3D Print Time & Cost Calculator
Add up the real cost of an FDM print: filament, electricity and machine wear from the grams, print hours and your energy rate.
How it works
Filament = grams ÷ 1000 × price/kg · Energy = watts ÷ 1000 × hours × rate · Total = filament + energy + wear × hours
On a desktop FDM printer the plastic almost always dominates the bill — electricity is usually cents, not dollars, because a printer averaging around 100 W over several hours draws well under a kilowatt-hour. The machine-wear line is an optional allowance for nozzles, belts, bearings and eventual depreciation; makers who sell prints add it so replacements come out of revenue rather than their own pocket. Add your labour and a margin on top of this figure when pricing a print for sale.
Worked example
A 6-hour print using 120 g of $22/kg filament: filament is 0.120 × 22 = $2.64. At 120 W the print draws 0.12 × 6 = 0.72 kWh, or $0.12 at $0.17/kWh. With a $0.10/hour wear allowance that adds $0.60, for a total of about $3.36.
Frequently asked questions
Does the printer really use so little electricity?
Yes. A heated bed and hotend spike at start-up but average power over a print is modest — often 70–150 W. Even a 12-hour print rarely tops 1–2 kWh, so energy is usually a small fraction of the filament cost.
Should I include failed prints?
If you are pricing prints for sale, add a failure allowance — many makers pad material cost by 10–20% to cover the prints that warp, clog or come loose. This calculator prices a single successful print.
What about labour and profit?
This is the raw production cost. To set a selling price, add the time you spend modelling, slicing, removing supports and post-processing, then apply a margin on top of the total.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.