Pricing Information

How we calculate your 3D printing cost

You’ve landed on our website, opened the app, uploaded your 3D file and within seconds, a magical price appears on your screen. Fantastic! But where did that figure come from? How much does a 3D printing service cost and why?

In this section, we’d like to take you through the behind the scenes process we use to calculate your part cost, the key factors that influence pricing, alongside some tips and tricks to help you reduce your 3D printing costs.

The five key metrics that influence 3D printing costs

1. Lead time (how fast you need your part)
2. Manufacturing specifications (material, finish and colour)
3. Overall size (your part’s boundary box)
4. Material usage (how much material your part consumes)
5. Nest-ability (how efficiently your part fits in a build)

Each of these factors plays a role in your final price. But it’s not as simple as adding them together. Instead, we use a custom-built pricing algorithm that weighs these metrics differently depending on your part’s geometry, helping us calculate the most accurate and economical 3D printing cost for your specific design.

1. Lead time – how quickly you need your part

Being organised pays dividends here. The more time you give us, the more efficiently we can plan our production runs. Efficient build packing is essential to keeping costs low, which means we can pass those savings on to you.

Three production lead times

We offer three pricing tiers based on the timeframe for producing your parts. These are our Standard, Express and Trade production lead times.

Why is Express More Expensive?
Express production means we prioritise your parts ahead of other orders, which often requires reserving machine capacity or running smaller, less efficient builds. These steps reduce overall efficiency and increase material and energy costs, which is why Express comes at a premium.

Manufacturing specifications (material, colour & finish)

Your choice of material, colour and surface finish directly influences the final 3D printing cost of your part. Below, we break down how each of these specifications contributes to the price.

Technology / material Choice

The technology and material you select is a fundamental component of the price. Each raw material, from PA12 Nylon to flexible TPU, has a different base cost. This price difference is due to the cost of materials, energy used in the process, amortisation of machines, and the labour involved. Our pricing algorithm automatically adjusts the 3D printing cost based on your chosen technology and material, ensuring the price accurately reflects the resources used.

While both Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) are powder-bed fusion technologies, they have distinct operational differences that create different cost structures.

Surface & colour finishes

You can select from a range of post-processing options to achieve the desired look and feel for your parts. The costs for these services are added to the base price of the print.

*Shot Peening is included as standard with all dyed parts to ensure a uniform finish.

What is vapour smoothing and why is there a cost?
Vapour smoothing transforms your 3D printed parts by giving them a smooth, glossy finish. This process not only enhances the appearance but also improves the surface durability of your parts. We charge a per part startup fee due to the time it takes to individually hang each part for the process. Additionally, there is a 25% cost added to the part price to cover the resources and precision required for achieving the best results. Vapour smoothing is ideal for parts where a high-quality finish is essential.

Why are different colours different costs?
The cost of colouring a part is determined by the popularity of the colour, the cost of the dye cartridges, and the labour involved in the dyeing process. We’ve structured our pricing to be as transparent as possible, reflecting the specific costs associated with each colour tier.

Overall part size (boundary box volume)

The first factor in our pricing algorithm is the overall size of your part, which we measure by the minimised boundary box. This is the volume of the smallest three dimensional box that could contain your part, regardless of how it’s oriented. Our software automatically finds this optimal orientation and calculates the boundary box volume by multiplying the width, length & height (X, Y & Z dimensions)

Why is the boundary box important?
Because the boundary box determines how much space your part takes up inside the machine. Even if your part is mostly empty space (like a thin frame or hollow shell), a large boundary box limits how many we can print per run or how many other parts we can fit in the machine around it, which drives up the cost. 

But don’t you group parts from different customers in the same run to avoid this issue?
Correct, we do! That’s why the Boundary box alone doesn’t define the price. If your part has a large boundary box but leaves plenty of empty space around it (space that can be filled with other parts without causing interlocking issues), our algorithm takes this into account and adjusts the price accordingly. 

