How to price FDM 3D prints

Short answer: Set a selling price per gram for each filament: your cost per gram times a markup that rises with how hard the material is to print and how much detail the job needs. Add support filament at its own per-gram rate. Price finishing (sanding, painting, inserts, smoothing) as separate lines. Then put a setup fee or order minimum under it so small jobs still pay.

This is part 1 of our series on pricing 3D prints. The pillar guide explains the method across all technologies. This part applies it to FDM, with real published rates, a worked example, and prompts you can paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI assistant. Replace the [bracketed] parts with your own numbers, and check the math the AI shows before anything goes on a quote.

Numbers marked illustrative are example inputs, not market data. Every other figure links to its source. Filament and bureau prices were checked on October 21, 2026 and change often.

Simple to quote, not simple to calculate

FDM is where the simple method fits best. Filament is sold by weight, your slicer tells you the grams, and customers understand "this material, this much of it." Several shops publish this kind of rate card:

• Triple G Workshop charges per gram by material: PLA $0.10, PETG $0.12, PETG transparent $0.14, ABS $0.13, and TPU $0.15, "+ $5 setup," with basic cleanup included (Triple G Workshop).
• Hark Tech, a UK bureau, prices its FDM materials as a percentage over PLA, which is a material markup tier in its purest form (details below) (Hark Tech).
• RYSE 3D calls material cost "the foundation of the price," with build time, lead time, and finishing sitting on top (RYSE 3D).

The quote is simple. Setting the numbers behind it isn't. Your per-gram rate has to cover printer time, failed prints, nozzle wear, drying, and hands-on minutes without listing any of them, so check your tiers against real costs now and then (optional cost check).

Almost nobody runs on material × markup alone. Nearly every published rate card adds a setup fee or minimum order, and some add a time charge for long prints. Plan on a floor from day one.

The FDM formula

Part price = model filament (g) × filament cost per g × material markup
           + support filament (g) × support price per g
           + finishing (per part, per insert, or by surface area)

Order price = sum of parts
            + setup fee (or raise the total to your order minimum)
            − quantity discount
            × rush multiplier (if any)

Your slicer reports the grams, usually with model and support filament listed separately.

Markup tiers by material

Start from what you actually pay

Filament prices vary a lot, even within one material. Current US list prices show:

• PLA, PETG, and ABS: about $14–30/kg, from Bambu PLA Basic at $15.99 per 1 kg refill to Prusament PLA at $29.99 (Bambu Lab; Prusa).
• ASA and PC: about $25–48/kg, such as Bambu PC at $39.99/kg (Bambu Lab).
• TPU: about $23–70/kg (Overture; Prusa).
• Filled nylons: about $53–194/kg (Polymaker; Prusa).

Brands of the same material can differ by about 2×, so use your own invoices.

Tier the markup by difficulty and detail

Fine-detail jobs (small layer heights, tiny features) can move a material up a tier, because they print slower and fail more.

What real tiers look like. Hark Tech publishes its FDM material prices relative to PLA (Hark Tech):

Triple G's per-gram rates show the same pattern at the low end: PETG is 1.2× its PLA rate, ABS 1.3×, and TPU 1.5× (Triple G Workshop). As an illustration, Hark Tech's ratios applied to Triple G's $0.10/g PLA rate would give PETG $0.12/g (Triple G's actual PETG rate), PETG-CF $0.16/g, PC $0.19/g, nylon $0.21/g, and PA-CF $0.45/g. That's a starting sketch, not a recommendation.

Why the harder materials earn more

Manufacturers document what these materials cost you to print:

• Enclosures. ABS, ASA, PC, nylon, and their carbon- and glass-filled grades need an enclosed printer. PLA, PETG, and TPU don't (Bambu Lab filament guide). Prusa says ASA warps significantly and needs an enclosure for large parts (Prusa).
• Hardened nozzles and wear. Bambu requires a hardened nozzle for carbon- and glass-filled PLA and PETG-CF (Bambu Lab). Older tests found carbon-filled filament wearing out brass nozzles within a few hundred grams (E3D, 2015, a hardened-nozzle seller; CNC Kitchen, 2019).
• Drying. Prusa calls nylon "very hard to print" and says it can absorb water up to 10% of the filament's weight, so it needs drying for at least 4 hours (Prusa). PA6-CF needs an enclosed printer and a hardened-steel nozzle, and Bambu dries it at 80 °C for 8–12 hours in a convection oven. PPA-CF needs the same enclosure and nozzle, but Bambu dries it at 100–140 °C for 8–12 hours (Bambu Lab).
• Slow printing. Prusa rates flexible filaments "high print difficulty," with a typical speed of 20 mm/s, frequent clogging, and difficult support removal (Prusa). Slow printing means more machine time per gram, so a per-gram rate for TPU has to be steeper than its filament price alone suggests.

