Boneyard Tools

3D Print Cost Calculator

Work out what a print really costs by adding filament, electricity, machine wear and labor, then applying an optional markup. Enter the grams and hours from your slicer along with your spool price and power rate, and the calculator breaks each component out and sums them to a total. Leave any field at zero to skip that cost and price a quick hobby print or a full commissioned job.

How to price a 3D print job

  1. Enter the Filament used in grams from your slicer and your Spool price per kilogram.
  2. Set the Print time in hours, your Printer power in watts and your Electricity rate per kWh.
  3. Add a Machine wear figure per hour to cover nozzles, belts and other consumables.
  4. Enter Labor time and Labor rate if you charge for handling or design.
  5. Set a Markup percent, then read the six-card breakdown and the Total.
  6. Click Copy to grab the total print cost as text.

Examples

Hobby print, no markup

50 g at $25/kg, 5 h, 150 W, $0.15/kWh, $0.50/h wear, no labor, 0% markup
Filament $1.25, electricity $0.11, wear $2.50, subtotal $3.86, total $3.86

Same job with 50% markup

Identical inputs but Markup set to 50%
Subtotal $3.86 and total $5.79

Small commission with labor

100 g at $25/kg, 8 h, 150 W, $0.15/kWh, $0.50/h wear, 0.5 h labor at $20/h, 30% markup
Subtotal $16.68 and total $21.68

Frequently asked questions

What goes into the total print cost?

Four components: filament (grams divided by 1000, times price per kg), electricity (watts divided by 1000, times hours, times price per kWh), machine wear (per-hour rate times hours) and labor (hours times rate). Those add to a subtotal, then the markup is applied to give the total.

How do I set machine wear per hour?

Estimate the nozzles, belts, bearings, fans and build surfaces you replace over the printer's life, add the purchase price if you want it amortized, then divide by the hours you expect to run it. A common rough figure sits between $0.30 and $1.00 per hour.

Why apply a markup?

Markup covers failed prints, post-processing, packaging and your profit. The subtotal is your raw cost to make the part, while the total is what you would actually charge a customer to stay sustainable.

Should I include design time?

If you modeled the part yourself, count that time in the labor field. For repeat prints of an existing model you can leave design time out and bill only the handling and finishing hours.

Where do I find the filament grams and print hours?

Your slicer reports both after you slice the model. Programs like PrusaSlicer, Cura and OrcaSlicer show the estimated filament weight in grams and the estimated print time, which you copy straight into the fields here.

How is electricity calculated and does it matter much?

It uses average power draw, so a 150 W printer running 5 hours at $0.15 per kWh costs about 11 cents. On most jobs electricity is a small line next to filament and wear, but it grows for long prints, heated chambers or high energy tariffs.

Are the numbers rounded?

The components are computed at full precision so the parts sum exactly, and only the on-screen values are shown to the cent. That is why a subtotal like $3.86 can become $5.79 rather than $5.80 once a 50% markup is applied.

Does this cover resin or multi-material prints?

It is built around filament weight, so it fits FDM printing best. You can approximate resin by entering resin grams and a per-kg resin price, but it does not model wash, cure or IPA costs separately.

Is anything sent to a server?

No. The whole calculation runs in your browser, so your pricing inputs stay on your device and nothing is uploaded or saved.

Learn more

  • How to price 3D prints for customers

    A practical pricing method for makers: cost the print from filament to labor, choose a fair markup, and quote profitably without scaring buyers off.

Related tools