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About this tool
This 3D print cost calculator works out what a print really costs you and what to charge for it. It adds up filament, electricity, machine wear, a buffer for failed prints and your own labor, then applies your profit margin to give a recommended selling price. Enter the grams and print time from your slicer, pick your printer, and the table updates as you type. It is also a 3D print cost estimator for quoting jobs: set a quantity and it gives the batch total as well as the cost per part.
How to use it
- Choose your filament and enter the price per kg you actually paid.
- Enter the grams and print hours per part from your slicer.
- Pick your printer preset or enter the watts, then set your electricity price.
- Set your failure rate, wear cost, margin and optional labor time.
- Enter the batch quantity, then read the itemized cost and the recommended price. Use Save my printer profile to keep your settings for next time.
The formula
Every line is simple arithmetic, so you can check it by hand:
- Filament = grams / 1000 x price per kg
- Electricity = hours x watts / 1000 x price per kWh
- Machine wear = hours x wear cost per hour
- Failure buffer = (filament + electricity + wear) x failure rate / (1 - failure rate)
- Labor = minutes / 60 x labor rate
- Cost per part = all five lines added together
- Recommended price = cost per part / (1 - profit margin)
The failure buffer spreads the cost of failed prints across the good ones. If 1 print in 20 fails (5%), you need to charge as if each good part cost about 5.3% more in materials, power and wear. Labor is left out of the buffer because you can usually stop a failed print early.
Typical starting values
| Setting | Starting value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| PLA filament | about $20 per kg | Common spool price; use your own |
| PETG, ABS | about $22 per kg | Slightly higher than PLA |
| ASA, TPU | about $28 to $30 per kg | Specialty filaments cost more |
| Printer power | 120 to 150 W average | Heated bed and hotend cycle on and off |
| Electricity | $0.17 per kWh | Rough US residential average; check your bill |
| Machine wear | $0.10 per hour | Printer price spread over its life, plus nozzles and belts |
| Failure rate | 3 to 10% | Higher for new printers and tricky materials |
These are starting points, not facts about your setup. Printer wattage in particular is an estimate of average draw while printing. It is lower than the power supply rating because heaters switch on and off. If you want exact figures, plug the printer into a watt meter for one print.
Profit margin or markup?
This calculator uses margin: the share of the selling price that is profit. A 40% margin on a $10 cost gives a price of $16.67 and a profit of $6.67. A 40% markup would give only $14. Margin is the safer number to plan with because it matches how fees and discounts are taken out of the final price. The results table shows the markup equivalent too.
Things to watch out for
Slicer estimates are usually close but not exact; supports, rafts and purge material add to the real grams, so round up. This tool does not include marketplace fees, shipping, packaging, taxes or post-processing materials like paint and sandpaper, so add those to your price. If you sell on Etsy, eBay or Whatnot, run your price through a fee calculator too: see the reseller fee calculators. For simple percentage math, the percentage calculator is handy.
Frequently asked questions
Add filament (grams / 1000 x price per kg), electricity (hours x watts / 1000 x price per kWh), machine wear, a failure buffer and any labor. Divide the total by (1 - margin) to get a selling price.
Most desktop printers average roughly 100 to 200 watts while printing, though the power supply is rated higher. At 150 W for 4 hours and $0.17 per kWh, the electricity costs about 10 cents.
Many hobby sellers start with 5%. Use 10% or more for new printers, flexible filament or large tricky models, and lower if your prints almost never fail.
Yes. Set the quantity for the batch, add labor time, and use the recommended price per part as a starting quote. Add shipping, packaging and marketplace fees separately.