Folding those costs into the tier keeps the quote short and still pays for them.

Help me set selling prices per gram for the filaments my FDM print shop uses.

My markup tiers (multiplier on filament cost):
- Standard: [markup multiplier]
- Engineering: [markup multiplier]
- Specialty: [markup multiplier]

My filaments (one per line):
- [material and brand] | [price I pay] for [spool weight in grams] | [needs enclosure: yes or no] | [needs hardened nozzle: yes or no] | [needs drying: yes or no] | [prints slower than my standard materials: yes or no]

Instructions:
1. Work out my cost per gram for each filament from the price and spool weight.
2. Put each filament in a tier. Use the enclosure, nozzle, drying, and speed answers, and give a one-line reason.
3. Apply the tier markup to get a selling price per gram. Show your math for every row.
4. Output a table: Material | Cost per g | Tier | Markup | Selling price per g | Reason.
5. If anything is missing or unclear, ask me before filling it in. Don't make up prices or markups.

Supports: give support filament its own rate

Supports use real filament and printer time, so charge for them.

• Breakaway supports in the model material. This is the everyday case. Support grams cost the same as the part's, so charge them at the part's per-gram rate.
• Dedicated support filaments. Breakaway and soluble support materials often cost more per gram than the part. Bambu's Support for ABS is $14.99 per 500 g, about the price of ABS itself, but its Support for PLA/PETG is $34.99 per 500 g ($69.98/kg) (Bambu Lab). Polymaker's PolyDissolve S1 (PVA) is $49.99 per 750 g (Polymaker). At roughly 2–5× the price of PLA, they need their own per-gram rate.
• Soluble supports have hidden costs. Bambu says PVA is "extremely moisture-sensitive," must be sealed and dried, and isn't compatible as a support for PETG (Bambu Lab). Switching materials mid-print also adds purge waste (Bambu Lab), and dissolving takes time.

What to charge extra for soluble supports. No service we found publishes a soluble-support surcharge, and none publishes a separate per-gram support rate. PCBWay lists support volume as a price factor without a figure (PCBWay). So set your own: price the support filament per gram from what you pay, with your usual markup, and if dissolving takes real hands-on time, add it as a per-part finishing line.

Removing supports. Most shops include basic removal. Makelab says support removal, washing, and basic surface cleanup "are included with every FDM order at no additional cost" (Makelab). Printwithme, Triple G, and Xometry's standard FDM parts include it too (Printwithme; Triple G Workshop; Xometry). If removal takes real time, a flat per-part fee is fair.

Help me price support material for my FDM print shop.

My support filaments (one per line):
- [support filament and brand] | [price I pay] for [spool weight in grams] | [breakaway or soluble] | [model materials I use it with]

My markup on support filament: [markup multiplier]
Purge waste per material switch, if I know it: [grams per switch, or "unknown"]
Typical material switches per print with this support: [number, or "unknown"]
Hands-on time to dissolve or remove supports: [minutes per part]
My labor rate: [labor rate per hour]

Instructions:
1. Work out the cost per gram and a selling price per gram for each support filament. Show your math.
2. If I gave purge waste, estimate the purge cost per print and say whether it's worth adding to the support rate or the setup fee.
3. Work out a per-part removal or dissolving fee from my time and labor rate. Show your math.
4. Output a table: Support filament | Cost per g | Selling price per g | Per-part removal fee.
5. If anything is missing, ask me. Don't assume a price or a surcharge.

Price finishing separately

Keep finishing out of your per-gram rate and show it as its own line, so customers who want raw parts don't pay for paint. Shops that publish finishing prices do it one of four ways:

• Included: basic support removal and cleanup, as above.
• Hourly labor: Printwithme charges $35.00 an hour for all labor: sanding and gap filling, priming and painting, epoxy coating, assembly, and vapor polishing (ABS only) (Printwithme). Its material rates are still dated March 2023, but the labor rate was the same when checked on October 22, 2026.
• Quoted per project: Makelab quotes sanding, priming, painting, and color matching per project (Makelab).
• Percent of part cost: RYSE 3D adds +5% for threaded inserts (up to 10 per part), from +10% for vibro polishing, +25% for vapor smoothing, and +25–50% for A-class painting, all as a percentage of part cost (RYSE 3D). That scales with part size, but it overcharges finishing on parts in expensive filament: a carbon-fiber nylon part costs no more to paint than a PLA one.