Material usage (Part volume)

Once your file is uploaded, deep in the clouds, our software gets to work calculating the true volume of material your part consumes, not just its solid geometry.

Wait… what’s true volume?
Most of the 3D printing costs come from the material used. However, contrary to what you might expect, the amount of material required to print a single object is not equivalent to its volume. In SLS and MJF 3D printing, we fill the entire build chamber with nylon powder for every run. Only some of this powder is fused to make solid 3D printed parts. The rest stays unfused, but it’s not all reusable. Most of the unfused powder is only slightly degraded and can be reused by mixing it with fresh material. However, the powder immediately surrounding your part is exposed to much higher temperatures. It degrades too much to be reused, even when blended. The true volume of your part includes this extra material loss as well as the material your part is made from.

How do you calculate the true volume?
We offset your part’s surface by 3mm in every direction to account for the powder degraded beyond reuse during the printing process.

Nest-ability (how many we can fit in)

Nest-ability measures how efficiently we can arrange your part within the build volume of our machines. Highly nest-able parts let us achieve a higher packing density, either by fitting multiple copies of your part in one run or by making space for other components to pack neatly around it. The better your part nests, the more efficiently we can run the machine, and the lower your cost.

A nest of parts ready to be manufactured on the SLS ProX machine

Why does nest-ability matter?
Nest-ability directly affects how efficiently we can fill our machines, the efficiency of our service and, therefore the 3D printing service cost of your part. If your part has an awkward shape or long protrusions that make it hard to fit in with other parts it makes it more expensive for us to produce. On the other hand, a compact, symmetrical design (think stacking cups) often nests beautifully, meaning we can squeeze more into the same build and pass those savings on to you.

Tips & tricks to lower your 3D printing costs

Now you know how we calculate pricing, let us tell you how to make the most of this knowledge to reduce costs on your next 3D printing order. 

Tip 1: Reducing material volume (especially for MJF)

Material usage is one of the biggest drivers of cost, particularly for Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) prints. Reducing material without compromising part strength can make a big difference. Remember SLS & MJF don’t use infill like other 3D printing technologies, whatever you send us will be 100% solid! 

1. Reduce wall thickness (within guidelines): Walls that are too thick add unnecessary cost, while walls that are too thin can compromise strength and printability. Stick within recommended design guidelines to strike the right balance. With PA12 Nylon, you can print 2mm thick walls with incredible strength and durability. 
2. Hollow out solid parts: Whenever possible, hollow out large solid sections. Be sure to include drainage holes so unfused powder can be removed during post-processing. A hollow sphere takes up the same amount of space and material as a solid one, but if you add a hole to remove the internal unfused powder, we can recover the internal material and pass the savings onto you. 
3. Optimise geometry: Remove material where it’s not needed. Techniques like topology optimisation or adding internal lattice structures can drastically cut weight and cost while maintaining performance. 

A hollow part will be cheaper, as long as the wall thickness meets the minimum requirements

Use topology optimisation to reduce material usage whilst maintaining strength

Pro tip: Even small reductions in wall thickness or unnecessary bulk can lead to significant savings, especially across multiple parts.

Tip 2: Split large components into smaller assemblies

Big parts with large boundary boxes are expensive because they take up a lot of machine space. In some cases, splitting a large component into smaller pieces that can be assembled later is far more cost-effective. Smaller parts are easier to nest, which means better efficiency and lower prices.

A large part can take up a lot of space inside the build volume

Splitting into components can increase nestability, reducing price

Pro tip: Consider designing assembly features (like snap-fits or alignment pins) to make reassembly simple and strong.

Tip 3: Use a combination of MJF & SLS and mixed finishes.

SLS and MJF can produce similar results, especially since we offer PA12 Nylon material for both. However, the different technologies have different pricing structures. For example, you might need a casing with MJF’s superior surface finish, while internal components could be more cost-effective in SLS. Using each technology where it makes sense can deliver big savings.

