Resin Printing Cost Calculator

1. Enter the millilitres of resin the print uses, from your slicer.
2. Enter your resin price per litre.
3. Add the print time, printer power and electricity price.
4. Set a failure allowance, then read the full cost per print.

The cost of a resin print is what it takes to produce a part on an SLA or MSLA machine. The main cost is the resin itself, sold by the litre and used by the millilitre, plus a little electricity and an allowance for the prints that fail.

Resin printing is prized for its fine detail, popular for miniatures, jewellery and dental models. Because resin is pricier than filament by volume and failures are more common, costing each print carefully matters even more than in filament printing.

1. Resin cost is the millilitres used divided by 1000, times the price per litre.
2. Electricity cost is the power in kilowatts, times the hours, times your unit price.
3. Add the two for the direct cost.
4. Multiply by one plus your failure rate to cover wasted prints.

Resin printers use little power, so electricity is usually tiny; the resin and the failure rate drive the cost. Remember to budget separately for alcohol, gloves and consumables.

A miniature uses 25 millilitres of resin that costs 40 per litre, so the material is 1.00. It prints for 4 hours on a 60 watt machine at 0.30 per kWh, using 0.24 kWh, about 0.07 in electricity. The direct cost is 1.07, and an 8 percent failure allowance adds around 0.09, giving roughly 1.16 per print. A large 120 millilitre model would cost several times more in resin alone.

Resin Used

The millilitres of resin is the main cost, driven by the size and number of parts on the plate.

Resin Price

Specialty resins such as tough, flexible or castable cost far more per litre than standard resin.

Failure Rate

Resin prints fail more often than filament, from supports and suction, so a larger allowance is wise.

Consumables

Isopropyl alcohol for washing, gloves and FEP film add ongoing costs beyond the resin itself.

For a typical resin print, this is roughly where the money goes.

Because resin dominates, buying it well and keeping failures low are the biggest levers on your cost.

Pricing Miniatures

Know the resin cost of each mini or batch before you sell.

Comparing Resins

See how a premium resin changes the cost of the same model.

Planning a Plate

Add up the resin for a full build plate of parts before printing.

1. Ignoring Supports

Supports and rafts use resin too; the slicer millilitres include them, so use that figure.

2. Underestimating Failures

Resin failures are common; a small allowance keeps your costing honest.

3. Forgetting Consumables

Alcohol, gloves and FEP film are real costs that a resin-only figure misses.

4. Using Filament Habits

Resin is priced per litre and used per millilitre, not per kilogram like filament.

The cash cost is exact for the figures you enter. It covers resin and power plus a failure margin, not every consumable of resin printing.

Add the resin cost (millilitres over 1000, times price per litre) to the electricity cost, then add a failure allowance. 25 ml at 40 per litre is 1.00 in resin.

A small miniature using 25 ml of resin at 40 per litre costs about 1.00 in material, plus a few pennies of power and a failure margin.

By volume, usually yes. Resin is priced per litre and standard resin often works out dearer than basic PLA, with more failures too.

Resin prints fail more often, from support failures, suction and adhesion issues, so an 8 to 12 percent allowance is sensible.

No. Isopropyl alcohol, gloves and FEP film are real consumables you should budget separately from the resin cost.

Your slicer reports the millilitres a print will use, including supports and rafts. Use that figure for the cost.

Resin printers are low power, typically 40 to 80 watts, so their electricity cost per print is very small.

Add your labour and a markup to the cost here. Our 3D printing price and profit calculator handles that step.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• Stereolithography (SLA) (Wikipedia).
• 3D printing overview (Wikipedia).
• Photopolymer (Wikipedia).