For your own price list:

• Per part: steps that take about the same time on any part, like support removal, inspection, or bagging.
• Per unit: heat-set inserts. Makelab charges $3.00 per insert for 1–19, $2.50 for 20–59, and $2.00 for 60 or more, with a $50 minimum per order (Makelab).
• By surface area: steps that scale with the outside of the part, like sanding, priming, and painting. We found no FDM service that publishes surface-area pricing, but it keeps large painted parts from being underpriced.
• Vapor smoothing: it works on ABS (Printwithme limits it to ABS), Xometry and Shapeways offer it as a quoted or custom service, and RYSE adds 25% (Xometry; Shapeways). We couldn't verify a published US per-part price, so quote it from your own time.

Help me price finishing services for FDM prints. For each service, recommend a pricing basis: flat per part, per unit (such as per insert), by surface area (per cm²), or a percentage of the part price. Then work out the price.

My labor rate: [labor rate per hour]

Services (one per line):
- [service, for example painting] | [time: minutes per part, per unit, or per 100 cm² of surface] | [consumables cost per part, per unit, or per 100 cm²]
- [service, for example heat-set inserts] | [time] | [consumables]
- [service, for example vapor smoothing] | [time] | [consumables] | [materials it works on]

Instructions:
1. Pick a pricing basis for each service and explain why in one line. Steps that take the same time on any part are per part. Steps that scale with the part's outside surface are per cm². Point out if a percentage of part price would overcharge parts in expensive filament.
2. Calculate each price and show your math.
3. Output a table: Service | Pricing basis | Price | Math.
4. If a time or cost is missing, ask me for it. Don't guess.

The floor: setup fee or minimum order

Small jobs take the same file check, slicing, plate prep, and packing as large ones, so most rate cards put a floor under them:

• Triple G: $5 setup on every order (Triple G Workshop).
• Printwithme: $10 minimum order (Printwithme).
• PCBWay: a startup cost of $5–20 per material per order, a $25 minimum order value, and a per-part fee normally under $1 (PCBWay).
• TAKT 3D: a $5 setup fee per order and a $30 minimum (TAKT 3D).

A setup fee is added to every order. A minimum replaces the calculated price when it's lower: on Treatstock, with a $20 minimum, a $5 job shows $20 plus the platform fee (Treatstock). Some shops skip both. Makelab advertises "No setup fees. No minimum orders" (Makelab). If you do, your per-gram rates have to carry small jobs on their own.

Worked example: a PETG bracket (illustrative numbers)

This is the same bracket as in the pillar guide: 120 g of PETG with 15 g of breakaway PETG supports. The filament cost of $25/kg sits inside the current list prices above (about $14–30/kg for PLA, PETG, and ABS).

If it needs a dedicated support filament. Print the supports in Bambu's Support for PLA/PETG instead, at its $69.98/kg list price (about $0.070/g). With the same 5× markup, the support rate is $0.35/g, and the 15 g of supports become $5.25 instead of $1.88. The quote rises to $30.25 ($15.00 + $5.25 + $5.00 + $5.00). Billing it at the PETG rate would mean a much thinner markup on the job's most expensive grams.

If the customer wants it painted. An illustrative $0.03/cm² on 300 cm² of surface adds $9.00 as its own line, for $35.88 on the original quote.

Check this FDM quote before I send it. Don't change my prices. Point out problems and explain them.

Slicer output:
- Model material: [material], [grams]
- Support material: [support material, or "same as model"], [grams]
- Print time: [hours and minutes]
- Material switches, if multi-material: [number]

My rates:
- Model material: [price per gram]
- Support material: [price per gram]
- Finishing lines: [each service and its price]
- Setup fee or minimum: [setup fee, minimum order, or both]

My quote lines:
[paste each line: description, quantity, unit price, line total]

Instructions:
1. Check the arithmetic on every line and the total. Show your math.
2. Check that support grams are billed at the support rate, not left out or billed at the model rate by mistake.
3. Flag missing items: support removal, requested finishing, inserts, the setup fee or minimum, or rush if the deadline is short.
4. If the print time looks long for the grams, say so, and tell me what the job earns per print hour.
5. If you need a number I haven't given you, ask for it. Don't assume one.

Per gram or per hour?

Quote per gram, and watch the hours. Per-gram pricing is what customers understand and what most small shops publish. Its weak spot is long, slow prints. In one seller's example, a 288 g print that took 11.6 hours came out at $14–$34 in a weight-only calculator but about $80 once time and fees were included (r/3Dprintingbusiness, anecdotal). Some shops handle this with a time component. On top of its per-gram rate, Printwithme charges for print time: nothing under 2 hours, $1 an hour from 2 to 10 hours, and $20 a day past 10 hours (Printwithme). The material rates on that page are still dated March 2023, and the print-time schedule was the same when checked on October 22, 2026.

You have three options, from simplest to most detailed:

1. Per gram only, with tiers steep enough for slow materials and fine detail. Best when your jobs are similar.
2. Per gram plus a long-print surcharge above a set number of hours. Simple, and it protects long jobs.
3. Per gram plus an hourly rate on every job. Most precise, but harder for customers to compare and easy to price yourself out of the market.

