3D printing cost calculator

What a print really costs - material, power, machine, labour and failed prints. Everything is calculated in your browser; no data is sent anywhere.

Fill in the figures automatically

If you do not have the numbers at hand: pick your machine, read a print file - the rest follows. Both steps are optional; you can enter everything by hand instead.

Pick your machine

Pre-fills purchase price and power draw. Both stay editable.

Read a print file

Choose file or drop it here G-code (.gcode, .gco, .g) or STL

The file is read inside your browser and never uploaded.

Material

Filament price

€/kg

What the spool cost per kilogram.

Material used

Your slicer shows this, usually next to the print time.

Surcharge for supports and purge

Much higher with tool changes on an AMS - 15 to 30 percent is normal there.

Print time

Hours

Minutes

min

The slicer estimate is good enough. For multi-colour prints use the time including tool changes, not the one without.

Power

Average power draw

Not the peak figure from the label. An enclosed FDM printer averages 100 to 150 watts; open frames draw less.

Electricity price

€/kWh

Your working price per kilowatt hour.

Machine

Purchase price

€

Printer including accessories you use permanently.

Maintenance and wear parts

€

Estimated over the whole service life: nozzles, belts, plates, fans.

Expected service life

In printing hours. 3,000 to 5,000 hours is a common assumption.

Labour

Preparation and finishing

min

Slicing, clearing the plate, removing supports, packing.

Your hourly rate

€/h

Even for private printing, your time is not free.

Failed prints and margin

Failure rate

Share of prints that fail. Added as a surcharge on all costs above.

Margin

Leave at zero if you only want the cost price.

VAT

Show 19 percent VAT

Leave off if you are exempt from VAT as a small business.

Result

Material: –
Power: –
Machine: –
Labour: –
Failed prints: –
Cost price: –
Margin: –
Net price: –
VAT: –

Final price –

–per printing hour

–per gram

When signed in you can save calculations and store your printers: Sign up

How it is calculated

No hidden magic - every formula is listed here:

Material = weight times surcharge, divided by 1,000, times price per kilogram
Power = watts divided by 1,000, times print time, times electricity price
Machine = purchase plus maintenance, divided by service life, times print time
Labour = minutes divided by 60, times hourly rate
Failed prints = sum of the four items above, times failure rate

The failure surcharge deliberately applies to every item, not just material: a failed print also costs power, machine hours and your time.

The default values are rough guidance, not measurements. Replace them with your own figures - electricity price, hourly rate and service life in particular vary a lot.

The machine figures are rough guidance from the German market as of October 2026. Street prices vary a lot, and the stated power is an average across a print including the heated bed, not the peak figure from the label. Use your real numbers if you know them.