3D print cost calculator
What a print costs you, and what to charge for it. Filament, machine time, your own hours and margin - the same calculation LayerFlow3D runs on a real order. Free, no sign-up, and the link remembers your numbers.
Assumes PLA at $25/kg, a 5% purge and waste allowance, and your own time at $12/h. Inside a workspace every one of these comes from your own spools, printers and settings.
What each number means
Filament used
What the slicer says the part weighs, not what the spool loses. Purge towers, brims and the odd failure are the waste allowance below, and pricing them at zero is the most common way a shop prints all month and makes nothing.
Print time
The slicer estimate is close enough. It matters because the machine is earning or idle for exactly that long, and because a twelve-hour print that ties up your only printer has a cost beyond its grams.
Your hands-on time
Levelling, removing supports, sanding, packing. The part of the job that is you rather than the machine, and the part almost every hobbyist-turned-business forgets to charge for.
Machine cost per hour
What an hour of that printer costs you once its purchase price, its expected life and its electricity are spread across the hours it will run. Work it out properly with the hourly rate calculator, or start at a few cents and refine.
Your margin
The multiplier on top of cost. Not profit in the bank: failed prints, reprints and the ones you quote and never make all come out of it.
Questions people ask
How much should I charge for a 3D print?
Add up what it costs you - filament including waste, the machine for the hours it runs, and your own time - then multiply by a margin that survives failures and reprints. The calculator does the first part; the margin is a business decision, and most shops land between 1.5x and 3x.
Why is my filament cost higher than the spool price suggests?
Because a spool does not all become parts. Purge towers, brims, skirts and failed prints come off the same spool, which is why this calculator adds a waste allowance before pricing the grams.
Should I charge for print time if I am not sitting there?
Yes. The printer is unavailable for other work, it is wearing out, and it is drawing power. That is what machine cost per hour is for, and ignoring it is how a print farm grows without ever becoming profitable.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Can I price a whole catalogue rather than one print at a time?
That is what LayerFlow3D itself is for. It uses this same costing on every order, with your own spool prices, your own printers and your own rates instead of the demo figures here.
Price your whole catalogue, not one print at a time
LayerFlow3D costs every order with your own spool prices, your own printers and your own rates - and keeps the queue, the stock and the shipping labels beside it.
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