Wooden or Metal
The difference in swing sets is the type of material in which the set is made of. Your choices are wooden or metal and there are pros and cons of both. On the metal side, good quality swing sets use galvenized steel because it is very strong and rust resistant. Throw in the cost effciency of metal swing sets and you can see that good metal swing sets will give your child years of enjoyment but probably not as long as a well built wooden swing set.
Wooden swing sets are more sturdier than most metal swing sets and they usually support more weight per child than metal swing sets. Also as noted above wooden swing sets will typically last longer than metal ones. In fact depending on whether the type of wood used is pressure treated or not the guarantee can be over 20 years. Also noted in the first paragraph cost of the wooden swing set is going to be much more expensive. But, a well built wooden swing set will provide a safer and more enjoyable time for many more years of your child’s and hopefully your grandchild’s lives.