A comparison table is presented below:

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The table illustrates the comparisons.

STL OBJ
Simple triangular mesh Polygon-based, with support for quadrats
No color or texture support Support for colors, texture mapping and UV coordinates
Generally smaller, but can scale with resolution Larger due to additional data (textures, colors)
Limited to surface geometry (no details on materials or appearance) Management of complex geometries, materials and visual details
Ideal for 3D printing and basic CAD designs exchange data Ideal for detailed models in games, movies and visual projects
Simple, easy to process More complex with material libraries
stl vs obj
STL vs STEP
In this case, STL files only store surface geometry through triangular meshes, making them lightweight and easy to process. STEP files are much more complete. They retain the design intent and can save models as single entities, allowing for greater accuracy and smoother curves.


STL STEP
Surface-based triangular mesh Boundary Representation (B-rep) and Solid Modeling
No color or texture support Support for colors, material properties and textures
Usually smaller, depending on mesh resolution Larger thanks to more detailed geometric information
Simplified surface geometry (no internal structure) Contains complete design data, including assemblies and complex geometries.
Mainly for 3D printing and simple CAD models Ideal for engineering, manufacturing and CAD interoperability
Simple, easy to process More complex, it stores both geometry and metadata (design intent, dimensions).
Approximate, based on surface triangles High precision, exact geometry for manufacturing and engineering applications
Limited, often requires conversion for CAD software High interoperability between different CAD systems
stl vs step
STL vs 3MF
3D printing favors STL files because of their simplicity and compatibility. The 3MF (3D Manufacturing format) file is XML-based and more advanced because it contains all the information needed to print an object.