Print Time & Filament Cost Estimator

Estimate 3D printing filament, time, material, and electricity costs from model volume, slicing settings, material, printer speed, and power.

8 materials × 12 printer presets · updated 2026-05 · computed entirely in your browser

This is an estimate, and it tells you why. Slicer-reported time is the ground truth; this models the same physics (volume → grams via density, time via volumetric flow capped by your machine and the material) so you can budget before slicing. Treat it as ±15% and read the assumptions panel.

Inputs

Estimate

Filament

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Print time

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Material cost

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Electricity

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Total per print

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Make it cheaper

Assumptions used for this estimate

Material reference

PLA: Density: 1.24 g/cm³ Default price: $20/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 15 mm³/s; Easiest to print; flow rarely the limiter on modern machines.
PETG: Density: 1.27 g/cm³ Default price: $23/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 12 mm³/s; Slightly slower max flow than PLA; keep dry.
ABS: Density: 1.04 g/cm³ Default price: $22/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 11 mm³/s; Low density — lighter parts per cm3 than PLA/PETG.
ASA: Density: 1.07 g/cm³ Default price: $28/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 10 mm³/s; UV-stable; similar flow ceiling to ABS.
TPU 95A: Density: 1.21 g/cm³ Default price: $35/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 5 mm³/s; Flexible — must print slow; low volumetric flow dominates time.
Nylon (PA): Density: 1.14 g/cm³ Default price: $45/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 10 mm³/s; Hygroscopic; dry before printing.
PA-CF (CF nylon): Density: 1.18 g/cm³ Default price: $70/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 9 mm³/s; Carbon-filled; abrasive, hardened nozzle. Price-dominant material.
PETG-CF: Density: 1.3 g/cm³ Default price: $45/kg Default spool: 1000 g Max volumetric flow: 10 mm³/s; Stiffer than PETG; abrasive, hardened nozzle recommended.

Printer preset reference

Bambu Lab X1-Carbon: Print speed: 250 mm/s Power: 130 W; CoreXY; flow-limited on most materials before speed-limited.
Bambu Lab P1S: Print speed: 250 mm/s Power: 120 W; Same motion system as X1C.
Bambu Lab A1: Print speed: 200 mm/s Power: 95 W; Bed-slinger; quiet, slightly lower sustained speed.
Bambu Lab A1 mini: Print speed: 180 mm/s Power: 75 W; Small bed-slinger; lowest power draw.
Prusa MK4 / MK4S: Print speed: 180 mm/s Power: 110 W; Input-shaped Cartesian; conservative reliable speeds.
Prusa MINI+: Print speed: 100 mm/s Power: 80 W; Smaller, slower; efficient on power.
Voron 2.4 (Klipper): Print speed: 300 mm/s Power: 150 W; Tuned CoreXY; high speed and high bed-heat power on big plates.
Creality Ender-3 V3 (KE/SE): Print speed: 180 mm/s Power: 130 W; Klipper-class speeds; bed heater dominates power.
Creality Ender-3 (classic Marlin): Print speed: 60 mm/s Power: 120 W; Stock Marlin; slow real-world speeds, long jobs.
Generic fast CoreXY: Print speed: 200 mm/s Power: 120 W; Reasonable default for an unlisted modern CoreXY.
Generic bed-slinger: Print speed: 120 mm/s Power: 110 W; Reasonable default for an unlisted Cartesian.
Custom (enter my own): Print speed: 150 mm/s Power: 120 W; Type your slicer's wall speed and a wattmeter reading.

The model, honestly

Mass: we estimate the printed solid volume (your figure, or bounding-box × fill), split it into a shell (wall loops × ~line width × surface area, approximated from volume) at 100% density and an interior at your infill %, then multiply by the material density from src/data/materials.json. Real parts have small voids, so grams run a touch high — the safe direction for budgeting.

Time: deposited volume ÷ effective volumetric flow. Flow = layer height × line width × print speed, then capped by the material's max volumetric flow (TPU and CF are flow-limited well below a fast machine's speed — that cap is why). A fixed overhead is added for heat-up, travel and non-print moves. This is deliberately simpler than a slicer's per-segment planner; expect ±15%, more on tall thin parts dominated by travel.

Energy: printer power (W) × time → kWh × your rate. We use a single average wattage including the heated bed; bed-heavy ABS prints on a large plate draw more. Override speed and wattage with your slicer's wall speed and a plug meter for the tightest numbers. Constants live in src/data/materials.json and src/data/printer-presets.json (2026-05).