A free, independent cost and profit tool for 3D printing sellers and hobbyists
Most people who sell 3D prints underprice them. A spool price divided by a rough weight estimate misses electricity, the time you spend removing and cleaning a part, failed prints, marketplace fees and the monthly costs of running a print farm. The result is a print that looks profitable on paper and loses money after fees. We built the 3D Print Cost Calculator to put every one of those costs in one place, so you can see what a print really costs and what it needs to sell for.
It is free, needs no account and works for filament and resin printers, whether you sell on Etsy, eBay, Shopify or direct, or just want to know what a part costs you to make.
Material cost is the quantity you use multiplied by the price per unit, increased by your failure buffer. Electricity cost is the printer’s power in kilowatts, multiplied by your electricity rate and the print time, also increased by the failure buffer. Labor cost is your active hours multiplied by your hourly rate. Together these form the cost of making one unit.
If you enter a selling price, the platform fee is the price multiplied by the fee percentage plus any fixed fee. Subtracting that fee gives your net revenue, and subtracting the cost of making the unit gives the contribution margin. Monthly overheads divided by expected monthly sales are then deducted to give profit per unit, and overheads divided by the contribution margin give the break-even number of units. The suggested price works backward from your costs, overheads and the platform fee so that the fee does not eat your margin.
It is an estimator, not accounting software. It does not read your slicer files, so you need to enter the material quantity and print time your slicer reports. It does not include taxes, shipping, packaging, printer depreciation, nozzle and part replacement, or post-processing materials unless you add them to your overheads or labor. Treat the results as a planning guide and check them against your real costs.
The tool runs in your browser and the numbers you enter are not stored. We keep the default presets up to date with typical filament, resin and printer power figures, but your own prices and electricity rate will always give a better answer than a default. If you think a preset is out of date or a calculation is wrong, please tell us.
The site may display advertising and may contain affiliate links to retailers. If you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Results are calculated from your inputs only and are never influenced by advertisers. See our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
If a print keeps failing, the problem is often cheaper to fix than to price in. Our sister site 3D Error Fix has troubleshooting guides for failed prints, error codes and printer problems. You can also read the pricing guides on our blog.
Questions, corrections or feature suggestions are welcome. Email support@3derrorfix.com or use our contact page.