How Much Does 3D Printing Cost? A Line-by-Line Breakdown
By 3DPrintMates Editorial · Published
On a desktop FDM printer, the material and electricity for a small part usually cost well under a dollar. Labor, failed prints and machine wear are what make 3D printing “expensive” - and they are why print services charge minimums.
The numbers below come from our 3D print cost calculator, with every assumption listed so you can swap in your own.
The five parts of 3D printing cost
- Filament - grams used × price per gram.
- Electricity - average power × print hours × your rate per kWh.
- Machine wear - the printer’s price and spare parts spread over its working hours.
- Labor - slicing, starting the job, removing supports, finishing, packing.
- Failures - the share of prints you have to redo.
Worked examples
Assumptions: PLA at $20/kg, printer averaging 120 W, electricity at $0.17/kWh, wear at $0.20 per print hour, labor at $20/h, and a 5% failure rate. No markup.
| Part | Filament | Print time | Labor | Material + power + wear + failures | With labor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (keychain, clip) | 20 g | 1.5 h | 6 min | $0.77 | $2.77 |
| Medium (phone stand, bracket) | 120 g | 6 h | 15 min | $3.92 | $8.92 |
| Large (helmet piece, organizer) | 500 g | 20 h | 30 min | $15.17 | $25.17 |
Two things stand out:
- Electricity is tiny. The 6-hour print uses 0.72 kWh - about 12 cents.
- Labor dominates small jobs. Six minutes of handling costs more than twice the materials for the keychain.
How much does a 3D printing service charge?
A service has the same costs plus rent, software, design time, customer support and profit. On top of per-part pricing, expect some of these:
- Minimum order or setup fee - covers the fixed time to quote, slice and start a job.
- Material and technology premiums - resin (SLA/MSLA), nylon (SLS/MJF) and engineering filaments cost more than PLA and need different machines.
- Rush fees for short turnarounds.
- Finishing - sanding, priming and painting are priced as labor.
- Shipping, unless you pick up locally.
That’s why the same file can get very different quotes. Comparing several local shops is the best way to know what’s fair for your part - exactly what our print request board is being built for.
How to lower the cost of a print
- Reduce infill. 10-20% is plenty for most non-structural parts.
- Orient to avoid supports. Less support means less filament, less time and less cleanup.
- Use a bigger nozzle or thicker layers for parts where surface finish doesn’t matter.
- Print several parts at once. Setup labor is shared across the plate.
- Check the size first. Open the model in the STL viewer - a file in the wrong units can quietly triple material use.
Calculate your own print
Plug your printer, filament price and electricity rate into the cost calculator. You can drop in an STL to estimate grams, then add markup to see a selling price.