3D Printing Cost Calculator
A 3D printing cost calculator works out the true cost of one print by adding material, electricity at your tariff, printer depreciation, maintenance, failed-print allowance and your own labour — not just filament. Enter the grams and hours your slicer reports and you get an all-in cost per print plus 2×/3× pricing guides.
The print job
Slicer estimate, or weigh the print.
Spool price ÷ spool size.
From the slicer header.
≈ 16¢/kWh US residential average (EIA).
120 W suits most printers — heaters cycle on and off.
Beyond the filament
≈ $0.10/h — Prusa’s own recoupment fees sit near here.
Nozzles, belts, FEP films, resin tanks — 5–10¢/h covers most setups.
Beginners 20%+, tuned fleets under 5%.
Market stall fees, insurance, software subscriptions — applied to the subtotal. Enter 0 to skip.
$2.57
- Material62 g × $0.025/g
- $1.55
- Electricity4.5 h × 0.12 kW × $0.160/kWh
- $0.086
- Machine time$500.00 printer ÷ 5000 h ≈ $0.100/h
- $0.675
- Failed prints10% reject rate amortised
- $0.257
- Total cost
- $2.57
- Per g of printAll-in, not just material
- $0.041
Pricing guide
- 2× cost (common floor)$5.14
- 3× cost (handmade standard)$7.70
- 30% profit margin$3.67
Data last verified 30 September 2026.Source: Prusa cost model & EIA electricity data
How it works
- 01
Enter what the slicer tells you
Material usage (grams or ml), print time in hours — every modern slicer shows both before you press print. That is 80% of the calculation.
- 02
Add the costs material calculators forget
Electricity from your actual tariff, printer depreciation spread over its lifetime hours, maintenance, failed prints and your own prep time. These often double the "filament-only" cost.
- 03
Get the all-in number, then price it
The breakdown shows each component so you can see where money goes, plus pricing guides at 2× and 3× cost — the multipliers small printing businesses commonly start from.
Costs are estimates built from your inputs: average power draw (measured values beat guesses), lifetime-hour assumptions for depreciation, and a failure allowance applied before labour so rejects are not double-counted. Marketplace fees and shipping are excluded — price with the profit calculator instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the cost of a 3D print?
Add five things: material (grams × price per gram), electricity (hours × average kW × your kWh rate), machine time (printer price ÷ lifetime hours × print hours), an allowance for failed prints (cost ÷ (1 − failure rate)), and your labour. A typical 4.5-hour PLA print using 62 g of filament on a $500 printer lands around $3–4 all-in — material is often under half of that.
How much does it cost to run a 3D printer per hour?
Electricity alone is usually 2–4¢/hour (a 120 W average draw at $0.16/kWh). Including depreciation at Prusa-style recoupment rates (their published printer fees run $0.10–$0.36/hour) plus maintenance, a realistic all-machine figure is 15–60¢/hour depending on the printer class.
Why is my 3D printing cost more than the filament price?
Because filament is only one line item. A 1 kg spool costing $25 gives $0.025/gram — a 60 g print is $1.50 of plastic. Electricity, machine wear, failures, post-processing time and overhead commonly add another $1–2 on top. Pricing from material alone is the most common way home sellers lose money.
Should I include failed prints in cost?
Yes, if you sell prints. A 10% failure rate means every successful print secretly carries another 11% of a print’s worth of wasted material and machine time. The calculator amortises it properly: total ÷ (1 − failure rate).
What is printer depreciation and how do I estimate it?
Spread the purchase price over the hours the machine will actually print. A $500 printer expected to run 5,000 hours carries $0.10 of depreciation per printing hour — so a 6-hour print contributes 60¢. Budget mini printers recover faster per dollar but have shorter lifespans; enclosed pro machines justify a higher hourly recoupment.
How much electricity does a 3D printer use?
Most FDM printers draw 100–250 W on average (peak 300–400 W during heat-up). Running 24/7 for a month is roughly 3.6–7 kWh — often $0.60–$1.20 on US tariffs. Resin printers are lighter still, typically under 100 W average. Use a plug-in energy meter for your exact machine.
Is 2× or 3× markup right for 3D prints?
Cost ÷ (1 − desired margin), or a 2–3× multiplier as a starting point. 2× covers materials, machine and a little labour; 3× is the common handmade-goods starting point once marketplace fees (Etsy ~9–12%), shipping and returns enter the picture. Use the Profit Calculator to layer fees against a real price.
Does this calculator work for resin printing?
Yes — switch to resin and enter usage in ml (1 cm³ of model ≈ 1 ml displaced). Resin changes the economics: material per ml is dearer than filament per gram, machines depreciate faster (FEP films and UV screens wear), but print times per batch are often shorter.
More tools to try
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