The same applies for surface finishes and colours. Why pay for surface finishing on parts no one will ever see? Apply premium finishes only where required and keep internal or hidden components natural. Maximise your economy by using only the finishing that is required.

Pro tip: If you’re unsure, ask us! We can suggest the best combination of processes for your application.

Production run pricing

Quantity price breaks

We offer quantity price breaks for volume purchases of 3D printed parts. These discounts automatically apply in our instant quote tool. For a volume discount to be applied, there must be multiples of the same STL file added to the basket.

If you are printing multiples of similar data with minor differences, get in touch to see if we can still offer the volume pricing. We offer volume discounts for methods such as serialisation and mass customisation.

This table shows the discounts applied for different quantities:

Volume discounts

What if I have a lot to print but the files are all different? Contact us! While our automatic quoting tool is designed to apply discounts for multiples of the same file, we can often provide custom pricing for large orders of unique parts.

The same principles of nest-ability and overall volume still apply. If your collection of different parts can be efficiently arranged within a single build, we can pass those savings on to you.

To get custom pricing for your parts, please do the following:

1. Upload all files to a new quote
2. Apply material, finish & quantity for each part
3. Submit an RFQ by clicking on Actions → Submit RFQ

Our production specialists will manually review your files to calculate the most efficient build layout and provide you with a custom quote. We’re always looking for ways to give you the best possible price, so don’t hesitate to reach out for projects involving a high mix of different components.

Understanding minimum 3D printing costs

Minimum order cost

What is the minimum charge for using 3D People’s 3D printing Service?
Our minimum order cost of £30 + VAT applies to any 3D Printing order placed with our service. The minimum charge is for the whole order and not per part, and therefore if your order is below the minimum charge, we suggest adding more quantity of your pieces to make up the difference. This price does not include costs for shipping.

Why is there a minimum order cost for 3D printing?
The minimum order cost is there due to the time it takes to process an order. Each order involves set-up, sorting, finishing and packaging by 3D People technicians. Therefore each order has a minimum time spent working on it.

Minimum part cost

How can I get parts for less than the minimum part cost?
If your parts are falling into this minimum price category, there are two excellent ways to significantly reduce the per-unit cost.

1. Order in quantity
   The most effective way to reduce the cost of minimum-charge parts is to order them in volume. Our quantity discounts are applied more aggressively to these items compared to our standard price breaks. The fixed handling costs are spread across all the units, so ordering 50 identical tiny parts is far more efficient than ordering one, allowing us to pass those significant savings directly on to you.
2. Sprue your parts together
   If you have several different small parts, you can connect them together with “sprues” (thin rods or frames) to create a single STL file. By doing this, our system treats your collection of components as one single part, which means it is only subject to one minimum part charge.

Each part uploaded will have a minimum part cost

Attach parts together with sprues to overcome this

After you receive the sprued set, you can simply snip the individual components free.

Pro tips for spruing: Design sprues to be around 1-2mm thick. This makes them strong enough to survive post-processing but easy for you to remove later. Connect sprues to non-critical areas of your parts to avoid leaving marks on important surfaces.

By combining multiple small parts into one sprued assembly, you consolidate the handling fee and can achieve a much lower per-part cost.

Additional services pricing

Threaded inserts

For parts that require strong, durable and reusable threads for assembly, we offer the professional installation of heat-set threaded inserts. This provides a robust metal thread within your plastic part, perfect for components that will be screwed together.

Our standard low-volume pricing is structured as follows: First Insert: £20.00 (This includes the initial setup fee for the part) Each Additional Insert: £1.00 Example Calculation (Low-Volume) If you need a part fitted with 5 threaded inserts, the standard cost would be calculated as: £20 (for the first insert) + (4 x £1.00) = £24.00.

For larger production runs, we offer significant volume discounts on both the setup and per-insert cost.

For full technical specifications, available insert sizes, and design-for-manufacture guidelines, please see our dedicated threaded Inserts page.