What goes into the cost of a 3D print
A print costs more than the plastic. The calculator adds up these, for each piece:
- Filament: grams used, times what you paid per gram, plus a little setup waste.
- Machine time: the printer's price spread over its useful life, plus wear on parts such as nozzles.
- Electricity: the printer's watts, times hours printed, times your price per kilowatt-hour.
- Labor: the minutes you spend preparing, watching and finishing, at your hourly rate.
- Failed prints: an allowance, because some prints fail and the good ones have to pay for them.
- Overhead and one-time costs: rent, software and selling fees if you include them, and a model license or design time if the print needs one.
Then it adds your profit margin to get a price.
How the price is worked out
The price is the cost divided by one minus your margin. At a 40% margin, the price is the cost divided by 0.6. That is a margin on the price: 40% of what the customer pays is profit. It is not the same as adding 40% to the cost (a markup), which gives a smaller profit. The how to price 3D prints guide shows the difference with numbers.
A worked example
A 50 g print that takes 4 hours on a $600 printer, with filament at $20 for a 1 kg spool, power at 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, 15 minutes of your time at $20 an hour, a 5% failure allowance and a 40% margin:
| Cost | Per piece |
|---|---|
| Filament | $1.00 |
| Setup waste | $0.06 |
| Electricity | $0.07 |
| Printer depreciation | $0.48 |
| Machine wear | $0.04 |
| Labor | $5.00 |
| Failed-print allowance | $0.35 |
| Cost per piece | $7.00 |
| Price per piece at 40% margin | $11.67 |
| Profit per piece | $4.67 |
So the print costs $7.00 to make, sells for $11.67, and leaves $4.67 profit. Notice that labor is the biggest line here, not the filament. For many prints, time costs more than material, which is why a flat price per gram usually underprices long or fiddly jobs.
What the free level and the paid levels add
The demo above is free and needs no signup. The Free level keeps 5 saved quotes, 1 printer and 2 filaments. Paid levels start at $10 a month with a 14-day free trial, and add saved customer quotes you can send as a PDF or a link, reading sliced 3MF files, several models in one quote, quantity-break pricing and payback reports. See the plans.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out the cost of a 3D print?
Add the filament, machine time, electricity, labor, a failed-print allowance and any overhead for one piece. That is your cost. Divide it by one minus your margin to get a price. The calculator on this page does it from your own numbers.
What margin should I use for 3D prints?
There is no standard answer. It depends on what your market pays and what you need to earn. Try a margin in the calculator, look at the profit it leaves per piece and per hour, and check the price against similar items.
Does the calculator include failed prints?
Yes. You set a failure rate, and the cost is raised so the prints that work pay for the ones that do not. In the example above, 5% is included.
Does it work with Bambu Studio and Orca files?
On the Plus level and above it reads a sliced 3MF file and fills in print time and filaments for you. On the Free level you type the time and grams from your slicer.
Is it free?
The demo on this page is free with no signup, and there is a free level with limits. Paid levels start at $10 a month, with a 14-day free trial.
Price your next print from your own costs
Try the free calculator with no signup, or pick a plan with saved quotes, customer PDFs and more.