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3D Printing Cost Calculator

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Enter your model's volume, infill, and material to find the filament weight, filament cost, and total print cost.

3D Printing Cost Calculator

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Filament weight
Filament cost
Electricity cost
Total print cost
Doesn't include printer depreciation, failed prints, or labor - add these separately if quoting a print job for someone else.

The formula

Effective volume = Model volume x (Infill % / 100) x (1 + Support % / 100) Filament weight = Effective volume x Material density Filament cost = Filament weight x (Spool price / Spool weight) Electricity cost = (Printer watts / 1000) x Print hours x Electricity rate Total cost = Filament cost + Electricity cost
Example

A 50cm³ PLA model at 20% infill with 15% support material, 4-hour print, 150W printer: filament weight ≈ 14.26g, filament cost ≈ $0.29, electricity ≈ $0.09 - total ≈ $0.38.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Enter your model's solid volume (most slicers show this directly) and select your material.
  2. Enter your infill percentage and expected support material as a percentage of extra filament.
  3. Enter your spool price/weight and print time/power to see the complete cost breakdown.

Why infill percentage doesn't scale cost the way people expect

A model isn't printed as a solid block - infill percentage determines how much of the INTERIOR is actually filled with plastic versus left as a lightweight internal lattice, which is why a 100% infill print can use vastly more filament (and cost far more) than the same model at a typical 15-20% infill, even though the OUTER shape and size are identical. This is also why doubling infill percentage doesn't double total cost - the outer walls and top/bottom layers are typically printed solid regardless of infill setting, so only the interior portion of the cost actually scales with the infill percentage.

Common mistakes

Forgetting support material entirely for models with significant overhangs - depending on geometry, supports can add a meaningful percentage to total filament use, not just a negligible amount.
Using the wrong material density - different filaments have meaningfully different densities, so switching material types without updating this value skews the weight and cost estimate.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find my model's solid volume?

Most slicing software (Cura, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio) displays the model's volume directly, or you can compare this calculator's weight output against your slicer's own filament estimate as a sanity check.

Does this account for failed prints?

No - this calculates the cost of a single successful print. If you're pricing a job for someone else, it's common practice to add a percentage markup to cover an expected failure rate (often cited around 5-20% depending on printer reliability and print complexity).

Why isn't printer depreciation included?

Printer wear-and-tear cost depends heavily on the specific machine's price and expected lifespan in hours, which varies too much to generalize - for a business quote, add your own estimated hourly machine cost on top of this calculator's filament and electricity figures.

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