Pricing guide
How much does 3D printing cost?
3D printing service quotes can look like a black box. In reality most prices come down to a handful of variables: how much plastic your part uses, how long the machine is tied up, and what has to happen after the print finishes. Here's the breakdown, with real numbers.
The five things that drive price
- Material volume — grams of filament (or resin) the part actually consumes, including supports.
- Machine time — how many hours the printer is occupied. Long overnight jobs cost more than a quick 20-minute bracket.
- Setup fee — slicing, bed prep, and tear-down. A fixed per-order cost that keeps small parts economical to run in batches.
- Design choices — infill density, wall count, orientation, and support strategy. Each one trades price for strength, speed, or surface quality.
- Post-processing — support removal, sanding, painting, threaded inserts, or acetone smoothing.
Material cost at a glance
Filament price per kilogram sets a floor for anything printed. These are the materials Print Studio 3D offers and typical per-gram service rates once machine time and setup are factored in.
| Material | Typical price / gram | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | €0.15 – €0.25 | Prototypes, display parts, cosplay |
| PETG | €0.18 – €0.30 | Functional parts, enclosures, outdoor |
| ABS | €0.20 – €0.35 | Automotive fixtures, heat-exposed parts |
| TPU | €0.35 – €0.55 | Gaskets, phone cases, flexible grips |
Three worked examples
Ballpark quotes for common part sizes at 20% infill, 3 walls, standard layer height, and no post-processing.
- Small bracket, 25 g in PLA — material ~€5, machine time ~€6, setup ~€4. Total ≈ €15.
- Enclosure lid, 120 g in PETG — material ~€30, machine time ~€18, setup ~€4. Total ≈ €52.
- Phone case, 40 g in TPU — material ~€18, machine time ~€10, setup ~€4. Total ≈ €32.
Design choices that swing the number
Infill density
Most functional parts print at 20–30% infill. Bumping to 60%+ adds real strength but roughly doubles material and machine time for the interior. Drop to 10–15% for cosmetic prints to save 30–40%.
Wall count
Walls (perimeters) matter more than infill for strength. Three walls is the sweet spot; five walls costs about 15% more but is significantly stiffer than raising infill.
Orientation
Orient tall parts vertically and you save build-plate area but add machine hours. Lay them flat and prints finish faster but may need more supports. A good service picks the orientation that minimizes total cost — but you can request a specific one if surface finish matters on a given face.
Supports
Overhangs beyond ~45° need support material, which adds grams and post-processing time. Small design tweaks (chamfers, self-supporting angles) can eliminate them entirely.
Why setup fees exist
A €4–€8 setup fee covers slicing, machine calibration, filament loading, and part removal — costs that don't scale with part size. Ordering 4 small parts at once nearly always beats 4 separate single-part orders.
Get an instant quote
Upload your STL and we'll price it in seconds using the same variables above — no back-and-forth, no hidden fees. You'll see the material, machine time, and setup breakdown before you pay.