How do I calculate filament cost for a print?

Divide the spool price by its weight to get a price per gram (a $25, 1 kg spool is $0.025/g), then multiply by the grams the slicer reports for the print, including supports and the skirt or brim. For example, 40 g at $0.025/g is $1.00 of filament.

Do I need to include failed prints in the cost?

Yes. Even reliable setups fail occasionally, and a failure wastes filament, time and electricity. Rather than costing each failure, add a buffer to your markup (for example, if about 1 in 10 prints fails, build roughly 10% into your margin) so successful jobs cover the losses.

How to Calculate 3D Printing Cost (With Formula)

Q: How much does it cost to 3D print something?

For a typical small FDM print the raw cost is often only $1-5: filament is roughly $0.02-0.06 per gram, and electricity is a few cents per hour. The cost that matters for a business adds machine depreciation, maintenance, failed prints and your labour on top, which usually lands a small print in the $3-10 cost range before any markup.

Q: How much electricity does a 3D printer use?

A typical desktop FDM printer draws roughly 70-150 watts while printing (more with a heated bed or enclosure). At 0.1 kW average and $0.30 per kWh, a 5-hour print costs about $0.15 in electricity — small per print, but real, and easiest to roll into your hourly machine rate.

The short answer

Add up four things: material (filament grams × price per gram), machine time (print hours × an hourly rate that includes electricity, wear and depreciation), labour (setup, plating, support removal and finishing), and a buffer for failed prints. That total is your cost. For example, a 40 g part at $0.025/g is $1.00 of material; a 4-hour print at a $1.50/hour machine rate adds $6.00; 15 minutes of labour at $12/hour adds $3.00; and a 10% buffer for failed prints on the $10.00 subtotal brings the true cost to about $11.00. What you charge on top of it is a separate decision — see how much to charge for 3D printing.

The four cost components

1. Material

Get a price per gram by dividing the spool price by its weight — a $25, 1 kg spool is $0.025/g. Multiply by the grams your slicer reports for the model, and include supports, skirt and brim: they consume filament even though they're thrown away. Pricier engineering filaments (nylon, PC, carbon-fibre blends) cost several times more per gram than basic PLA, so material can't be a fixed assumption.

2. Machine time (electricity, wear, depreciation)

The single biggest hidden cost. Roll three things into one hourly rate:

Electricity — a desktop FDM printer averages roughly 0.07–0.15 kW while printing (Prusa Research specs; typical range confirmed by Bambu Lab). At US average rates (~$0.13/kWh residential, EIA 2024) that's only a few cents an hour — European rates run higher (~$0.25–0.35/kWh), so adjust to your region.
Maintenance & consumables — nozzles, belts, PEI sheets, lubricant. Estimate an annual figure and divide by your printing hours.
Depreciation — a $500 printer over, say, 3 years of useful life is part of every hour it runs.

Bundle these into a single hourly machine rate (often somewhere around $1–3/hour for a desktop machine) so you don't have to itemise them per job.

3. Labour

Your time isn't free. Slicing, plating, starting the print, removing it, cutting away supports, sanding or finishing, and packing all take minutes that add up. Put an hourly labour rate on this and estimate the minutes per job.

4. Failed prints

Even a dialled-in setup fails sometimes — a knocked part, a clog, a power blip. A failure wastes filament, time and electricity. Don't cost each failure individually; instead build a buffer into your markup (if roughly 1 in 10 prints fails, that's about 10%).

The cost formula

Cost formula

material = grams × price‑per‑gram
machine = print‑hours × hourly‑rate
cost = material + machine + labour (+ failure buffer)

A worked example

A 40 g PLA part with a 4-hour print time:

Component	Maths	Amount
Material	40 g × $0.025/g	$1.00
Machine time	4 h × $1.50/h	$6.00
Labour	15 min @ $12/h	$3.00
Subtotal		$10.00
Failure buffer	+10%	$1.00
Total cost		$11.00

That $11 is your cost, not your price. Apply your markup on top to get the customer-facing number.

Finding your own numbers

Price per gram: spool price ÷ spool weight, per filament type you stock.
Hourly machine rate: add a year of electricity, maintenance and depreciation, then divide by your realistic annual printing hours.
Grams and print time: read straight from your slicer — or, for customer uploads, derive them automatically from the model's geometry.

The hard part: doing this per customer file

The formula is simple; running it for every customer's model by hand is not. You'd have to import each upload into a slicer, guess the settings, wait for the estimate, and copy numbers back — for every quote. That's slow, inconsistent, and the customer is often gone before you reply.

Cost every upload automatically

Filaquote derives weight, volume and estimated print time directly from each uploaded STL, 3MF, STEP or OBJ, then applies your per-gram and hourly rates to return a finished cost — and price — instantly, with a live 3D preview. No slicer round-trip, no copy-paste.

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FAQ

How much does it cost to 3D print something?

For a typical small FDM print the raw material-plus-electricity cost is often only $1–5. For a business, adding machine depreciation, maintenance, failed prints and labour usually lands a small print in the $3–10 cost range before any markup.

How do I calculate filament cost?

Divide spool price by spool weight for a price per gram, then multiply by the grams the slicer reports — including supports and brim. A 40 g print from a $25/kg spool is $1.00 of filament.

How much electricity does a 3D printer use?

Roughly 70–150 W while printing (Prusa Research; Bambu Lab). At 0.1 kW average, a 5-hour print costs around $0.07 at US average rates (EIA, 2024) or $0.15–0.18 at European rates — easiest to fold into your hourly machine rate.