PLAN YOUR NEXT PRINT

3D printing cost calculator

Turn your slicer estimates into a clearer cost per usable part. Start with filament and electricity, then add allowances that fit your own experience.

The starting values are illustrative, not measured printer results or current prices. All money inputs and outputs use USD. Replace the examples with your own costs. Your entries stay in this page and are not saved.

1. Filament and print time

Slicer material estimate (g)

Include supports, brims, and purge waste for the whole job.

Spool price (USD)

Use what you paid; include delivery if you want it counted.

Net filament on spool (g)

Use filament weight, without the empty spool or packaging.

Print duration (hours)

Use decimal hours: 1 hour 30 minutes is 1.5.

2. Electricity

Average printing power (W)

Use a measured average when available, not the maximum power rating.

Electricity price (USD / kWh)

Use your own electricity rate.

3. Waste and failed attempts

Extra material allowance (%)

Leave at 0 if your slicer estimate includes all material. This adds only uncounted material.

Share of attempts that fail (%)

0 means no retry allowance. Each failed attempt is assumed to consume a full job’s material, electricity, and machine time.

A 20% failed-attempt rate means 8 successes per 10 attempts on average, so costs are divided by 0.8. It is not a 20% cost markup. This can overestimate losses if failed prints usually stop early.

Include an optional share of the printer purchase cost

4. Printer purchase cost allocation

Printer purchase cost (USD)

The amount you want to allocate across its printing life.

Expected printing life (hours)

Your budgeting assumption, not a manufacturer lifespan claim.

Purchase cost ÷ expected printing hours gives a simple hourly allowance. It does not include maintenance or resale value.

Illustrative cost per usable part

$1.92

Filament: $1.80
Electricity: $0.12
Printer purchase allowance: $0.00
Cost of one attempt: $1.92
Average attempts per success: 1
Material per attempt: 75 g
Energy per attempt: 0.6 kWh

Estimate only. Labor, maintenance, design work, licensing, packaging, taxes, shipping, and profit are excluded. This is not a selling-price recommendation.

Change the inputs, then select Calculate my print cost to update this estimate.

Read the guide to print costs

How the calculation works

Material per attempt: slicer grams × (1 + extra material percentage ÷ 100).
Filament cost: material per attempt ÷ net spool grams × spool price.
Electricity: average watts ÷ 1,000 × print hours × price per kWh.
Optional printer allowance: printer purchase cost ÷ expected printing-life hours × print hours.
Expected cost per usable part: the sum of those three costs ÷ (1 − failed-attempt percentage ÷ 100).

The retry model assumes the same success rate on each attempt and that each failure consumes a full attempt’s resources. It estimates a long-run average, not a guarantee for one print. It assumes the job yields one usable part; for a batch, divide by the number of acceptable parts produced. Additional material allowance affects filament only. Values are calculated before rounding money to cents.

With the starting values: 75 g ÷ 1,000 g × $24 = $1.80 in filament. 100 W ÷ 1,000 × 6 hours × $0.20 = $0.12 in electricity. With no machine or retry allowance, the total is $1.92.

Build a record of your own results

Download the print log template (CSV). Record one row per attempt, including failed prints. Track actual material and energy, the setting you changed, and the outcome. The template contains headings and an empty row, with no invented test results.

Keep learning with the print-cost guide, first-layer checklist, and first-print walkthrough.