What does this print really cost?
Bring the time and material from your slicer. Add power and hands-on work to see where the cost goes.
Use this currency for every price. Switching currency only changes the label; no exchange rates are applied.
Inputs
- Material used per attempt
- 80 g
- Usable filament per full spool
- 1000 g
- Price per full spool
- 25 USD
- Print time per attempt
- 4 h
- Average printer power
- 120 W
- Electricity price
- 0.20 USD / kWh
- Preparation + post-processing
- 15 min
- Labor rate
- 20 USD / h
- Machine allowance
- 0.50 USD / h
The math is part of the tool.
Cost = (g ÷ spool g × spool price) + (h × W ÷ 1000 × electricity rate) + (labor min ÷ 60 × labor rate) + (h × machine rate)
For 80 g from a 1,000 g spool priced at 25, a 4-hour print at 120 W and 0.20/kWh uses 2.00 of filament and 0.096 of electricity. Add 15 minutes of labor at 20/h and a 0.50/h machine allowance: total 9.096, shown as 9.10. Every money value uses your chosen currency.
- Copy total filament grams and print time from the slicer, including supports and purge.
- Enter your spool price, average power, electricity rate and optional machine allowance.
- Add hands-on labor, review each cost and export or print the estimate.
Can you calculate cost from an STL?
No. An STL does not tell us your layer height, infill, supports, printer speed or waste. Use estimates from your slicer and update them from actual prints.
What belongs in machine allowance?
You can include an hourly allowance for maintenance, wear and equipment recovery. It is optional and does not include the separately entered electricity or labor.
Why use average watts?
A printer's power supply rating is a maximum capacity. Actual average draw varies with warm-up, temperatures, enclosure and printer; a power meter gives a more useful input.
Does this include tax or shipping?
No. Add taxes, packaging, delivery, marketplace fees and any other business costs separately before quoting a customer.
Three tools. One honest estimate.
Start with one part, check your spool, then price a batch.
Print cost
Calculate a print's filament, electricity, labor and machine allowance from slicer mass, time and your workshop rates.
Open calculatorFilament & spool
Convert 3D printing filament grams and metres using diameter and editable density. Estimate remaining spool length and whole parts.
Open calculatorBatch quote
Estimate a 3D printing batch quote with failed attempts, setup and finishing labor, production cost and target gross margin.
Open calculator