Filament Cost Calculator – 3D Print Material Cost per Print

Find out exactly how much filament a 3D print costs — from your spool price, the sliced print weight and a realistic waste allowance.

Net filament weight, usually 1 kg — not the gross weight with the spool.

Supports, purge lines, failed starts. 5–10% is typical.

Results

How to use this calculator

Enter the price you paid for the spool and its net filament weight (a standard spool holds 1 kg of filament; the plastic spool itself is not included). Then open your slicer — PrusaSlicer, Cura, Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer all show the estimated print weight in grams after slicing — and copy that number into the print weight field.

The waste allowance covers everything the slicer does not count as the model itself: purge lines, skirts, support material that gets thrown away, and the occasional failed first layer. For well-tuned printers 5% is realistic; for prints with heavy supports or a new material, 10–15% is safer. The calculator multiplies the print weight by this allowance before pricing it.

The result shows the material cost of the print, the total grams consumed, and your cost per gram — a number worth memorizing, because it lets you estimate any print in your head. If you sell your prints, feed this material cost into the handmade pricing calculator to build a full selling price, and add the electricity cost per print for a true per-unit cost.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find the print weight?

Every major slicer shows it after slicing: PrusaSlicer and OrcaSlicer in the right-hand info panel, Cura in the bottom-right corner, Bambu Studio in the slice preview. Use the value in grams.

What waste percentage should I use?

For a tuned printer running a familiar material, 5% covers purge lines and skirts. Use 10–15% if the print needs a lot of supports or you are dialing in a new filament, and more if your failure rate is high.

Does the calculator include electricity or printer wear?

No — it isolates the material cost. Use the 3D printer electricity cost calculator for power, and add a depreciation allowance (many makers use 5–10% of the material cost) for wear on nozzles, belts and build plates.

Can I use ounces or kilograms instead of grams?

Yes. Both weight fields have a unit selector for g, kg and oz (and lb for the spool). Values are converted internally, so you can mix units freely.