3D Printing Cost Calculator

1. Enter the grams of filament the print uses, straight from your slicer.
2. Enter your filament price per kilogram.
3. Add the print time, printer power and your electricity price.
4. Set a failure allowance, then read the full cost per print.

All money figures are in whatever currency you enter your prices in.

The cost of a 3D print is what it actually takes to produce a part, not just the price of the plastic. For a hobby print the main costs are the filament used and the electricity to run the printer, plus an allowance for the prints that fail along the way.

Knowing the true cost matters whether you print for yourself or to sell. It stops you underpricing commissions, and it shows how a long, heavy print costs far more than a quick keychain even before you add your time.

1. Filament cost is the grams used divided by 1000, times the price per kilogram.
2. Electricity cost is the power in kilowatts, times the hours, times your unit price.
3. Add the two for the direct cost.
4. Multiply by one plus your failure rate to cover wasted prints.

This gives the cash cost of a print. To set a selling price you would add your time and a markup on top, which our price and profit calculator handles.

A print uses 50 grams of filament that costs 25 per kilogram, so the material is 1.25. It runs for 3 hours on a 150 watt printer at an electricity price of 0.30 per kWh, which is 0.45 kWh times 0.30, about 0.14. The direct cost is 1.39, and a 5 percent failure allowance adds about 0.07, giving roughly 1.46 per print. A 250 gram, 14 hour print would cost several times more.

Filament Used

The grams of plastic is usually the biggest cost, driven by part size, infill and supports.

Filament Price

Specialist filaments cost far more per kilogram than basic PLA, changing the material cost directly.

Print Time and Power

Long prints on a hot, high-power machine use more electricity, though this is often small next to filament.

Failure Rate

Tricky prints fail more often, so a bigger failure allowance protects you against wasted material.

For a typical hobby print, this is roughly where the money goes.

For selling, remember that your time and printer wear are real costs even though this tool focuses on material and power.

Pricing Commissions

Know the true cost before you quote a customer for a print.

Comparing Filaments

See how a pricier filament changes the cost of the same part.

Budgeting a Project

Add up the cost of a multi-part print or a batch before you start.

1. Counting Only Filament

Electricity, failures and wear are real; leaving them out understates the cost.

2. Ignoring Failed Prints

Every maker has failures; a small allowance keeps your costing honest.

3. Forgetting Your Time

Design, setup and finishing take time that a hobby cost ignores but a business cannot.

4. Using List Weight

Use the slicer grams for the actual print, including supports, not the model volume alone.

The cash cost is exact for the figures you enter. It covers material and power, not every overhead of a print business.

Add the filament cost (grams over 1000, times price per kg) to the electricity cost (power in kW, times hours, times unit price), then add a failure allowance.

Small hobby prints often cost well under 2 in material and power. A 50 g PLA print at 25 per kg is about 1.25 in filament plus a little electricity.

Usually not. For most FDM prints electricity is 5 to 15 percent of the cost; filament dominates unless power prices are very high.

Yes. Every maker has failures, so a 3 to 10 percent allowance keeps your costing realistic and protects your pricing.

No. It covers material and power only. For selling, add your design and finishing time and a markup separately.

Your slicer reports the grams of filament a print will use, including supports. Use that figure rather than the model volume.

FDM printers average roughly 100 to 200 watts including the heated bed. Use your machine specification or a plug power meter for accuracy.

Add your labour, then apply a markup. Our 3D printing price and profit calculator does this from the cost figure here.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• 3D printing overview (Wikipedia).
• Fused filament fabrication (Wikipedia).
• Kilowatt hour (Wikipedia).