3D printing cost per print is the number that tells you whether your side business makes sense, and most people leave half of it out. Filament is easy to count. Electricity is tiny. The costs that sink a small shop are failed prints and wear, which never show up in the slicer estimate.
This guide gives you the formula, a step-by-step way to measure your own inputs, and a computed table with clearly labelled example numbers. Replace them with yours. It is a researched how-to, not a promise of earnings, and the figures are not product prices.
The formula: cost per good print = (filament + electricity + wear) / (1 - failure rate). In our example, an 80 g, 4-hour print costs about $2.30 once you include a 10 percent failure rate. Weigh your prints, meter your printer, log your failures, and put the result into the Machine Payback Calculator before you set a price.
The Formula
Four costs, one adjustment.
Cost per good print = (filament + electricity + wear) / (1 - failure rate)
- Filament = grams used x price per gram. Include supports, brims and purge waste, which the slicer lists separately.
- Electricity = print hours x average kW x price per kWh.
- Wear = print hours x wear cost per hour (nozzles, plates, belts, fans, lubricant).
- Failure rate = failed prints / total prints. Dividing by (1 - rate) spreads the cost of failures over the prints you sell.
Your own time (finishing, packing, photos) is not in this formula. Add it afterwards, as our what 3D prints sell guide does with a price floor.
Example Table: Three Sizes of Print
Example inputs, labelled as such: filament at $20 per kg, average draw 100 W, electricity at 18.16 cents per kWh, wear at $0.10 per print hour, failure rate 10 percent.
| Example print | Filament | Print time | Filament cost | Electricity | Wear | Failed-print share | Cost per good print |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small clip | 20 g | 1 h | $0.40 | $0.018 | $0.10 | $0.06 | $0.58 |
| Medium organizer | 80 g | 4 h | $1.60 | $0.073 | $0.40 | $0.23 | $2.30 |
| Large stand | 250 g | 12 h | $5.00 | $0.218 | $1.20 | $0.71 | $7.13 |
Formula: cost = (grams x $0.02 + hours x 0.1 kW x $0.1816 + hours x $0.10) / 0.9; failed-print share = cost minus the three direct costs. Example inputs only, not product prices. The 18.16 cents figure is the US residential average the EIA reported for August 2026; your rate differs. Your results depend on your market, pricing and time; many small shops earn little at first.
Look at the electricity column. Even for a 12-hour print it is about 22 cents. Filament is the largest line, and wear is next. Failure is the line you control most.
What Your Failure Rate Does to Cost
Same three example prints, changing only the failure rate.
| Failure rate | Small clip | Medium organizer | Large stand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | $0.52 | $2.07 | $6.42 |
| 5% | $0.55 | $2.18 | $6.76 |
| 10% | $0.58 | $2.30 | $7.13 |
| 20% | $0.65 | $2.59 | $8.02 |
| 30% | $0.74 | $2.96 | $9.17 |
Formula: cost = direct cost / (1 - failure rate). Direct costs from the table above. Example inputs only.
A 30 percent failure rate adds more than 40 percent to every print compared with zero failures. A long, large print is hit hardest in absolute dollars because a failure late in the job wastes the most plastic and time. Reduce failures before you chase cheaper filament.
What Your Electricity Rate Does
Check your bill for your price per kWh. The table shows electricity cost alone, with zero failures, at three example rates.
| Rate | Small clip | Medium organizer | Large stand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 cents | $0.012 | $0.048 | $0.144 |
| 18 cents | $0.018 | $0.073 | $0.218 |
| 30 cents | $0.030 | $0.120 | $0.360 |
Formula: electricity = hours x 0.1 kW x rate. The 100 W average draw is an example. Power supplies are rated much higher than average draw, and heating phases draw more, so measure with a plug-in energy meter.
Even at an example 30 cents the large stand costs a few dimes in power. Do not let electricity worries drive your decisions; do not forget it either, since several printers running for weeks add up.
How to Measure Your Own Inputs, Step by Step
- Filament price per gram: divide what you paid for a spool by its listed weight in grams. Use the cheapest brand you actually trust.
- Grams per item: read the slicer estimate, then weigh three finished prints on a kitchen scale. Add the weight of supports, brims and purge waste.
- Print hours: use the slicer estimate and compare with actual times on the first five prints.
- Electricity: plug the printer into an energy meter, run a typical job, and divide the kWh used by the hours. Multiply by your rate from your bill.
- Failure rate: keep a log for 30 days: each print, pass or fail, and why.
- Wear per hour: add what you spend on nozzles, plates and parts over a quarter and divide by your print hours.
Run the numbers in the Machine Payback Calculator and compare against the break-even math in our payback guide.
Setting Your Wear Cost per Hour
Wear is the hardest input, so start with an estimate and replace it with data. Example inputs only: if a nozzle costs $N and you replace it every H hours, nozzle wear is $N / H per hour. Add the same for plates, belts and fans. A $10 nozzle changed every 500 hours is 2 cents per hour; a $30 plate every 1,000 hours is 3 cents; setting aside a further 5 cents for belts, fans and small parts brings the total to the $0.10 per hour in the table. Those are placeholders, not manufacturer figures. Abrasive filaments such as carbon fiber wear nozzles faster, and hardened nozzles cost more, so your number changes with material. After three months you will know your real figure from your purchase receipts.
