Practical guide 3 min read
How to work out what a 3D print costs
Material, electricity, printer wear, failed prints and your time: the full cost of a print, with a worked example and where to find each number.
What a 3D print really costs
Most people count only the filament, which is often the smallest part. The full cost of a print has six parts:
- Material: the grams used, as a share of the spool's price.
- Electricity: the printer's average power × print time × your price per kWh.
- Printer wear: the printer's price spread over its working life, plus upkeep like nozzles, belts and build plates.
- Failed prints: a percentage on top, because failures use material, power and printer time too.
- Your time: slicing, setup, removing supports, sanding and packing.
- Extras: magnets, heat-set inserts, paint, packaging.
Open the 3D Printing Cost Calculator to add them up for any print.
A worked example
An 85 g PLA print that takes 6 hours, on a $600 printer:
| Cost | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 85 g of a $22, 1 kg spool | $1.87 |
| Electricity | 120 W × 6 h = 0.72 kWh at $0.16 | $0.12 |
| Printer wear | 6 h × ($600 ÷ 5,000 h + $0.05 upkeep) | $1.02 |
| Failed prints | 5% of the three above | $0.15 |
| Your time | 15 minutes at $20 an hour | $5.00 |
| Total | $8.16 |
The filament is under a quarter of the cost; your 15 minutes are more than half. At a 100% markup, the print sells for $16.31. Print four of the part on one plate in the same time and each costs $2.04.
Finding the numbers
- Grams and print time: your slicer shows both before you print. If it gives filament length instead, the calculator converts it: 28.5 m of 1.75 mm PLA is 85 g.
- Spool weight: the filament's net weight, usually 1 kg, not including the spool.
- Power: a desktop printer typically averages 70–150 W once the bed is hot; large beds, enclosures and ABS or nylon push it higher. A smart plug with energy monitoring gives your printer's real average.
- Electricity price: the per-kWh rate on your bill, including delivery charges if they're billed per kWh.
- Printer lifetime: how many print hours you expect before replacing it. 5,000 hours is a reasonable start for a hobby printer.
Filament length to grams
Weight = π × (diameter ÷ 2)² × length × density. One meter of 1.75 mm PLA (1.24 g/cm³) weighs 2.98 g, so a 1 kg spool holds about 335 m. The same meter of 2.85 mm PLA weighs 7.91 g. PETG is a little denser than PLA, and ABS and ASA are lighter; the calculator uses the right density for each material.
Resin printers
Resin printers work the same way. Enter the ml your slicer reports, including supports, and the bottle's price and weight. Add the gloves, isopropyl alcohol and FEP film under upkeep or other costs; on a resin printer those add up faster than the electricity.
Work out a print, step by step
- Pick the Material and enter the Material used in grams, or switch to the filament length.
- Enter the Spool or bottle price and weight, the Print time (4h 30m, 4:30 and 4.5 all work) and your Electricity price.
- Set the Printer price, Printer lifetime, Upkeep and Failed prints.
- Add your Hands-on time, Hourly rate and any Other costs.
- Set Parts on the plate and your Markup, then read the cost per part and suggested price.
Selling on a marketplace? Select Add selling fees in the pricing calculator to carry the cost over to the Handmade Pricing Calculator, which works back from the fees to your price.