Filament (material)
The grams of plastic the part uses times your spool price per kilogram. Pull the exact weight from your slicer (Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, Cura) for an accurate number — it already accounts for infill and supports.
What does your 3D print really cost?
Filament, electricity, machine wear, labor and a failed-print buffer — added up in real time, so you know exactly what to charge. Start from one of our real prints, or punch in numbers from your slicer.
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Start from a real print
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Each part / plate of the model. Values come from your slicer.
Part 1
g
$
4h 30m · 4:30 · 270m
Printer & power
250 W · $999 · $0.20/h wear
$/kWh
Auto-set for your region · editable
Cost breakdown
LIVEMaterial$0.50
Electricity$0.11
Machine wear$0.60
Labor & finishing$5.00
Failed-print buffer (5%)$0.03
Cost per item$6.24
Suggested price (80% markup)$11.24
Profit per item$4.99
For print studios
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MDK
Join 340+ makers — early access capped at 500What goes into the cost of a 3D print?
A 3D print costs more than the plastic it uses. Pricing it properly — whether you are budgeting a hobby project or quoting a customer — means accounting for six things. This calculator adds them all up for you.
Electricity
Printer wattage × print time × your local power rate. A typical FDM printer draws 100–270 W, so energy is usually a small line item, but it adds up across long prints and busy machines.
Machine wear (depreciation)
Your printer is a consumable too. Spreading its purchase price across its expected service life gives a per-hour wear cost, so each print quietly pays back the hardware and the eventual nozzle, belt and hotend replacements.
Labor & finishing
Modeling, slicing, assembly, support removal, sanding and painting are real time. Even hobbyists should know this number; if you sell, charging an hourly rate for it is the difference between a hobby and a side business.
Failed-print buffer
Some prints fail — a clog, a warp, a knocked-loose part. Adding a small percentage on top of material and energy spreads that waste across your successful prints so a failure does not wipe out a job.
Markup (what to charge)
Cost is what the print takes out of your pocket; price is what you charge. A markup on top of full cost covers your time, risk and profit. Many makers use 30–100% depending on demand and finish quality.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the cost of a 3D print?+
Add up filament cost (grams ÷ 1000 × price per kg), electricity (printer watts ÷ 1000 × print hours × your power rate), machine wear (printer price ÷ expected life in hours × print hours), labor (hands-on hours × your rate) and any hardware or packaging. Add a small failed-print buffer on top of material and energy, and that total is your true cost per print.
How much does it cost to 3D print something?+
For most hobby prints the material alone is roughly $0.10–$0.40 per 10 grams of PLA. A small keychain might cost under $0.50 in filament and power, while a large cosplay piece can run several dollars in material plus hours of print time and machine wear. Enter your numbers above for an exact figure.
How much electricity does a 3D printer use?+
Most FDM printers draw between 100 W and 270 W while printing, with bed-heating spikes higher. At an average US rate of about $0.15 per kWh, a 4-hour print on a 150 W printer uses roughly 0.6 kWh — about 9 cents of electricity.
Should I include machine wear in my pricing?+
Yes, if you want sustainable pricing. Your printer wears out and needs nozzles, belts, hotends and eventually replacement. Dividing the purchase price by the expected service life in hours gives a per-hour wear cost so every print contributes to repairs and the next machine.
How much should I charge for 3D prints?+
Start from your full cost (material, energy, machine wear, labor and a failure buffer) and add a markup. Hobbyists selling occasionally often use 30–50%; people running it as a business commonly use 50–100% or more for finished, painted, or custom work. This calculator shows a suggested price and your profit at any markup you set.
Why add a failed-print buffer?+
Even reliable printers fail sometimes — clogs, warping, layer shifts. A failed print still consumed filament and power. Adding a few percent on top of material and energy across all your prints means a single failure does not erase the profit on a job.
Is this 3D printing cost calculator free?+
Yes. The calculator is completely free, runs entirely in your browser, requires no signup, and saves your machine and rate settings locally on your device.
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