surface spread of flame. Fire-resisting glazing, in London Fire's note, is a tested system. A Class 1 line on a polycarbonate trade page belongs to that seller's sheet, not to these listings.
Is Perspex polycarbonate?
Perspex is acrylic, which is PMMA. Polycarbonate is a different polymer. A listing that says Perspex or plexiglass is pointing at PMMA when the rest of the page agrees. The Sheetcuts pages say acrylic. A review that guesses Lexan does not relabel them.
Is the Art3d pack either of these?
The Art3d five-pack is titled acrylic, described as PET in a bullet, and called PET by a verified UK review on 5 August 2026. It is neither the acrylic to shortlist nor the polycarbonate for a roof. PET is a third family.
What should a greenhouse roof use if the 3 mm acrylic sags?
Use polycarbonate from a seller who states that polymer, when the sag reviews on the Sheetcuts 610 mm square match your roof. Keep acrylic for a supported side if you measured the rebate. Twin-wall will not look like a single clear pane. A thicker acrylic from a cutter is the other route if you want to stay with PMMA. This set does not include that roof sheet.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices, sizes and stars were read on 19 October 2026.
- Perspex cell cast technical data sheet (2019) (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Perspex design guide (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Perspex tolerances via QD Plastics (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Plastics Direct thickness guide (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Plastic Sheets Direct greenhouse panels (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Cut My shed and greenhouse windows (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Simply Plastics cutting guide (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- London Fire, fire-resisting glazing note (retrieved 19.10.2026)