How much does 3D printing cost? It is one of the most common questions we get, and there is no honest one-number answer, just as there is no single price for a machined or injection-moulded part. The price of custom 3D printing can, however, be broken down into items you can calculate. Once you know what it is made of, you can tell a fair quote at a glance and, more importantly, you can see where to save. We go through the whole 3D printing price list item by item, show a worked breakdown of the price per piece, and finish with answers to the most common questions about cost.
What goes into the price of custom 3D printing
Every custom 3D printing quote we issue rests on the same breakdown, and you see that same breakdown line by line in the 3D printing calculator on our home page:
- Material — the 3D printing price per gram of the part actually printed, not per bounding box of the model. Materials differ several times over: PLA for a prototype is the cheapest, PA-CF for loaded technical parts the most expensive.
- Machine time — electricity, nozzle and build-plate wear, operator supervision. It follows the estimated print time, which is driven by the weight of the part and the chosen quality.
- Finishing — support removal and clean-up, or assembly and bonding. This is charged per piece, so on a 3D printing production run it adds up.
- Order preparation — a one-off fee for preparation, slicing and printer setup. It is spread across the whole order, so you notice it on a single piece and barely at all on a hundred.
- 3D model preparation — zero if you send a finished STL or 3MF. If the model needs fixing, or we are to create it from a drawing, a sketch or a physical part, it is a separate one-off item.
- Multicolour printing — every colour change makes the printer purge the nozzle. That is wasted material and a longer print, so the surcharge has its own line.
- Express — delivery within 48 hours costs 30 % on top of the printing price.
- Shipping — within Czechia CZK 89 to a pickup point and CZK 139 to your address, free on orders over CZK 1,000. Outside Czechia CZK 300 (about 12 €), always charged.
All 3D printing prices on the site and in the calculator are excluding VAT. We invoice, and for EU companies under the reverse-charge scheme.
Why the price depends on weight, not dimensions
The most common misconception: the part is small, so it will be cheap. What decides the 3D printing cost is weight, and on a printed part weight behaves differently than on a machined one. A printed part is not solid, it has walls and a sparse infill inside. At usual settings it weighs roughly 38 % of what a solid piece of the same material would weigh.
The practical consequence: two parts with identical outside dimensions can differ several times over in price depending on how much material sits inside. And raising infill from 20 to 60 % adds roughly a quarter to both material use and print time on a typical part, even though nothing changes on the outside. Higher infill is worth it only where the part actually carries a load.
Print quality and price: layer height is a question of time
Layer height does not change material consumption, it changes speed, and with it the cost of machine time. A coarse 0.30 mm layer runs a part roughly two and a half times faster than a fine 0.12 mm one. On a functional part hidden inside a machine, fine detail is money thrown away; on a visible part or a figurine it pays off.
For the record: we hold ±0.2 mm as standard and down to ±0.05 mm on the resin printer (SLA) on request. A dimensional inspection report is available whenever you ask for one.
3D printing cost by material: PLA, PETG, ASA, PA-CF and resin
Between the cheapest and the most expensive material we offer there is a several-fold difference per gram. On a specific part it is rarely that dramatic: on a part weighing twenty grams, moving from PLA to PETG costs a few crowns per piece and adds resistance to heat and moisture. A rough guide to what drives the 3D printing price by material:
- PLA — prototypes, shape samples, decoration. The cheapest material, but it will not survive heat in a car or sustained load.
- PETG — the all-rounder for functional parts, moisture resistant and reasonably tough. The most common choice in custom 3D printing.
- ASA — for outdoors, sun and rain. It does not yellow or go brittle.
- PA (nylon), PC, PA-CF — technical 3D printed parts that have to last: gears, production jigs, brackets inside machines. Pricier material and pricier printing.
- Resin (SLA) — where detail and a smooth surface matter: models, moulds, small parts. A different technology, but it is in the calculator too.
There are over 250 technical and cosmetic materials to choose from. Saving on material makes sense only on parts where properties do not matter. On everything else it is cheaper to pay a little more than to print the part twice.
Price per piece drops with quantity: from prototype to production run
The biggest lever on the price per piece is quantity. One-off items dissolve into the run, and the price of the printing itself drops:
| Pieces | Discount per piece |
|---|---|
| from 10 pcs | −15 % |
| from 25 pcs | −25 % |
| from 50 pcs | −30 % |
| from 100 pcs | −38 % |
There is no minimum order, we print from a single piece to runs of thousands. Rapid prototyping, low-volume 3D printing production and spare parts all run on the same price list and differ only in quantity. If you know you will eventually need thirty, there is no point ordering five times six.
