<p><?tk 4?>Additive manufacturing (AM) has experienced significant growth in various industries over the past few years, as the technology offers benefits such as enhanced performance, efficiency, and innovation. One of the main challenges for AM designers is identifying the constraints and how much the finished part’s mechanical properties may deviate from its pre-printed input bulk material. This study compares the manufacturing process of two main AM printers: Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). For this study, a delicate tissue engineering scaffold model was selected, with an identical geometry designed for fabrication using both AM techniques. The settings related to SLS and FDM 3D printers have been optimized to achieve the desired mechanical properties and high-quality specimens, enabling reliable comparisons. The input material used is the popular Polylactic Acid for FDM and widely used Polyamide 12 for SLS printers. Tensile and compressive bulk test specimens and scaffold models have been made using both manufacturing techniques to compare dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, deviation in mechanical properties, and manufacturing limitations for each of these manufacturing techniques. The results indicate that hardware and software optimization improved the elasticity modulus by an average of 10.5%, compressive strength by 55%, and tensile strength by 34% compared to similar studies. The study also revealed that FDM samples exhibited about two times better dimensional accuracy than SLS samples, especially in porous and delicate specimens like scaffolds. On the other hand, SLS specimens performed better in terms of surface roughness and reproducibility.<?tk 4?></p> Graphical abstract <p></p>