3D Printing Price Calculator
The 3D printing price calculator below works out what a print actually costs you, filament, electricity, machine wear, and labor, then gives you a suggested selling price. Nothing you enter here is uploaded anywhere.
Sample calculation
A 45g print, 3h15m, $22/kg filament, 30 minutes of labor:
| Cost factor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Material cost | $1.08 |
| Electricity cost | $0.08 |
| Machine wear cost | $0.35 |
| Prep-time cost (15 min) | $5.43 |
| Post-process-time cost (15 min) | $5.43 |
| True cost (with 8% failure buffer) | $12.38 |
| Suggested price (50% markup) | $18.56 |
Full interactive calculator below, adjust any input to get your own numbers.
Calculator
Estimates only, not a guarantee of your actual costs or a competitor's price. Verify utility rates and material prices for your area.
How it works
- Enter your filament numbers. Spool price and spool weight give the calculator a cost per gram; filament used comes straight from your slicer.
- Add your print time. Hours and minutes drive the electricity and machine-wear portions of the cost.
- Open Advanced settings if you want more precision. Power draw, electricity rate, labor time, and a failure buffer are all editable, sensible defaults are already filled in.
- Read the result. You get the true cost to print, a suggested price based on your markup or margin, and a breakdown of exactly where the cost comes from.
Worked example
Say you're printing a 45g part that takes 3 hours 15 minutes, using a $22 spool. With only filament, electricity, and machine wear counted (no labor charged), the calculator puts the true cost at $1.51, so a 50% markup suggests a $2.26 price.
Now add 30 minutes of labor at $20/hour, design tweaks, bed leveling, cleanup, whatever it takes. The true cost jumps to $12.38, and the suggested price moves to $18.56. Material is still only 8.7% of that cost. Labor is 87.8% of it.
This is the single most common mistake in maker pricing: charging for filament and calling it done. If your time has any value at all, the calculator's labor field is where the real cost shows up.
What actually drives your cost
On short prints with real labor involved, labor dominates. On long, hands-off prints (an overnight print you just start and walk away from), material and machine wear carry more of the weight, and the failure buffer matters more too, since a failed 8-hour print costs more than a failed 20-minute one. The calculator applies your failure rate as a division across your successful prints rather than a flat add-on, which is the more accurate way to spread that cost, since it accounts for the fact that a percentage of prints fail and their material and time are lost entirely.
Related guides
How Much Does 3D Printing Cost?
Filament, electricity, machine wear, failed prints, and labor, with real example numbers.
GuideIs 3D Printing Cheaper Than Buying?
When printing actually beats buying off the shelf, and when mass production still wins.
GuideHow to Price 3D Prints for Selling
Markup vs. margin, and how marketplace fees like Etsy's factor into your price.
GuideHow to Calculate Filament Cost Per Gram
The exact formula, plus the net-vs-gross spool weight trap that throws it off.
GuideHow Much Electricity Does a 3D Printer Use?
Typical wattage by printer type, and why power usage is rarely the real cost driver.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the filament weight for my print?
Your slicer (Cura, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio, and most others) shows an estimated filament weight in grams once you slice the model. Use that number, it already accounts for supports and infill.
What's the difference between markup and margin?
Markup adds a percentage on top of your cost: a 50% markup on a $10 cost is $15. Margin sets a percentage of the final price as profit: a 50% margin on a $10 cost is $20, since $10 needs to be 50% of the final price. Margin always produces a higher price than the same percentage of markup. The calculator lets you switch between the two under Advanced settings.
Why does the calculator ask for my failure rate?
Some percentage of prints fail, warping, stringing, a power blip, whatever it is. The material and machine time on a failed print are still a real cost. Spreading that cost across your successful prints (rather than ignoring it) is what the failure buffer does. If you want your own number instead of the 8% default, see how to calculate your failure rate.
Does this work for resin printing?
Yes. Treat the "spool price" and "spool weight" fields as your resin bottle price and bottle weight (or volume) instead, the math is the same. Resin printers typically draw less power than FDM printers, so adjust the wattage field under Advanced settings if you know your printer's actual draw.
What about multi-color or AMS prints?
This calculator handles one filament at a time. For a print using several colors or spools, with a purge-waste factor built in, use the Filament Cost Calculator instead.
Can I get a more precise electricity estimate?
This calculator uses one flat wattage figure for the whole print. For named printer presets, heat-up phase modeling, and a peak vs off-peak comparison, use the Electricity Cost Calculator instead.
I want a standing hourly rate instead of pricing each print
Use the Cost-per-Hour Calculator to build one reusable machine-hour rate from your printer's numbers, checked against typical market rates, instead of recalculating from scratch for every job.
What about sanding, priming, and painting?
This calculator prices the print itself. For finishing supplies on display-quality or cosplay builds, sandpaper, filler primer, paint, clear coat, use the Cosplay & Prop Finishing Calculator and add the two totals together.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser with plain JavaScript. Nothing you type into this calculator is uploaded, stored, or sent to a server.
About the author
Cedrick Reese founded Ready Utilities to build free, user-friendly online tools that simplify everyday tasks. His path started in the early 2000s with affiliate marketing and niche site development, which grew into a passion for practical digital utilities and calculators. After retiring from the military, he earned a Computer Systems Technician certificate from UEI College, completed Electro-Mechanical Technologies at Tulsa Welding School, and finished the Carpentry program at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Today he combines that technical background with traditional woodworking, gardening, and building tools like this one. Read more about Ready Utilities.
This calculator provides cost estimates for informational purposes and isn't a substitute for your own bookkeeping. Some links on this site may be affiliate links; see our affiliate disclosure.