Vendora

Small business calculator

3D Printer: Buy vs Outsource

Estimate whether buying a printer and printing in-house costs less than ordering the same number of parts from a service. Enter the printer purchase price, how many identical prints you are comparing, your material and consumable cost per print, and the outsourced price per print.

Inputs

Use one currency. This calculator estimates the total cost to buy a printer and print in-house vs ordering the same number of models from an outsourcing service.

Used for guidance only; calculations stay the same.
Optional (for your reference).
One-time cost of the printer.
Whole number of identical models for this comparison.

Filament

RON/kg
Price of filament per kilogram.
kg/m³
Typical PLA is ~1,240 kg/m³.
cm³
Use your slicer’s volume estimate.

Software & accessories

If “No”, include the license cost below.
One-time cost (set 0 if not applicable).
Nozzles, tools, enclosure, upgrades, etc.

Electricity

W
Average power draw while printing (excluding heated bed below, if you want to separate it).
RON/kWh
Your utility price per kWh.
hrs
Total print time for all models combined.
W
If you don’t want to separate bed power, set to 0.
hrs
Total hours the bed is heated for all models combined.
Calculated after you click Calculate.

Design (buy path)

If “Yes”, include the design cost below.

Outsourcing

If “Yes”, include the design cost below.
What the service charges per printed model.
Total shipping for the order.
Calculated after you click Calculate.

Results

Buy total includes printer price, accessories, optional slicing/design costs, filament cost estimated from volume & density, and electricity (including optional heated bed). Outsource total includes price per model, shipping, and optional design cost.

Lower total cost —
Buy path total —
Outsource path total —
Difference (buy − outsource) —
Filament cost (estimated) —
Total electrical cost —

Example

Printer costs $800, you plan 100 prints, material is $2 per print, and a bureau charges $15 per print. Buy path total is $800 + $200 = $1,000. Outsource total is $1,500. Difference is −$500, so buying and printing is cheaper for this batch.

How it works

Buy path total = printer purchase price + (material and consumables per print × number of prints). Outsource path total = outsourced price per print × number of prints. Difference = buy path total − outsource path total. If difference is negative, the buy path is cheaper; if positive, outsourcing is cheaper for these inputs. This is a simplified cash comparison and ignores time, quality, and resale value.

Related tools

Profit Calculator, Break-even Calculator, or back to the Small Business calculator list.