For people who print for money
Know what a print costs before you quote it.
Most 3D printing calculators stop at “grams × price per gram”. This one charges you for the prints that fail and the hours the machine is tied up — then tells you the price that keeps your margin. No account, no upload, no tracking.
3D printing cost calculator
Material, electricity, machine time and failure amortisation, then a price that holds your target margin. The worked example is checked by hand.
DifferentiatorSTL checker
Triangle count, real dimensions, volume, surface area, watertight and non-manifold edges. Parsed in your browser — the file never leaves your device.
EverydayFilament converter
Length to weight, weight to length, in 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm, using published densities rather than a rule of thumb.
What is different here
Failures are a cost line
At a 10% failure rate you print 1.111 units to sell one. Every calculator that ignores that under-quotes by 11%. Here it is a line in the breakdown, with the share of the unit cost printed next to it.
Machine hours are not free
Depreciation and maintenance accrue while the printer runs. Ten hours of machine time is real money even when the plastic cost pennies — and it is the line that decides whether a cheap print is worth doing at all.
Every number is dated
Densities come from manufacturer data sheets, electricity from the EIA, Ofgem, Eurostat and the AER, printer draw from measured tests. Each page states the date it was checked and links the source. Where a value is an estimate, the page says so.
All the tools
| Tool | What it answers |
|---|---|
| 3D printing cost calculator | What does this print cost, and what should I charge? |
| Filament cost calculator | How many grams is this length — and what does it cost? |
| Filament length to weight | 1 m, 10 m, 100 m of 1.75 mm filament in grams. |
| Spool calculator | How much is left on this part-used spool? |
| Print time calculator | How long will this volume take? (±20%, stated plainly.) |
| STL checker | Is this mesh watertight, how big is it, how much material is in it? |
| Resin cost calculator | Cost per resin print, supports and waste included. |
| Material density chart | Density, grams per metre and price per kilogram by material. |
Guides
Longer answers, with the arithmetic shown. Each one is built from the same dated dataset as the calculators, so the tables and the tools cannot disagree.
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| How much does 3D printing cost? | Three worked bills — 20 g, 100 g, 500 g — and the price to charge. |
| PLA vs PETG cost | The same model priced in both, and when PETG's premium pays for itself. |
| How to price 3D prints | The formula, three costly mistakes, and a quote sheet to download. |
| 3D printer electricity cost | Five countries, three printers, measured watts — not a guessed rate. |
| 3D printing failure rates | Normal ranges, what each point of failure adds to a part, how to cut it. |
| Cost per gram | Every filament priced per gram, and why a finished part sells for 3–5× its plastic. |
| How long does a 3D print take? | Five part classes at three layer heights, volumes and hours included. |
| How to calculate filament usage | Walls, skins and infill to grams — with a calculator that shows each step. |
| Why is my 3D print failing? | Eight symptoms, the cause to check first, and the order to fix them. |
| Best filament for beginners | Four jobs, four materials, and what to read on the label. |
| Cheapest 3D printer for business | Three tiers as cost per machine hour, with the payback arithmetic. |
| PETG vs ABS | Heat, strength, smell, enclosure and cost per cubic centimetre. |
| 3D print quote template | A quote sheet that adds up, fillable and printable in the browser. |
What these tools will not do
- They will not repair your STL. The checker detects problems; fixing them is a different job.
- They will not pretend a print-time estimate is exact. It carries a ±20% tolerance and says so.
- They will not invent a number. If a value is an example — material prices, for instance — it is labelled as an example.
- They will not ask you to sign up, and they will not put a cookie on your device.
Where the parameters come from
The calculators read a single dated dataset. When it is updated, the “parameters checked” date on every calculator changes with it. You can read the file yourself — it is served as plain JSON, linked from the source block on each page.