3D Print Cost Calculator
Enter what your slicer tells you (grams and hours) and get the true cost of the print, broken down layer by layer. Add wear, labour and a markup to see what to charge.
How it's calculated
material = grams / 1000 × price per kg electricity = watts × hours / 1000 × rate per kWh depreciation = printer price / lifetime hours × hours labour = minutes / 60 × hourly rate subtotal = material + electricity + depreciation + maintenance + labour + post-processing + consumables true cost = subtotal / (1 − failure rate) price = true cost × (1 + markup)
- Filament is priced pro-rata from the spool price. If you only know the length, pick the material and we convert metres to grams using its density.
- Electricity uses the printer's average draw while printing. Pick your printer for a measured figure, or type your own.
- Depreciation spreads the printer price over its useful life (5,000 hours by default, roughly three years of regular use).
- The failure-rate allowance is the part most calculators skip: if 1 in 10 prints fails, each good print really costs 1/0.9 of its nominal cost.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to 3D print something?
For a typical 50 g PLA part printed in 4 hours, filament is about $1.00 (at $20/kg) and electricity about $0.07, so under $1.10 before wear and labour. Larger, slower or exotic-material prints scale from there — the calculator above gives the exact number for your inputs.
Where do I find grams and hours?
Every slicer shows them after slicing: Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer on the right-hand panel under “Filament” and “Total time”; PrusaSlicer in the Sliced Info box; Cura at the bottom-right of the preview.
What markup should I use for selling prints?
Hobby sellers typically use 100–300% on the true cost; businesses price on value and the market instead. Use the marketplace pricing tool to add Etsy or eBay fees on top.
Should I include the printer price?
If you sell prints, yes — a $600 printer run for 5,000 hours costs $0.12 per hour before any maintenance. For personal use most people ignore it.