Two stocks look the same on the roll and behave nothing alike on the line. The deciding question is not price per square metre — it is what prints the label.
Thermal paper carries a coating that darkens where the print head heats it. No ribbon, no ink, one consumable. Coated paper carries nothing that reacts; it needs a thermal transfer ribbon to take an image. If your printer has no ribbon spindle, the question is already answered.
Variable-data work at volume: waybills, carton labels, shelf-edge price tickets, pick-and-pack. The cost per label is the lowest of any system because there is no ribbon, and 203 or 300 dpi output is enough for a barcode. Our thermal stock runs on direct thermal printers from 25 mm to 1,070 mm web width.
Heat, sunlight, plasticiser and long storage. A thermal image fades; a coated print does not. Labels that live on a window, a dashboard, a chemical drum or a five-year asset record should not be thermal, however cheap the first roll looks.
Anything that has to survive handling or be looked at: retail packaging, cosmetic bottles, industrial nameplates, anything with a logo and more than one colour. Coated takes offset, flexo and UV inkjet, holds fine type at 8 pt, and resists abrasion once laminated or varnished.
Compare total cost per applied label, not per roll. Thermal removes the ribbon but caps you at one colour and a limited life. Coated adds a ribbon and a plate but gives you colour, durability and a printable reverse. For a 10,000-label run the ribbon is usually a smaller line item than the reprint caused by a faded thermal label.