3D printing / Cost
3D Print Cost Calculator: Filament, Electricity, and Price to Charge
Add up the cost of a 3D print from the grams of filament and the print time your slicer shows: filament as a share of the spool price, electricity from the printer's power draw, machine wear, labour, an allowance for failed prints, and a markup for the price to charge.
3D Print Cost Calculator: Filament, Electricity, and Price to Charge: 50 g from a 20 spool of 1 kg costs 1.00 in filament; 4 hours at 120 W is 0.48 kWh, or 0.14 at 0.30 a kWh; 0.25 an hour of machine wear adds 1.00. With a 10% allowance for failed prints, the print costs 2.36. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Everyday tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Filament is charged by weight, as a share of the spool price; your slicer shows the grams and the time before you print. Electricity is the printer's average draw, often 70 to 150 W for a desktop printer with a heated bed, times the hours. Machine wear spreads the printer's price and spare parts over its working life: a 600 printer lasting 3,000 hours costs 0.20 an hour. The failure allowance covers prints that have to be repeated.
Machine wear
Divide what the printer cost, plus the nozzles, belts, and build plates you expect to replace, by the hours it will print in its life: a 600 printer lasting 3,000 hours costs 0.20 an hour.
Filament by length
If your slicer shows metres instead of grams, convert them with the filament length and weight converter.
How to use it
- Enter the grams and print time from your slicer.
- Enter the spool price, power draw, and electricity price.
- Add wear, labour, failure allowance, and markup.
Privacy & limitations
Everything is calculated in your browser.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find the grams and the time?
Your slicer shows both after slicing, in the preview or the print summary, before you send the file to the printer.
How much power does a 3D printer use?
A desktop printer with a heated bed often averages 70 to 150 W once warm, more while heating up; a plug-in power meter gives the real figure for your printer.
What markup should I use?
It depends on design time, finishing, and your market; many sellers charge two to four times the cost for small parts.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required