FDM Price Calculator
Calculate break-even costs and suggested retail prices for your 3D printing side-hustle.
Use the weight your slicer reports, including supports and the purge.
Use the average draw while printing, not the power supply rating. Most current printers average about 80-125 W with PLA.
Markup is added on top of the break-even cost: 100% doubles it, which is a 50% profit margin.
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What this calculator does
The FDM Price Calculator works out what a filament 3D print really costs you, from plastic and electricity to machine time, failed prints and finishing work, and suggests a selling price with your markup on top.
How to use it
- Enter the spool's price and weight, and the model weight your slicer reports (supports and purge included).
- Enter the print time, your printer's average power draw and your electricity price.
- Set a machine rate, a failure buffer, any post-processing time with your labor rate, and your markup.
The suggested price, break-even cost and profit margin update as you type.
What goes into the cost
- Material: spool price ÷ spool weight × model weight. A $25, 1,000 g spool and a 150 g model cost $3.75.
- Electricity: watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × price per kWh. At 100 W for 8 hours and $0.15/kWh, that's $0.12.
- Machine time: an hourly rate that pays for the printer itself, wear parts and maintenance. One way to set it: what the printer cost ÷ the hours you expect it to run, plus spare parts.
- Failure buffer: a percentage of the material, electricity and machine time, so successful prints pay for the failed ones. Start with 10% and adjust it to your own record.
- Post-processing: your time removing supports, sanding or painting, at your hourly labor rate. It isn't included in the failure buffer, because you only finish prints that succeed.
How much power does a 3D printer use?
Much less than its power supply rating. The heaters run hardest while warming up, then the average drops. With PLA, Bambu Lab lists about 105 W for the X1 Carbon and 95 W for the A1, Prusa lists 80 W for the MK4S, and a measured Ender 3 V2 averaged about 95 W. ABS and other hot materials, or a heated enclosure, use more. A plug-in power meter tells you your own printer's number.
Markup vs profit margin
Markup is profit as a percentage of your cost; margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. This calculator asks for markup and shows the margin it gives you.
price = break-even cost × (1 + markup)
A print that costs $20 to make, with a 100% markup, sells for $40: the $20 profit is a 100% markup but a 50% margin. A 50% markup ($30 price) is a 33% margin. A margin can never reach 100%, since that would mean the print cost nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge for electricity if it's only cents?
On one print it hardly matters, but on long prints, high-temperature materials or a printer farm it adds up, and it costs nothing to include.
Why is my suggested price high compared with marketplaces?
Machine time and labor usually dominate. If your price is far above what similar prints sell for, look at the machine rate and post-processing time first.
Sources: Bambu Lab Wiki, Power consumption; Prusa Research, Original Prusa MK4S specifications (80 W with PLA); Clever Creations, 3D printer power usage (measured Ender 3 V2); Shopify, Markup vs. margin. Last reviewed on SuiteWebTools: October 2026.