// Free tool · 3D printing
3D print cost calculator
A 3D print costs the filament it uses plus the electricity to run the printer: the grams from your slicer times the spool price divided by the spool weight, plus the printer's watts times the print hours divided by 1,000, times your price per kWh. Put in your numbers below. The fields start on example values, and the electricity price starts on the U.S. average residential price, 17.99 cents per kWh over the 12 months to July 2026 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3).
What this print costs
- Filament
- Electricity
- Waste allowance
- Filament per gram
- Prints per spool
- Your time
- Price with markup
Your numbers stay in this browser.
How the cost is worked out
- Filament: grams used × spool price ÷ spool weight. The slicer's weight already includes supports, brims and infill.
- Electricity: watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = kWh, × your price per kWh.
- Waste: a percentage on top for failed prints, purge and test pieces, if you want one.
- Selling: your time at your hourly rate, then the markup on the whole cost.
Left out on purpose: the printer itself, wear parts like nozzles and build plates, and finishing supplies. For a prop, finishing is often the biggest cost after the printer: sanding, filler primer, paint and a clear coat. My guide to finishing 3D printed props lists one pick per step.
Find something to print
The PropBuilds print libraries collect free and paid files for props from 16 games, from Rust and Helldivers 2 to Halo, Star Wars and Palworld, each linked to its maker. The game props in real life guide lists finished replicas for when printing is not worth it.
3D printing cost questions
How much does it cost to 3D print something?
The filament it uses plus the electricity to run the printer. Filament is the grams your slicer reports times the spool price divided by the spool weight, and electricity is the printer's watts times the print hours divided by 1,000, times your price per kWh. With the example values on this page, a 250 g print from a 20 dollar, 1,000 g spool that runs 8 hours at 150 W costs 5.00 dollars in filament and 0.22 dollars in electricity, 5.22 dollars in all.
How much electricity does a 3D printer use?
Its average draw in watts times the hours it runs, divided by 1,000, in kWh. A printer averaging 150 W for 8 hours uses 1.2 kWh, which is 0.22 dollars at 17.99 cents per kWh, the U.S. residential average. Draw varies a lot between printers and settings, and a heated bed pulls the most while it warms up, so a plug-in power meter gives you your printer's real number.
How many prints do you get from 1 kg of filament?
1,000 g divided by what one print weighs in your slicer, including supports. A 250 g print gives 4 prints per 1 kg spool; a 50 g print gives 20. Leave a little spare for purging, test pieces and the odd failed print.
How much does it cost to 3D print a helmet?
Mostly the filament, because a helmet is a big, long print. Slice the helmet file at your settings, read the weight, and enter it above: at 20 dollars a kilogram, every 100 g of filament costs 2 dollars. The real cost of a finished helmet is the finishing: sanding, filler primer and paint.
How should I price 3D prints to sell?
Start from the real cost of the print, add your time for setup, removing supports and packing, then add a markup. The selling section of the calculator does exactly that. Check the fees of wherever you sell, since they come out of the price.
Is 3D printing cheaper than buying?
For the material, almost always: the filament in a prop costs far less than a finished replica. But a printed prop still needs sanding, priming and paint, plus the printer and your time. Compare the two routes for the same prop on the PropBuilds props pages, which list finished replicas next to the print files.
Results are estimates from the numbers you enter. Currency is a label only: nothing is converted.