Filament Cost Calculator

How the calculation works

Convert the entered grams to kilograms, multiply by the filament price per kilogram, then apply any extra waste allowance. The result covers material only. Electricity, printer wear, repeated failed attempts and your time are separate costs.

cost = (grams / 1000) × price_per_kg × (1 + waste_factor)

For example, 100 g at $20/kg with an assumed 5% extra allowance consumes 105 g and costs $2.10. A kilogram covers nine complete prints of that size. If a print needs more than 1,000 g including waste, the complete-prints-per-kilogram result is zero.

Enter your actual price paid and the new spool's net filament weight in the helper, or choose price per kg. A $25 purchase with 750 g of filament works out to $33.333.../kg; the calculation keeps that precision internally. Use the labeled net weight, not the gross package weight or an assumed empty-spool weight. The currency selector changes formatting; it does not convert prices or taxes.

Count each gram once

A slicer's model weight and its whole-job total are different inputs. Check which one you copied before adding an allowance:

• Whole-job total: if it already includes supports, priming, purge and the tower, enter that total and set extra waste to 0%.
• Model weight only: add separately measured or sliced material that the model weight excludes. A percentage is a rough allowance when those amounts are unavailable, not a substitute for a known breakdown.
• Multi-color print: the AMS material calculator can combine model, supports, discarded flushing and tower grams. Use its total here with 0% extra waste. Do not add its purge or total cost again to a result that already includes that material.

The material presets use illustrative price and allowance values. They are not live market prices or measured material-specific waste rates. Replace them with your own prices and measurements. Supports, brims and priming amounts depend on the sliced job; there is no fixed number of grams that fits every print.

Worked examples with assumed inputs

These examples demonstrate the arithmetic. They are hypothetical jobs and prices, not documented print tests or current product quotes.

A multi-color dragon

Suppose the model uses 320 g of PLA. Assume another 5% (16 g) for material not included in that model weight, plus 180 g of separately counted AMS purge. Both colors cost $22/kg. Total consumption is 320 + 16 + 180 = 516 g, costing 0.516 × $22 = $11.352, displayed as $11.35. The purge portion alone is 180 g and costs $3.96.

To reproduce that combined total here, enter 516 g at $22/kg with 0% extra waste. If your slicer already reported all 516 g, that is the same input; adding another 5% or another 180 g would double count.

Check the estimate against your own print

The arithmetic follows the entered quantities. Real-world accuracy depends on your slicer estimate, scale, filament density and the material you include; this tool does not guarantee a percentage of accuracy. Comparing predicted grams with a measured spool-weight change can help you improve the next estimate.

If only filament length is available, mass per meter depends on diameter and density. For 1.75 mm filament, the densities used in this site's material comparison give approximately 3.0 g/m for PLA, 3.1 g/m for PETG and 2.5 g/m for ABS. Use the filament maker's density for the actual product; these conversions do not apply unchanged to a different diameter.

For selling a print, use the result's link to the 3D Print Pricing Calculator to include electricity, wear, your failure-rate assumption and labor. The Failure Rate Calculator helps measure your recorded failure rate, and the cost-breakdown guide explains the separate cost lines.