A worked example of the price per piece
Take a small functional PETG part weighing about 20 grams, standard quality, 20 % infill, cleaned up after printing, 25 pieces, your own finished model. The per-piece price splits roughly like this:
- material ≈ 40 %
- machine time ≈ 30 %
- clean-up and deburring ≈ 30 %
Plus the one-off order preparation, which spread over 25 pieces amounts to a few crowns each. Shipping within Czechia is free on an order of that size.
Two things follow. On small parts, the manual work after printing costs about as much as the material, which makes it the first place to look for savings. And the ratios of course shift from part to part: on a large part material and time dominate, on a one-off the fixed items do. The exact breakdown for your part appears in the calculator as soon as you upload the model.
How to bring your custom 3D printing cost down
- Skip finishing where it is not needed. On a part that disappears inside a machine, deburring is pointless. It is charged per piece, so on a run it is usually the most effective lever you have.
- Do not raise infill out of habit. 20 % is enough for the vast majority of parts.
- Do not specify a finer layer than you need. The price difference shows, the functional difference usually does not.
- Combine your orders. One order for fifty pieces is markedly cheaper than five orders of ten.
- Send a clean model without supports. Orientation and supports are our job. We cover it in detail in how to prepare a 3D model for printing.
- Tell us what the part is for. Often a change of material or orientation brings the price down without the part losing any of its properties.
When the calculator estimate is off
The 3D printing calculator works from weight and settings, it does not see geometry. The real price departs from the estimate mainly on parts that need a lot of supports (large overhangs, internal cavities), on very thin or very large parts that do not fit a single build plate, and on assemblies where something is bonded or put together. In those cases we send a quote by hand, and if it comes out lower than the estimate, we send it lower.
What custom 3D printing includes at no extra charge
Advice on material selection, orientation and support strategy, a free sample on larger orders so you can handle the material and surface before production starts, and a mutual NDA if you want one, gladly before you send us any data. We print everything in our own 3D printing farm in Janovice nad Uhlavou in the Czech Republic, FDM in all sizes and SLA, and we resell nothing. The deadline we confirm is ours to keep, not a subcontractor's. We deliver across Czechia and to EU countries, with no customs and no waiting for an overseas shipment.
Online 3D printing quote in a minute
The fastest route to a price is the 3D printing calculator on our home page. Upload an STL, 3MF or OBJ (up to 100 MB) and you get a 3D preview and an indicative price in crowns and euros, including the full item breakdown and a table of prices by quantity. We show the estimate as a ±15 % range, because real consumption, supports and time are settled by the slicer. We would rather tell you plainly what is an estimate and what is a final quote.
No model yet? Write to us and tell us what you need. A sketch, a drawing or a photo of the part that broke is enough. We will create or fix the model from your inputs, and we do reverse engineering too. The inquiry form accepts STEP as well as STL and 3MF. A prototype is usually ready in 2 to 5 working days, a production run in one to two weeks, express within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions about 3D printing cost
How much does it cost to 3D print a single piece?
On a single piece the one-off items, above all order preparation, make up a large share of the price. That is why the first piece costs proportionally more than any that follow. The exact figure for your part appears in the calculator once you upload the model.
How much does 3D printing cost per gram?
The price per gram differs from material to material, with a several-fold gap between the cheapest and the most expensive. Beyond material you also pay for machine time, finishing and order preparation, so a price per gram on its own never describes a whole job.
Is 3D printing cheaper than injection moulding?
On small runs, usually yes, because there is no mould to pay for. The higher the quantity, the more a mould pays off. Where exactly the crossover sits depends on the size and shape of the part, and we are happy to work it out with you.
How much does creating a 3D model cost?
If you send a finished STL or 3MF, nothing. Fixing a supplied model and creating one from a drawing, a sketch or a physical part are separate one-off items, and the calculator shows them on their own line.
Do you print single pieces, or production runs only?
We print from a single piece. There is no minimum order, only a price per piece that falls with quantity.
How much is shipping?
Within Czechia CZK 89 to a pickup point and CZK 139 to your address, free on orders over CZK 1,000. Outside Czechia CZK 300, always charged.
Do you quote in euros?
Yes. The calculator handles both CZK and EUR, and we invoice EU companies under the reverse-charge scheme.