3D Printing Cost — What a Print Really Costs (2026)
'It only costs a few dollars of plastic' is the most expensive sentence in the print-selling business. Here's the full cost stack, line by line.
Quick answer: A 3D print's real cost = grams ÷ 1000 × material price + hours × machine rate, multiplied by (1 + failure%), plus finishing labor. Example: 120 g PLA + 9 h at $2/h with 15% failures + $2 finishing = $7.07. Charge $14+ at a 100% markup. Material is the smallest line — time and failures are the business.
Line 1 — Material
- PLA ≈ $20/kg ($0.02/g) · PETG ≈ $25 · ABS ≈ $22 · TPU ≈ $30 · resin ≈ $55/kg (2026 spool prices)
- A 120 g part: $2.40–6.60 of raw material depending on material.
- Add 5–10% purge/waste on multi-material prints.
- Slicer weight estimates are accurate enough to quote from — always quote from grams, never from feelings.
Line 2 — Machine time
The printer's working hours are the product: $1–3/hour for hobby FDM, $5–10 for professional machines, $3–6 for resin (plus wash/cure). Electricity is noise — a 0.5 kW printer costs about $0.06/hour to power. A 9-hour print carries $9–27 of machine value before a single failure.
Line 3 — The failure allowance
- Failed prints amortize into the good ones: (material + machine) × failure%.
- Honest FDM rates: 5–10% simple models, 15–25% long/tricky prints.
- Your last 50 prints are the real number — track them.
- Skipping this line is how 'profitable' print farms have a bad quarter.
Line 4 — Human minutes
Slicing, bed prep, support removal, sanding, packing: 5–20 minutes per part. At $20/hour that's $1.60–6.50 per part — often more than the material. Batch production (ten of the same part) divides the time; one-off commissions don't get the discount.
Worked example
120 g PLA, 9 hours, hobby printer at $2/hour, 15% failure allowance, $2 of finishing: $2.40 material + $18 machine = $20.40 × 1.15 = $23.46 + $2 = $25.46 true cost. At a 100% markup the price is $50.92. If that number surprises you, price a few of your recent prints with the calculator — the gap between 'what I charge' and 'what it costs' is usually educational.