Hidden Costs the Formula Skips
- Supports and brims: they use filament that never sells. Redesign parts to avoid them.
- Multicolor purge: color changes waste filament on purge. Multicolor items cost more per gram of sold plastic.
- Wet filament: stringing and weak parts, which turn into failures.
- Packaging and shipping: boxes, tape and postage.
- Fees: marketplace and payment fees come off the price.
- Your time: finishing, photos, messages and trips to the post office.
None of them are in the table, which is why the table is a floor, not a price. The product guide turns cost into a price floor.
Where the Slicer Estimate Lies
Slicers give grams and hours, and both are decent first guesses. They miss a few things: purge waste on color changes, the first few grams lost when you swap spools, failures, and the time between jobs when the plate is cooling and you are not there. Treat the estimate as the lower bound. Weigh real prints for a month, then use the average of the measured numbers. If the measured grams run 10 percent above the estimate, your cost per print runs that much higher on the filament line. Also check print time against a clock for long jobs. A printer that sits idle between jobs does not raise your cost per print, but it does lower how many prints you can sell per week.
Five Ways to Lower Cost Per Print
- Cut failures first. Clean the plate, dry the filament and watch the first layer. The failure table shows why this beats shopping for cheaper plastic.
- Remove supports. Reorient the part or split it so it prints without them.
- Lower infill where strength does not matter. A sign needs less internal plastic than a tool holder.
- Print full plates. Group identical items so you swap plates less often and spend less of your own time per piece.
- Use the right material. PLA and PETG are generally easier to print reliably than warping filaments, and need less ventilation hardware.
Each change shows up in the table: lower grams, fewer hours or a lower failure rate. Change one at a time and re-measure.
From Cost to Price: One Worked Step
Take the medium organizer from the table, at an example $2.30 per good print. Add example marketplace fees of 15 percent: divide by 0.85, which gives about $2.71. Add 10 minutes of finishing and packing at an example $15 per hour, which is $2.50, for a floor of about $5.21 before shipping. Any sale price below that loses money on your terms; any price above it covers your costs, and what remains pays down the machine. For the break-even count, divide your machine cost by the gap between price and material cost, as in the payback guide. All inputs here are examples. Your results depend on your market, pricing and time; many small shops earn little at first.
Safety and Business Basics
Cost models forget ventilation. The University of Tennessee EHS guidance says fused-filament printers emit ultrafine particles and more than 50 organic vapors, most lack built-in exhaust, and rooms should have at least 4 air exchanges per hour. A filter, vent or window fan is a real cost; budget for it. Selling prints can require a business licence and sales tax collection, which the SBA says varies by state and locality, and you may not resell trademarked designs or models with non-commercial licences. This is not tax or legal advice.
Who Should NOT Rely on This Math
If you print only for yourself, the formula is overkill. If you sell items that take hours of finishing, a filament-only cost looks much better than it is. And if you have not measured your failure rate, treat every number here as a guess. Compare machines in the small business printer guide once you know your volumes.
How We Chose
This is research, not a test. The formula is arithmetic on stated example inputs. The electricity price comes from the EIA's August 2026 US residential average; printer specs come from a published comparison and Amazon listing text, because manufacturer pages were not reachable. We chose the example item sizes to show how cost scales, not to represent any product you can buy.
Bambu Lab A1
Cost tracking is easier on a printer that reports filament weight and print time in the slicer, and the A1 is the lower-cost route to the 256 x 256 x 256 mm volume most small products need. The cost method in this guide works on any printer.
Check price on Amazon →Gear you'll need
Bambu Lab A1Best value
256 x 256 x 256 mm, 500 mm/s and 8.3 kg per a published comparison. Fewer enclosure features means a lower price class, so the machine adds less to your cost base.
Check price on Amazon →Bambu Lab P1SEnclosed
Enclosed CoreXY with the same 256 mm cube, a 300 C nozzle and a 2-year US warranty according to the comparison we read. A longer warranty reduces the wear and repair line in your cost model.
Check price on Amazon →Bambu Lab A1 miniSmallest cost base
180 x 180 x 180 mm per its Amazon listing. The lowest machine cost here, which shortens payback on small parts.
Check price on Amazon →Creality K1CAbrasive filaments
Hardened-tip nozzle and a failure-detecting AI camera per the Amazon listing and a published comparison. The camera can cut failed-print waste, which is a direct cost-per-print gain.
Check price on Amazon →Our #1 pick: Bambu Lab A1
If you only read one line of this guide: this is the one we would buy.
Check price on Amazon →Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to 3D print something?
Add filament, electricity and wear, then divide by (1 - failure rate). In our example an 80 g, 4-hour print costs about $2.30 per good print. Your inputs will differ.
Is 3D printing electricity expensive?
Usually not. In our example, a 12-hour print at 100 W average and 18.16 cents per kWh costs about 22 cents of electricity. Measure your own draw with an energy meter.
How do I calculate 3D print cost per gram?
Divide the spool price by the spool weight in grams, then multiply by the grams your slicer reports plus supports and purge waste.
What is a normal 3D print failure rate?
There is no reliable general number, so we will not invent one. Log your own for 30 days; many failures come from first layers and wet filament.
Should I include my time in the cost of a print?
Yes, but separately. Add finishing and packing minutes at an hourly value you choose, after the machine cost, to get a price floor.
Price classes are a rough guide; check the current price on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.