How to calculate the real cost of a 3D print
Start with material weight and print time, then add electricity, machine cost and hands-on labor. Include waste, failed prints and fulfilment where relevant. Infill separates these costs so you can distinguish what a print costs you from the price you quote to a customer.
We make Infill. This guide explains its workflow and limitations; paid features are noted below.
Get Infill on the App StoreBefore you begin
Have the sliced job’s material estimate and print duration, your material purchase price, electricity tariff and a realistic average printer power draw. The worked example below is illustrative; replace every assumption with your own.
Step by step
Set up the material price
Enter the price and quantity of the material you actually use. For filament priced at $20 per kilogram, 100 g costs $2.00: 100 ÷ 1,000 × 20. Include supports and other consumed material rather than weighing only the finished part.
Enter or import the job
In Calculate, enter print time and material use, or import a supported sliced G-code or 3MF file. Check the imported values against the slicer. An STL mesh alone does not contain a completed printer-specific toolpath or a dependable print-time estimate.
Account for electricity
Energy in kWh equals average power in watts ÷ 1,000 × hours. A four-hour job at an assumed average 120 W uses 0.48 kWh. At $0.30 per kWh, that costs $0.144. Use average consumption for the job, not automatically the maximum rating on the power supply.
Add machine and labor costs
Machine time and your working time are different. At an illustrative $0.50 per machine-hour, four hours costs $2.00. Fifteen minutes of preparation and finishing at $20 per hour adds $5.00. Do not count the entire unattended print as hands-on labor unless that reflects your actual work.
Review waste and failure assumptions
Add purge material, consumables and packing where they apply. Infill models failed prints as expected reruns rather than a simple flat surcharge. Failure rates are assumptions, so review how changing them affects your estimate instead of treating the output as an exact prediction.
Separate cost from selling price
The simple example totals $9.144, or $9.14 rounded, before failures, consumables, fees and fulfilment. With no other charges, a 30% markup gives about $11.89; a 30% margin requires about $13.06. Infill has separate Margin and Markup choices. Check which one you intend before quoting.
A small example you can check
| Cost item | Assumption | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 100 g at $20/kg | $2.00 |
| Electricity | 4 h × 0.12 kW × $0.30/kWh | $0.144 |
| Machine | 4 h at $0.50/h | $2.00 |
| Labor | 0.25 h at $20/h | $5.00 |
| Total before other costs | Sum of the four items | $9.144 |
These are chosen example inputs, not measurements or recommended rates. Currency is illustrative. Round the final total rather than rounding every intermediate calculation if you want to reproduce it exactly.
Why a quote can differ from the simple total
Multi-color jobs may discard material during tool changes. Failed jobs consume time and supplies without producing a saleable part. Packaging and postage may be charged per order rather than per part. These details matter when comparing a single print with a batch.
A selling fee calculated as a percentage of your price also changes the required quote. Review any marketplace-fee or tax assumptions against your actual situation. An estimate is only as reliable as the inputs, and it does not guarantee that a customer will accept the resulting price.
Questions that come up
Which files can Infill import?
Supported inputs include G-code from PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer and Cura, plus sliced Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer 3MF projects. Check the imported time and material totals before relying on them.
Does the estimate include multiple filament prices?
Infill supports separate material lines and a purge cost line. Different filaments can use different prices. Review waste assumptions when the slicer cannot identify exactly which material was discarded.
Should I charge only for filament?
That gives a material-only figure. It omits energy, machine use, your time and any failures or fulfilment. Whether to recover all those costs is your decision, but separating them makes the decision visible.
Check the app details
See Infill features and compatibility, or visit the official Infill website. The App Store listing has current availability, pricing and in-app purchases. Screens and options can vary with the app version.
Download Infill