Craft & Making
3D Print Cost Calculator
Weigh the print, add power and an hourly machine rate to see a true cost.
What does a 3D print cost?
Hobby and small-business 3D printing costs more than filament alone. Grams of material, hours of machine time, electricity and failed reprints all belong in the quote if you sell prints or want honest hobby budgeting. Pull gram and time estimates from your slicer, then add a machine rate that recovers the printer, enclosure upgrades and expected nozzle or belt maintenance over its useful life. Set the machine rate to zero if you only care about filament and power for a personal project log. Failure reprints are easier to model as extra grams or hours than as a vague contingency percentage that nobody can defend later. Specialty filaments (carbon-filled, flexible TPU, silk PLA) often cost several times basic PLA per gram and may need slower speeds, so re-run the estimate when the material changes. For craft pricing more broadly, see Etsy profit when you sell online, or product profit for a channel-agnostic unit view. Estimates only — not a formal job quote or tax cost of goods.
Worked example
A 48 g PLA print at £22 per kg is about £1.06 in filament. Six hours of print time at a £1.50 machine rate adds £9.00; electricity at 0.12 kWh/h and 28p/kWh adds about 20p. One failed first attempt that wasted 15 g and two hours adds roughly another £3.30. A retailable quote near £14–£18 before packaging and platform fees is more honest than pricing from filament alone at a couple of pounds.
Limits and assumptions
Slicer estimates can miss supports you delete, brim waste and humidity-ruined spools. Machine rate is a planning recovery figure, not capital allowances. Post-processing (sanding, priming, resin coating) is omitted unless you add labour hours. Not a BSI or CE marking cost model for products you place on the market.
Frequently asked questions
How do I estimate filament cost?
Multiply grams used by the price per gram of your spool (spool price ÷ spool grams). Weigh scraps if your slicer under-reports.
What is a fair machine hourly rate?
Divide purchase price plus expected maintenance by the hours you expect to print over the printer’s life, then add a small buffer for downtime.
Should I charge for failed prints?
If you sell prints, yes — either in the rate or as a scrap allowance. Hobby logs can track failures separately without inflating a personal project budget.
How should I price multi-colour or AMS prints?
Sum filament grams per colour at each spool’s price, and allow extra purge or tower waste from the slicer report.
Does bed adhesion spray or glue stick matter?
Per print the cash is tiny; fold consumables into the machine rate if you use them on every job.