Print Cost Calculator

Estimate the true cost of a 3D print including all hidden costs.

Material cost ($)

Print time (hours)

Printer power (watts)

Electricity cost ($/kWh)

Printer purchase price ($)

Printer lifespan (hours)

Failure rate (%)

Material —

Electricity —

Printer depreciation —

Failure cost adjustment —

Total cost per print —

True cost = material + electricity + (printer price / lifetime hours × print hours) + failure adjustment. For selling prints, add your desired margin on top.

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The True Cost of 3D Printing

The cost of a 3D print goes beyond filament. Electricity, printer wear, failed prints, and your time all factor in. This calculator gives you the full picture.

Most hobbyists underestimate costs by 40-60% when they only count filament. Printer depreciation alone typically adds $0.10-0.30 per hour of printing.

Total print cost = filament cost + electricity cost + machine wear amortization. Filament cost = weight used (g) × price per gram. PLA costs approximately $15–25/kg ($0.015–0.025/g); engineering materials (PETG, ASA, PA) run $25–50/kg; specialty filaments (CF-nylon, flexible TPU) $40–100+/kg.

Electricity cost: a typical desktop FDM printer (Prusa MK4, Bambu X1) draws 150–300W while printing. A 4-hour print at 200W = 0.8 kWh × $0.13/kWh = $0.10 in electricity. For most hobbyist prints, electricity cost is negligible compared to filament cost.

Machine wear amortization: divide the printer purchase price by its expected print hours. A $600 printer rated for 5,000 hours = $0.12/hour. A 4-hour print adds $0.48 of machine cost. This is often ignored but matters for print-on-demand services pricing their work to make a profit.

Commercial pricing: print service bureaus typically charge $2–8/cm³ of printed volume for FDM, and $10–50/cm³ for resin/SLA. If you need only a few prints, a service bureau is almost always cheaper than purchasing a printer. The break-even point for a $400 printer is roughly 50–100 hours of printing at a $4/hour commercial rate.