Print Cost Calculator
Grams shown in your slicer after slicing (e.g., PrusaSlicer, Cura, Bambu Studio)
Enter Print Details to See Cost
Fill in filament used, spool price, and spool weight to calculate your 3D print cost. Optionally add electricity, labor, and machine depreciation for a complete breakdown.
How to Use the 3D Printing Filament Calculator
Select Material and Diameter
Choose your filament type from the material dropdown — PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, Nylon, PC, or others. The material density auto-fills based on standard values but you can override it for specialty blends. Select your filament diameter (1.75mm or 2.85mm).
Enter Filament Usage and Spool Info
Enter the grams of filament used (found in your slicer software after slicing the model), your spool price, and the total spool weight in grams. For a standard 1 kg spool enter 1000g. The calculator uses these three values to determine the material cost fraction.
Add Optional Cost Sections
Expand the Electricity, Labor, and Depreciation sections to add more cost components. Enter your printer's wattage and electricity rate for energy cost. Add prep and post-processing minutes with an hourly rate for labor. Enter printer purchase price and usage hours for depreciation and maintenance.
Review Cost Breakdown and Export
The results show total cost, suggested selling price, cost per item (for batch prints), and a visual donut chart showing the proportion of each cost component. Use Export CSV to save the breakdown for records, or Print Results for a paper copy. Switch to Remaining Filament mode to check how many meters are left on a partial spool.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out how many grams of filament a print uses?
Your slicer software calculates this automatically when you slice a model. In PrusaSlicer, look for the filament weight in the print statistics panel on the right side. In Cura, it appears at the bottom of the screen after slicing. In Bambu Studio, check the print preview panel. The grams value includes all material: walls, infill, supports, brim, and skirt. Enter this value directly into the 'Filament Used' field. If you are printing from a pre-sliced file without re-slicing, you can also weigh the printed part and any removed supports combined as an approximation.
What is the waste factor and what percentage should I use?
The waste factor accounts for filament that is consumed but does not end up in the final part. This includes the skirt lines printed before the actual part, purge blobs when switching colors, stringing and ooze, failed print attempts, and a small amount of filament remaining in the PTFE tube and hotend that cannot be used. For typical single-material prints with a skirt and minimal supports, 5–8% is appropriate. For multi-material prints with frequent purges on an AMS or similar system, 15–25% waste is realistic. For simple vase-mode prints with no supports or brim, 2–3% is sufficient. The default of 8% works well for most standard FDM prints.
How do I find the empty spool weight for remaining filament calculations?
The empty spool weight is printed on many spools, often as 'NW: 1000g' (net weight) and 'GW: 1210g' (gross weight), which implies an empty spool of 210g. If not labeled, common empty spool weights are: Prusament cardboard spool ~117g, Prusament plastic spool ~190g, eSun plastic ~200g, Bambu Lab ~165g, Hatchbox plastic ~220g, and generic Chinese spools ~190–250g. You can also weigh a completely empty spool if you have one of the same brand. If you are unsure, use 192g as a reasonable default for most consumer plastic spools — this is the weight used by several filament brands in their specifications.
Should I enter the printer's maximum rated wattage or average wattage for electricity calculations?
Enter the average wattage rather than the maximum. Most 3D printers list a maximum power draw on the label (e.g., '350W' on a Bambu X1 Carbon), but this is the peak during initial heating. During a steady-state print, average consumption is typically 50–70% of the rated maximum. For a Bambu X1 Carbon, actual average consumption during printing is around 200–250W, not 350W. For a standard Ender 3, the 200W rating is a reasonable average since it heats frequently throughout printing. Prusa MK4 typically averages 80–100W in practice. If you want the most accurate result, you can measure actual consumption with a smart plug or power meter and use that real-world figure.
How should I price prints when selling them?
Start with the fully-loaded cost from this calculator — including material with waste, electricity, labor, and machine overhead. Apply a markup of 20–40% for online print-on-demand services where you compete on price, or 50–100% markup for custom local work where you provide a service. Do not overlook labor: if slicing and post-processing takes 45 minutes and your time is worth $20/hour, that is $15 per job that must appear somewhere in your price. Consider platform fees (Etsy takes 6.5%, PayPal/Stripe take ~3%), packaging materials, and shipping time when setting final prices. Many successful print sellers price at 3–5x raw material cost as a rough heuristic, which typically covers all overhead and provides reasonable profit.
What is the formula used to convert filament weight to length?
The formula derives from the geometry of a cylinder: the filament's cross-sectional area multiplied by its length equals the volume. Volume = π × (diameter/2)² × length. Since mass = volume × density, we can solve for length: Length (m) = (mass_g × 4) ÷ (density_g/cm³ × π × diameter_mm²). The factor of 4 in the numerator comes from rearranging π × (d/2)² = π × d²/4, which gives the simplified form. For a 1.75mm PLA filament at 1.24 g/cm³, one gram of filament equals approximately 0.336 meters (33.6 cm). For a full 1 kg PLA spool on 1.75mm filament, this gives approximately 336 meters total. PETG at 1.27 g/cm³ gives slightly less length per gram than PLA because it is denser.