Calculate the true cost of any print and find the right selling price for your work.
The total cost of a 3D print combines material cost, electricity, machine depreciation, and labor time. Material cost is the largest variable: multiply the filament used (in grams) by the price per gram. A standard 1 kg spool of PLA costs $15 to $25, making the per-gram cost roughly $0.015 to $0.025. A small figurine might use 20 to 50 grams of material ($0.30 to $1.25), while a large functional part could use 200 to 500 grams ($3 to $12.50).
PLA (polylactic acid) is the most affordable and popular filament, typically $15 to $25 per kilogram. PETG costs $18 to $30 per kg and offers better durability and heat resistance. ABS runs $15 to $25 per kg but requires a heated enclosure. Specialty filaments like carbon fiber-reinforced nylon ($40 to $80 per kg), flexible TPU ($25 to $50 per kg), and ASA ($25 to $40 per kg) cost significantly more but serve specific engineering requirements.
Resin printing (SLA/MSLA) uses liquid photopolymer resin instead of filament. Standard resin costs $25 to $45 per liter, with specialty resins (tough, flexible, castable, dental) ranging from $50 to $200 per liter. Resin prints are typically smaller than FDM prints but achieve much finer detail resolution, which is why resin is preferred for jewelry, dental models, miniatures, and detailed prototypes.
Electricity is often overlooked. A typical FDM printer draws 100 to 300 watts. A 10-hour print at 200 watts uses 2 kWh, costing roughly $0.34 at the national average rate. For occasional prints this is negligible, but a print farm running multiple printers 12 or more hours a day can accumulate meaningful electricity bills. The Electricity Cost Calculator can estimate ongoing power costs.
Machine depreciation matters for pricing print services. A $300 printer expected to last 2,000 print hours depreciates at $0.15 per hour. A $3,000 professional machine lasting 10,000 hours depreciates at $0.30 per hour. Failed prints are another hidden cost: a 10 to 15% failure rate across all prints (due to adhesion failures, filament tangles, or power outages) means that effective per-part cost is higher than the simple calculation suggests.
The sticker price of a 3D printer is just the beginning. The real cost per print depends on filament usage, electricity, printer depreciation, and time. PLA filament runs $15-25 per kilogram, while specialty materials like PETG, ABS, or nylon cost $25-60/kg. Resin for SLA printers is even pricier at $30-80 per liter.
Electricity costs are often overlooked. A typical FDM printer draws 100-300 watts. A 10-hour print at 200W costs about $0.34 in electricity at the national average rate. For resin printers, UV curing adds additional energy costs. Factor in failed prints (every hobbyist has them) and the true cost per successful print goes up by 10-20%.
This calculator accounts for all of these variables. Enter your material cost, print weight, time, power consumption, and failure rate to get the actual cost of your print, not just the filament price. Useful for pricing Etsy products, quoting custom jobs, or just understanding where your money goes.