Free 3D printing cost calculator

How a 3D printing cost calculator breaks down your job price

In short: the cost of a 3D print equals the electricity used by the printer plus the filament consumed. A dedicated 3d printing cost calculator turns fuzzy guesses into a repeatable estimate. SliceCal focuses on the two largest recurring drivers—energy and material—so you can compare printers, materials, and print settings before you start the job.

How do you calculate 3D printing costs?

To calculate 3d printing costs, add three line items: electricity, filament, and (optionally) machine wear. Start with print duration and the printer's average power draw, then add material from the sliced weight, and finally decide whether to include depreciation or maintenance as a simple surcharge. Each line item has a clear input and a clear formula, so you can sanity-check the result when something looks off.

How do you calculate the electricity cost of a 3D print?

Electricity cost equals average power in kilowatts, multiplied by print time in hours, multiplied by your price per kilowatt-hour. In formula form: kWh = (watts / 1000) × hours, then cost = kWh × (local rate per kWh). Real printers cycle the heated bed, hotend, and fans, so the average draw matters more than the peak sticker wattage. If your slicer reports a long duration, even a small change in rate per kWh can move the total noticeably.

How do you calculate filament cost per gram?

Filament cost per gram is the spool price divided by the spool net weight (often 1 kg). Material cost then scales linearly with the grams your slicer predicts. For example, if a 1 kg spool costs 25 in your currency, each gram is 0.025 before waste. Many operators add a few percent for failed prints, purge lines, and multi-material waste; you can fold that into the weight you enter or bump the per-gram rate slightly so quotes stay conservative.

Do you need to account for wear, tear, and machine time?

It is optional but useful. Nozzles, beds, belts, and fans all wear with hours on the machine. Some shops add a flat hourly machine fee on top of power and filament; others amortize the printer purchase over an expected lifetime hour count and convert that into a cents-per-hour adder. You do not need perfect accounting—consistency matters more than precision. Pick a policy, document it, and apply the same rules across jobs so your 3d printing cost calculator outputs stay comparable week to week.

Typical 3D printer power consumption by model

Average power draw is the single biggest input for the energy portion of a print. The table below lists the average power consumption (in kilowatts) used by SliceCal for popular FDM and resin printers. Values are typical averages across a print; peak wattage during bed heating is higher.

Average electricity rates by country

Electricity prices drive how much energy adds to a print's cost. The approximate household rates below (in each country's local currency per kWh) are the defaults SliceCal uses; you can always enter a custom rate from your own bill. Rates last updated April 2026 and are approximate.

Frequently asked questions

How much does 3D printing cost?

The cost of a 3D print is the electricity cost plus the filament cost. Electricity cost = (printer watts / 1000) × print hours × your price per kWh. Filament cost = (spool price / spool grams) × printed grams. For most desktop FDM prints the total is a small fraction of the filament spool price.

How do I calculate the electricity cost of a 3D print?

Convert the printer's average power to kilowatts (watts / 1000), multiply by the print time in hours to get kWh, then multiply by your local electricity rate. Example: a 150 W printer running 10 hours uses 1.5 kWh; at 0.30 per kWh that is 0.45.

How do I calculate filament cost per gram?

Divide the price of a full spool by its net weight in grams (usually 1000 g). A 25 spool that holds 1 kg costs 0.025 per gram. Multiply the cost per gram by the printed weight your slicer reports.

How much electricity does a 3D printer use?

Most desktop FDM printers draw roughly 0.1 to 0.45 kW on average, depending on the model and how much the heated bed and hotend cycle. Average draw matters more than the peak sticker wattage because heaters cycle on and off during a print.

Is SliceCal free to use?

Yes. SliceCal is a free, browser-based 3D printing cost calculator with no sign-up required.

Should I include printer wear and maintenance in the cost?

Optionally. Many shops add a flat hourly machine fee or amortize the printer purchase over its expected lifetime hours and convert that into a per-hour surcharge on top of electricity and filament. Consistency matters more than precision.

SliceCal is built to make the energy and material steps fast: choose a printer profile for typical power draw, pick a country or enter a custom tariff for electricity cost 3d printing, enter spool price and print weight for filament cost per gram, and combine it with your duration to see a total. From there you can layer in your own wear-and-tear policy if you need a fully loaded shop rate.