3D Printing Filament Usage, Cost & Print-Time Calculator
Estimate filament usage, material cost, electricity, and print time before you slice or quote a job.
Last reviewed: June 2026Model Dimensions
Print Settings
Filament & Printer
Results
Cost Breakdown
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What this estimator actually does
This calculator gives a quick FDM planning estimate from simple geometry and printer settings. It treats your model as a bounding box, estimates side-wall plastic, top and bottom solid layers, infill, optional support material, filament density, electricity, and a failure-rate buffer. That makes it useful for early budgeting, print-farm quoting, class projects, and checking whether a spool has enough material.
It is not a slicer. Cura, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, and similar tools use the actual STL/3MF mesh and toolpath, so they can account for holes, curved shells, brim, skirt, raft, purge tower, retractions, acceleration, travel moves, adaptive layers, and support geometry. Use this calculator for first-pass estimates and your slicer for final numbers.
How the volume estimate is built
The calculator starts with the bounding volume: X width x Y depth x Z height. It estimates side walls as 2 x (X + Y) x Z x wall thickness. Top and bottom layers are estimated as X x Y x layer height x top/bottom layer count x 2. Infill is applied only to the remaining interior volume, which avoids double-counting top and bottom layers as both shell and infill.
Support material is a percentage of the bounding volume. That is intentionally rough: real support depends on overhang angle, interface layers, tree versus grid support, support density, and orientation. If your slicer reports support grams, use that instead of the dropdown shortcut.
Material and cost assumptions
The built-in filament densities are typical planning values: PLA 1.24 g/cm3, ABS 1.04, PETG 1.27, TPU 1.21, Nylon 1.14, and ASA 1.07. Brand, additives, carbon fiber fill, moisture, and spool calibration can change actual weight and extrusion behavior. Material cost is calculated from grams used and your entered cost per kilogram.
Electricity cost uses printer power, print time, and your price per kWh. Many printers do not draw their rated wattage continuously once the bed and hotend are stable, so power-meter readings are better for production quoting.
Print-time assumptions
Print time is estimated from a simplified volumetric flow model: nozzle diameter x layer height x print speed, with an overhead factor for non-extrusion moves and acceleration losses. Real printers slow down for short segments, minimum layer time, cooling, bridges, pressure advance, retractions, and travel moves. Treat the time as a planning estimate, not a promise.
Worked example
With the default 50 x 50 x 50 mm PLA part, 20% infill, 1.2 mm walls, 0.2 mm layers, four top and four bottom layers, no supports, and a 10% failure buffer, the calculator estimates about 46.9 g of filament, 15.72 m of 1.75 mm filament, roughly 3 h 25 m of print time, about $0.94 of material, and about $1.13 after electricity and failure buffer.
Common mistakes
Using this as a final quote: slicer output should win once you have a real model, orientation, material profile, and support settings.
Ignoring purge and waste: multicolor prints, abrasive filament purges, brims, rafts, failed starts, and calibration towers can add material that this calculator does not see.
Setting supports too low: a tall support tree can use far more than 15% of the model bounding volume. Check slicer support grams for complex overhangs.
Forgetting labor and machine wear: the result covers filament and electricity. Commercial quotes also need setup time, post-processing, packing, depreciation, nozzle wear, and risk.