Laminate vs Stone Benchtop: Which Should You Choose?

For most kitchens, a laminate benchtop is the cheaper choice and natural stone is the hard-wearing one. Laminate runs about $200 to $500 a square metre installed, while natural stone runs about $700 to $2,500 a square metre, according to What's The Damage and Yellow Pages (2026).

Below are the prices for each material, how laminate and stone compare on cost, wear and repairs, why engineered stone is no longer an option, and which benchtop suits a Gold Coast kitchen. These are market prices from cost guides, checked on 3 November 2026. They are not a quote from us.

How much does a laminate benchtop cost?

A laminate benchtop costs about $200 to $500 a square metre installed, according to What's The Damage. Three Birds Renovations puts a budget laminate near $120 a square metre and a premium stone-look laminate (Laminex or Formica) at $250 to $350 a square metre, plus about $50 to $100 a lineal metre to install.

Laminate is a chipboard core with a printed, sealed surface. It is the lightest on the budget and comes in hundreds of colours, including stone looks. The trade-off is that it can chip at the edges, it can scorch, and a deep scratch cannot be polished out the way stone can.

How much does a stone benchtop cost?

A natural stone benchtop costs about $700 to $2,500 a square metre, with the stone, polishing, sealing and installation included, according to Yellow Pages (2026). Oneflare puts granite at $700 to $2,000 a square metre.

Natural stone (granite or marble) is cut from a quarried slab, so every piece is one of a kind. It handles heat and wear well and a stone mason can re-polish most marks. It is heavier, so the cabinets below need to carry the load, and it is templated and cut only after the cabinets are fitted, which adds a week or two of lead time.

Laminate vs stone: how do they compare?

Laminate wins on price and choice. Stone wins on wear, heat and how long it lasts. Here is the side by side.

Prices for both come from the same cost guides we use for our kitchen renovation cost guide, and the cost to replace a kitchen benchtop guide has the removal and install side of the job.

Is engineered stone still allowed in Australia?

No. Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs have been banned across Australia since 1 July 2024. Safe Work Australia says it is now an offence to "carry out, or to direct or allow a worker to carry out, work involving the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs". So you cannot have a new engineered stone (the old Caesarstone-style product) benchtop made or fitted.

The ban is about silica dust and the lung disease silicosis it causes. WorkSafe Queensland says there is "no transitional period in Queensland". Some cost pages still list engineered stone as an option, but it is out of date. Benchtops you already have are fine to keep; removing or repairing legacy engineered stone must be done by a qualified tradesperson with dust controls, and the regulator must be notified.

The ban does not cover natural stone, or porcelain and sintered stone that contain no resin, according to Safe Work Australia. Those are the stone-look options a kitchen can still use.

What about porcelain, timber and stainless benchtops?

Porcelain and sintered stone give a stone look without the engineered stone risk, timber adds warmth, and stainless steel is the choice for a hard-working kitchen. Here is roughly what each costs.

Porcelain is thin, hard and heat resistant. Timber needs oiling and care near the sink, but a carpenter can sand and re-oil it, and it pairs well with laminate or stone on an island. Stainless is the commercial-kitchen look and is priced by the lineal metre rather than the square metre.

Which benchtop suits a Gold Coast kitchen?

It comes down to budget and how hard the kitchen works. A laminate or stone-look laminate top keeps a budget kitchen in range and still looks sharp, which is why our kitchen on a budget guide leans on it. A busy family kitchen that cooks a lot, or an island you want to last 20 years, is where natural stone or porcelain earns its price.

A common Gold Coast plan is a laminate top on the back run and a stone or timber island as the feature. That keeps the cost down while giving the room one standout surface. Whatever the top, the cabinets underneath set how well it sits and how long it lasts.

What does Field Carpentry do with kitchen benchtops?

We build and fit the cabinets a benchtop sits on, install laminate and timber tops, and arrange the stone mason to template and fit natural stone or porcelain once the cabinets are in. See our kitchen renovations page for the full job. To price a whole kitchen, including the benchtop, try our free kitchen renovation cost calculator.

Where do these prices come from?

Checked on 3 November 2026: What's The Damage (kitchen renovation cost, Gold Coast and national pages, October 2026), Three Birds Renovations (benchtop costs guide, 2026), Yellow Pages (stone and stainless benchtop articles, 2026) and Oneflare (benchtop costs, 2024). The engineered stone ban is from Safe Work Australia and WorkSafe Queensland. We will check the prices again every three months.

See our kitchen renovations work, or check what your job will cost.