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3DAI

3D Print Cost Calculator

To calculate 3D print cost, add material (grams ÷ 1000 × price per kg), electricity (watts × hours ÷ 1000 × kWh price), printer wear (printer price ÷ lifetime hours × print hours), a failed-print buffer and labour, then add your markup for the selling price. A 50 g, 3-hour PLA print costs about $1.49 before labour.

Free · no signup · filament and resin · works from an STL, 3MF or OBJ

The print (from your slicer)
Material
Electricity and printer
Labour, failures and price

The 3D print cost formula

Material
grams ÷ 1000 × price per kg × (1 + waste %)
Electricity
printer watts × print hours ÷ 1000 × price per kWh
Machine wear
printer price ÷ lifetime hours × print hours
Failure buffer
(material + electricity + wear) × failure rate %
Labour
your minutes ÷ 60 × hourly rate
Total cost
material + electricity + wear + failure buffer + labour + other costs
Selling price
total cost × (1 + markup %)

Filament length = grams ÷ density ÷ (π × (diameter ÷ 2)²). Resin: grams = ml × density. Print time from a model: printed volume ÷ average flow (filament), or layers × seconds per layer (resin).

Worked example: 50 g of PLA, 3 hours

PLA at $20/kg, a 120 W printer that cost $300 and lasts 3,000 hours, electricity at $0.18/kWh, 5% waste, 5% failures and 10 minutes of your time at $20/h. These are the calculator's example values; yours will differ.

Material50 g ÷ 1000 × $20 × 1.05$1.05
Electricity120 W × 3 h ÷ 1000 × $0.18$0.06
Machine wear$300 ÷ 3,000 h × 3 h$0.30
Failure buffer5% of material + electricity + wear$0.07
Labour10 min ÷ 60 × $20/h$3.33
Total cost$4.82
Selling price+ 20% markup$5.78

That is about 16.8 m of 1.75 mm filament. In this example the 10 minutes of labour cost more than the plastic, so count your time even for small prints.

Filament and resin density

Weight from a model = printed volume × density. These are typical datasheet values; brands differ, so use the number on your own spool or bottle when you have it (choose Custom).

MaterialDensity (g/cm³)Source
PLA1.24formfutura EasyFil PLA datasheet
PETG1.27YUMI filament tech specs (1.27-1.29)
ABS1.04Polymaker PolyLite ABS
ASA1.07typical datasheet value (Polymaker lists 1.13)
TPU1.21Polymaker PolyFlex TPU90
Nylon (PA12)1.01typical datasheet value
Standard resin1.1Elegoo standard resin TDS (1.05-1.25)

Sources: Polymaker technical data · YUMI filament tech specs (PDF) · Elegoo standard resin TDS (PDF)

Estimating from an STL: what the numbers mean

The calculator reads the mesh in your browser and adds up the volume of its triangles, which is exact for a closed (watertight) mesh. For filament it treats the outer 1.2 mm as solid walls and fills the inside at your infill %; for resin it uses the solid volume. Print time is printed volume ÷ an average flow you can change. A slicer knows your top and bottom layers, supports and travel moves, so for a quote, slice once and type the slicer's grams and time instead. If the file reports open edges, repair the STL first. To see only the volume and weight, use the STL volume calculator.

How to use the calculator

  1. 1

    Pick filament or resin

    Choose FDM (filament) or resin, your material and the currency you pay in.

  2. 2

    Add the job

    Type the grams and print time from your slicer, or drop an STL, 3MF or OBJ to estimate them from the model.

  3. 3

    Add your running costs

    Printer watts, electricity price, printer price and lifetime, failure rate and your labour. The defaults are examples; use your own.

  4. 4

    Read the price

    See every cost block, the total per print and a selling price with your markup. Your inputs are remembered in this browser.

Make a model to print

Describe an object or upload a photo and The3DAI makes a printable 3D model you can download as an STL, then price it here.

Text to STLImage to 3D

Frequently Asked Questions

Add five parts: material (grams ÷ 1000 × price per kg), electricity (watts × hours ÷ 1000 × price per kWh), printer wear (printer price ÷ lifetime hours × print hours), a failure buffer and labour. With $20/kg PLA, a 120 W printer, $0.18/kWh and a $300 printer that lasts 3,000 hours, a 50 g, 3-hour print costs $1.49 before labour.
Most desktop FDM printers draw roughly 100-150 W on average while printing; enclosed printers with a heated chamber draw more. At 120 W, a 3-hour print uses 0.36 kWh, which is $0.06 at $0.18 per kWh. In that example electricity is the smallest part of the cost; filament and printer wear are bigger.
Yes. Drop the STL, 3MF or OBJ on the calculator. It measures the mesh volume and surface area in your browser, takes the walls as surface area × wall thickness, fills the rest at your infill %, and multiplies by the material density to get grams. It is an estimate: your slicer also adds top and bottom layers, supports and brims, so use the slicer number for exact quotes.
For filament, time = printed volume ÷ average flow. A hotend can melt about 10-15 mm³/s at most, but the average over a whole print is much lower because of slower perimeters, travel moves and acceleration, so the calculator starts at 3 mm³/s. That start value is our assumption: compare one print with your slicer and set your own. For resin, time = (model height ÷ layer height) × seconds per layer.
Length = weight ÷ density ÷ the filament's cross-section. For PLA (1.24 g/cm³), 1 kg of 1.75 mm filament is about 335 m and 1 kg of 2.85 mm filament is about 126 m. Denser materials give fewer metres per kg.
Start from the total cost, including your own time for preparing, removing supports and packing, then add a markup for profit. The Prusa price calculator starts at a 20% markup; sellers on marketplaces also add the platform fee and shipping. The calculator shows the selling price for any markup you enter.