Craft & Making
Resin Print Cost Calculator
Enter model volume, resin price and print time to see material and energy cost.
What does a resin print cost?
Resin 3D prints are dominated by material cost: millilitres from the slicer (including supports) times price per litre, plus a small electricity term from printer watts × hours × your kWh rate. Optional extras cover failed prints, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), gloves or a share of FEP film wear. Hollow models with drain holes use less resin than solid ones — trust the hollowed volume, not the bounding box. Desktop printers usually spend more on resin than on power for a single part; amortising the machine itself is optional and not included unless you fold it into extras. Compare filament economics with the FDM 3D print cost calculator.
Worked example
45 ml at £35/L → £1.58 resin. A 60 W printer for 4 h at £0.28/kWh → £0.07 electricity. With £0.50 extras, total ≈ £2.14 (~£0.048 per ml).
Limits and assumptions
Does not amortise printer purchase, enclosure or workshop time unless entered as extras. Post-cure UV energy is omitted by default.
Frequently asked questions
Should supports be in the volume?
Yes — use the slicer’s supported resin volume so you are not under-buying material.
What is IPA in this context?
Isopropyl alcohol, commonly used to wash uncured resin off prints. Put wash consumables in extras if you want them in the unit cost.
Hollow versus solid — which volume?
Enter the hollowed estimate with drain holes; solid volume overstates cost for shell models.
How do I cost a batch on one plate?
Sum all parts’ resin volumes (and share print time) or multiply a single-part result by the count.