Fabrication cost and quoting tool

3D Printing Cost Calculator

Estimate material, electricity, machine time, labor, failed-print allowance and selling price for one 3D-print job. Use the material and time reported by your slicer.

Currency symbolSymbol only; no exchange-rate conversion.

Successful parts in this job

Part material for the job (g)Total model material for all parts in this print job.

Supports, brim and purge (g)

Material price per kg

Extra material allowance (%)For purge, calibration or measured variation not already entered.

Printer and energy

Print time (hours)

Average printer power (W)

Electricity price per kWh

Printer purchase price

Depreciation life (print hours)Straight-line allocation only; not a tax schedule.

Maintenance per print hour

Labor, risk and pricing

Setup labor (minutes)

Post-processing labor (minutes)

Labor rate per hour

Full-attempt failure probability (%)Assumes a failed attempt consumes entered material, time, energy, machine and setup costs.

Consumables per successful job

Packaging per successful part

Other cost per successful job

Target profit margin (%)Selling price = cost ÷ (1 − margin).

Minimum job charge

Adjusted material—

Material cost—

Electricity use and cost—

Machine and maintenance—

Expected failure allowance—

Expected successful-job cost—

Cost per successful part—

Suggested price per part—

Suggested quote total—

3D-printing cost formulas

material cost = (part grams + support grams) × (1 + allowance) ÷ 1,000 × price per kg

electricity cost = print hours × average watts ÷ 1,000 × electricity price per kWh

machine allocation = printer price ÷ lifetime print hours × job print hours

Attempt costs include material, electricity, machine allocation, hourly maintenance and setup labor. With a full-attempt failure probability p, their expected cost is attempt cost ÷ (1 − p). Post-processing, consumables, packaging and other success-only costs are then added once.

price at target margin = cost per part ÷ (1 − target margin)

Checked example

Input group	Values
Job	4 parts; 180 g models; 20 g supports; 5% extra; $25/kg
Printer	10 h; 120 W; $0.18/kWh; $600 over 3,000 h; $0.10/h maintenance
Labor and risk	15 min setup; 20 min post; $20/h; 10% full-attempt failure probability
Success-only	$2 consumables; $0.50 packaging per part; $1 other
Pricing	30% target margin; $20 minimum job charge

The example uses 210 g after the material allowance. Expected successful-job cost is $26.63, or $6.66 per part. A 30% target margin gives $9.51 per part and a $38.04 quote. The minimum charge does not control because the margin-based quote is higher.

Limits and practical checks

Use slicer estimates and measure actual finished jobs. Purge towers, supports, failed adhesion and multi-material waste can change consumption.
Average printer power is not the power-supply nameplate rating. Measure energy when accuracy matters.
The failure model assumes every failed attempt consumes the full entered attempt cost. Partial failures require a different evidence-based allowance.
Straight-line machine allocation is a quoting model, not accounting, tax or resale-value advice.
Taxes, shipping, platform fees, design licensing, CAD time and commercial-use rights are not inferred. Enter applicable costs explicitly.
A target margin is not a guarantee of profit or market demand. Confirm the quote against actual costs, capacity and customer requirements.