Heroscapers - 3D Printing: Resin vs PLA comparison

I realize I'm probably one of the few people on here who has both a resin and a PLA 3D printer, so I figured I'd write a comparison for anyone looking to get into 3D printing.

My Resin printer is a ANYCUBIC Photon S and my PLA printer is an Ender 3. Both bought on amazon.

Machine Cost
Machine wise, the Photon S cost $450 and the Ender 3 Cost $230, your prices may vary, especially in these times. Worth noting that the Photon S is a prebuilt and the Ender 3 requires total assembly. Either way, Winner Ender 3

Build Material Cost
Resin is typically more expensive than PLA, prices very a lot as there are many different kinds, the kinds that I buy are the following:
Resin: $32.99 per 1kg
PLA: $23.99 per 1kg
Again, PLA is cheaper. Winner: Ender 3

Cleaning Material
I don't have a cost break down for this, but it's also worth noting that printing with resin is much messier and toxic; proper safety equipment and cleaning materials is a requirement.
Required are paper towels, isopropyl alcohol, disposable gloves, and I would recommend safety glasses.
None of these are needed for PLA.
Winner: Ender 3

Print Time
This is where the types of prints that you will be doing really determines the best outcome. I'll be using a Kelda the Kyre Warrior model for demonstration purposes.

1 Kelda requires 5 hrs 30 mins for the Photon S at 0.05 mm layer height and 2 Hrs and 30 Mins for the Ender 3 at 0.12 mm layer height. However, this result is for printing a small and tall figure, things change as you go wider and print more.
if you want to mass produce figures and print 9 Kelda at a time, it requires 5 hrs and 30 mins for the Photon S and 21 Hrs and 30 Mins for the Ender 3.

This is due to the way each printing method works. PLA printers like the Ender 3 essentially draw using plastic; so there is only one point being made at a time. Resin printers like the Photon S work by curing a whole layer at a time using UV light; essentially you are printing the whole layer at once, so you can print 1 to as many figures as you can fit on the bed in the same amount of time. Winner: Photon S

Detail
It's pretty simple, the Photon S has a lot better detail as it can get as small as 0.02 mm layer height while the Ender 3 can only reach a minimum layer height of 0.12mm. the Photon S can literally get 6 times the detail of the Ender 3 at it's smallest.
This being said, I don't even print at 0.02 mm for my photon S, I typically do 0.05 mm, as it's less than half the time and it's small enough to where you can't visibly tell a difference.
Here is a comparison of the two Kelda; PLA on the left, Resin on the right.
https://i.imgur.com/tfMwz9r.jpg
Note, there was some stringing that happened on the PLA one, so the fuzzies on that one could be fixed. I sprayed them both with developer chalk, so you can see some of that on both.
One big thing you can see on the PLA one is on the finest detail setting of 0.12mm, you can still see some layer lines.

Winner: Photon S

Hassle
The price difference isn't that much, and the Photon S gets better print quality and a fraction of the time. So if you don't mind spending the money, why go PLA? Well, hassle. Resin printing takes alot more manual labor.

The process of printing in PLA is as simple as print, break off supports, clean any stuck on support connections, done. No clean up past throwing away the supports.

Resin printing requires you to do the same thing, but after you finish printing, you need to dip the figure in isopropyl alcohol to clean off excess resin and then a water dip, then you must delicately remove the supports using clippers and I recommend an exactoknife, this is because the material is very brittle after it's been printed. Then after, you must finish curing the resin using either a UV light or leaving it out in the sun on a clear day.

Also, there is the issue of both smell and ventilation. While resin is more of a danger to touch than it is to breathe, It's still not good to use in a small enclosed place, largely due to the bad smells. As a trade off, my PLA printer is much louder, so there are cons to both. I don't recommend printing with either in the same room as you spend most of your time.

Finally, when you are done with a PLA printer, you can just leave it as is; you can't do that with resin. if you are going to leave resin, you need to clean it out of the printer by pouring it back into the bottle using a funnel and a paint filter(to keep solid pieces out) and wipe down the printer using isopropyl alcohol and paper towels.
Winner: Ender 3

Overall, there is a lot more cost and hassle to print with resin, but as a result, you get higher detail and much quicker output. I haven't looked into the electric costs of either, but I imagine the material cost will outweigh the electric costs regardless.

Like I said earlier, I'll be uploading the pictures tonight, you can judge for yourself if the detail and efficiency is worth the extra cost and hassle.