If you want a glowing sign in your shop window, you'll quickly run into three different products that all get called "neon": real glass neon, LED "neon flex", and engraved LED acrylic signs. They look different, cost different amounts and suit different jobs. Here's how they compare for a small business.
Full disclosure: we sell engraved LED acrylic signs, the third type. We'll be straight about where the other two make more sense.
The three types
Glass neon
The classic. Glass tubes are bent by hand and filled with gas that glows when high voltage runs through it. Nothing else looks quite like it: a warm, continuous glow all the way around the tube.
LED neon flex
Flexible strips of LEDs inside a soft silicone tube, bent into letters or shapes and usually mounted on a clear backing. From a distance it looks a lot like glass neon, without the glass or the high voltage.
Engraved LED acrylic (edge-lit)
A flat panel of clear acrylic with the design engraved into it. LEDs shine light into the panel, and the engraved lines catch that light and glow. When it's off, the panel is nearly clear. When it's on, the design lights up. This is what we sell.
How they compare
- Look: glass neon has the richest, warmest glow. LED flex comes close. Edge-lit acrylic has a finer, etched look that can show detail, like a coffee cup's steam or a dartboard's numbers, that a bent tube can't.
- Durability: glass neon is fragile and doesn't travel well. LED flex and acrylic hold up far better to knocks and shipping.
- Power and heat: glass neon needs a high-voltage transformer and gets warm. Both LED types run on low voltage and use far less power, which matters for a sign that's on every business day.
- Safety: because of the high voltage and glass, neon is best installed by a professional. LED signs simply plug in.
- Size: neon and LED flex scale up to large custom pieces. Edge-lit acrylic signs like ours are smaller, made for a window or the wall behind a counter.
- Cost: custom glass neon usually costs the most, then custom LED flex. Ready-made acrylic signs are the most budget-friendly; ours are $28.45–$29.95 with free US shipping.
Which one should you buy?
Choose glass neon if the sign is part of your brand, like a custom logo over a bar, and you want that exact vintage glow. Budget for a sign maker and a professional install.
Choose LED neon flex if you want a large or custom-shaped sign with a neon look, without glass or high voltage.
Choose an engraved LED acrylic sign if you want a window or counter sign that says what you do (Coffee, Tattoo, ATM, Free WiFi), up the same day it arrives, at a low price.
About our signs
Each sign is about 12 × 8 inches, engraved into clear acrylic and lit by LEDs, with a slim black acrylic frame along the top. It comes with a USB power cord with an inline on/off switch, a USB wall adapter and a hanging chain. Browse business LED signs, or read window signs that bring in walk-ins for placement tips.