I price FDM prints per gram. Help me find out whether long or slow prints are underpriced.

Recent jobs (one per line):
- [job name] | [material] | [grams, including supports] | [print hours] | [price I charged]

My costs:
- Printer cost per hour, if I know it: [cost per hour, or "unknown"]
- Labor rate: [labor rate per hour]
- Typical hands-on minutes per job: [minutes]

Instructions:
1. For each job, work out what it earned per gram and per print hour. Show your math.
2. Rank the jobs by earnings per print hour and point out the weakest ones.
3. Look for a pattern (material, size, detail level, or hours) and suggest whether I need a steeper tier, a long-print surcharge above a set number of hours, or neither. Explain the trade-off.
4. Don't invent costs. If my printer cost per hour is unknown, ask me for my printer price, expected lifetime hours, and power use, or work without it and say so.

Optional depth: check your markups against real costs

You don't need a full cost model to quote. Use one now and then to check that your tiers still cover real costs. The pillar guide covers the method: machine-hour rate, labor, a failure allowance, and the difference between markup and margin.

A few FDM-specific notes:

• Desktop printers are cheap per hour. On October 22, 2026, Bambu's US store listed the A1 at $399 and the H2D at $1,749 (typical price $1,999) (Bambu Lab; Bambu Lab). Spread over the hours a printer runs, that's usually small next to labor.
• Labor adds up fastest. Slicing, plate prep, support removal, and packing.
• Failures come out of your markup. Use the failure rate from your own logs.

Checking the bracket (illustrative). Say the bracket takes 8 hours on a printer you cost at $1/h, plus 20 minutes of hands-on time at $30/h. With $3.38 of filament (135 g of part and support at $25/kg) and an 8% failure allowance, the true cost is ($3.38 + $8 + $10) ÷ 0.92 ≈ $23.24, so the $26.88 quote earns a margin of about 13.5%. If that's below your target, raise PETG's tier, the support-removal fee, or the setup fee, without billing every line to the customer.

Putting it into a quoting tool

Once your rates and floor are set, an instant quote tool can apply them to every upload. AutoQuote3D's FDM pricing follows this structure. Here's what its own pages describe:

• Each material has a startup cost and a price per gram (tutorials).
• FDM support material is priced too, and each FDM material can be paired with a support material such as PVA or BVOH (tutorials).
• Bulk discounts (per material), a minimum job price (SLS quoting), and urgency percentages for rush work (tutorials).
• Finishing add-ons on the Service Bureau plan can be a flat fee or a percentage of the part price, charged per part or per order and limited to a technology or a material (SLA update; pricing).
• Machine-time pricing is opt-in, so you can stay per gram (powder-bed machine time).

If you want to try it with your own filament rates, you can set up your shop free without a card. Plans start at $25/month, and new subscribers get a 14-day trial when they're ready to collect payments (pricing).

More in this series

• How to price 3D prints for a print shop (the overview)
• How to price SLA resin prints
• How to price SLS and MJF parts
• How to price metal 3D printing (coming soon)

FAQ

Should I charge per gram or per hour for FDM prints?

Per gram for most jobs, because customers understand it and most small shops publish it. Per-gram pricing can undercharge long, slow prints, so add a long-print surcharge above a set number of hours or use steeper tiers for slow materials.

How much more should I charge for PETG, ABS, TPU, nylon, or carbon fiber?

There's no standard, but published rates show the pattern. One UK bureau prices PETG 20% above PLA, PC 90%, nylon 110%, and carbon-fiber nylon 350%. Harder materials need enclosures, drying, hardened nozzles, or slower printing, and the markup pays for that.

Do I charge for support material, and what about PVA?

Yes. Charge support filament per gram. Breakaway supports in the model material can use the model's rate. Dedicated and soluble supports such as PVA often cost 2–5× PLA per gram and need drying, so give them their own rate. No service we found publishes a soluble-support surcharge, so set yours from your own filament cost and time.

How should I price painting and sanding on 3D prints?

As separate lines, not inside your per-gram rate. Shops charge hourly labor, quote per project, or add a percentage of the part price. Pricing by surface area is a sensible option for painting large parts, though we found no FDM service that publishes it.

How much should I charge for vapor smoothing?

Quote it from your own time and materials. It works on ABS, larger services offer it as a quoted service, and one UK bureau adds 25% of the part cost. We found no published US per-part price.

What minimum order or setup fee is normal for FDM?

Published floors include a $5 setup fee, a $10 minimum order, and a $25 minimum order value, with some services charging a startup cost per material. A few shops have none, so their per-gram rates have to carry small jobs.