FDM / FFF pricing explained
How a FDM / FFF price is assembled, setting by setting, with a worked example priced by the engine itself.
These are the settings that decide how the work is priced, as opposed to the machine that does it or the material it is made from. They are stored with the configuration.
Every one of them shows up in the breakdown when it affects a price, so if a number surprises you, the answer is on the screen.
A worked example
These numbers were computed by the pricing engine against the shipped Hobby FDM farm configuration - the one you get if you start from the template. They are regenerated whenever the engine changes, so they cannot drift away from what your own console would show for the same part.
| Line | One part | Ten parts |
|---|---|---|
| Material | €0.98 | €9.57 |
| Production | €8.27 | €25.70 |
| Discounts | - | −€0.77 |
| Total, incl. shipping and VAT | €32.01 | €51.65 |
| Machine time per part | 41 min | 30 min |
Note how the price per part falls with quantity: a batch shares what is done once - a set-up, a program, a whole build on a powder process, the tool in moulding. That is where the quantity break comes from. It is not a discount you are giving away; it is your cost structure, passed on.
Every setting on this page
These are in the same order as the editor, with the same help text. Each one has an anchor, and the ? beside a field in your console links straight to it - so if you are reading this because you clicked one, the setting you were looking at is highlighted.
Quality options
Layer heightslayer_heightsbasic
The print qualities buyers can choose; the first row is the default.
Price: Finer layers mean more layers and longer machine time.
Typical: 0.12 / 0.20 / 0.28 mm.
Heightmmbasicyou must set this
Labellabelbasic
Infill presetsinfill_presetsbasic
Named strength levels. Leave empty to give buyers a free slider.
Price: Higher infill adds material and time inside the part.
Typical: 10 / 20 / 40 / 100 %.
Ididyou must set this
Labellabelyou must set this
Infillpercentyou must set this
Slider minimuminfill_min_pct
The lowest infill a buyer may choose on the free slider.
Price: Nothing below this can be quoted, so it is your floor on part strength.
Typical: 10 %.
Slider maximuminfill_max_pct
The highest infill a buyer may choose on the free slider.
Price: 100 % is a solid part: the most material and the longest print.
Typical: 100 %.
Slider defaultinfill_default_pct
Where the slider starts, and what most buyers will leave it at.
Price: This is the infill most of your quotes will be priced at.
Typical: 20 %.
Infill pattern factorinfill_pattern_factor
Material your infill pattern uses relative to its nominal density.
Price: Scales infill material and time, on top of the chosen pattern's own factor.
Typical: 1.0 (gyroid, grid).
Infill patternsinfill_patternsbasic
Patterns buyers can choose between; the first row is the default. Leave empty to offer no choice.
Price: The factor is how much plastic that pattern really lays down at a given density, so it moves infill material and infill time together.
Typical: gyroid 1.0 / grid 1.0 / honeycomb 1.15 / lightning 0.35.
Ididyou must set this
Labellabelyou must set this
Factorfactoryou must set this
Wallswalls
Perimeter count.
Price: More walls add material and slow outer-wall time.
Typical: 2–4.
Top layerstop_layers
Solid layers on the top surface.
Price: Each one is a solid layer of material printed at solid-infill speed.
Typical: 4–6.
Bottom layersbottom_layers
Solid layers on the bottom surface.
Price: Same cost as a top layer; fewer are usually needed because the first layers are slow anyway.
Typical: 3–5.
Line width ÷ nozzleline_width_factor
Extrusion width as a multiple of the nozzle diameter.
Price: A wider line covers the same area in fewer passes, so it is faster and uses slightly more material per pass.
Typical: 1.125 (0.45 mm from a 0.4 mm nozzle).
Brim widthbrim_width_mm
Brim printed around the first layer for adhesion. 0 means none.
Price: Adds a little material and first-layer time to every part.
Typical: 0 mm, or 3–8 mm for tall narrow parts.
Supports & orientation
Support policysupport_policybasic
Whether supports are estimated and charged at all.
Price: "We never print supports" removes support material and support-removal labour from every quote - use it only if you really refuse overhanging parts.
Typical: Estimate and charge.
Support stylesupport_style
The kind of support your slicer generates.
Price: Tree supports use far less material than grid for the same overhang, and are usually quicker to remove.
Typical: Whatever your profile actually uses.
Support densitysupport_density_pct
How solid support structures are printed.
Price: Higher values add material and time to supported parts.
Typical: 10–20 %.
Tree support volume factortree_volume_factor
How much of the support envelope a tree support actually fills, compared with a grid one.
Price: Scales support material and support printing time downwards when the style is tree.
Typical: 0.4–0.5.
Interface layerssupport_interface_layers
Dense layers between the support and the part.
Price: They add material and slow time, and they make the support easier to remove - which the removal minutes should reflect.
Typical: 2.
Overhang thresholdsupport_threshold_deg
Overhangs steeper than this (from vertical) get support.
Price: A lower threshold supports more faces.
Typical: 45–50°.
Support materialsupport_material_id
The material id supports and their interface are printed in. Leave empty for a single-extruder machine, where the supports are the part's own material.
Price: A dedicated soluble or breakaway support is bought by the kilogram like any other material, and usually costs several times what the part material does, so naming it here is what stops supported parts being under-priced.
Typical: Empty, or the id of a support material in this configuration (usually one that is switched off for buyers).
Tool changetool_change_s
How long one change between the part material and the support material takes: prime, wipe, retract, restart.
Price: Charged twice per layer that has support in it, and only when the supports are a different material.
Typical: 10–20 s.
Purge per tool changepurge_per_change_mm3
Material pushed into the prime or wipe tower at each change, so the nozzle runs clean.
Price: Bought and thrown away: it is charged as waste of the material being purged.
Typical: 60–200 mm³.
Support finishing offeredsupport_finishesbasic
How much hand-work on the supported faces a buyer may choose between; the first row is the default. Leave it empty to offer no choice and always charge your baseline.
Price: The labour factor scales the support-removal time below; dressing adds minutes per cm2 of supported area on top of it.
Typical: removed 1.0 / left as printed 0.15 / marks dressed 1.0 plus 1.4 min per cm2.
Ididyou must set this
Buyer seeslabelyou must set this
What they getnote
Labourlabour_factoryou must set this
Dressingextra_min_per_cm2
Removal: minutes per supported partsupport_removal_base_min
Fixed handling for any part that has supports at all: picking up the tool, inspecting, tidying.
Price: Charged once per supported part, so it matters most on small parts.
Typical: 1–3 min.
Removal: minutes per cm² supportedsupport_removal_min_per_cm2
Removal effort that scales with how much supported area there is.
Price: The larger the supported area, the longer somebody spends on it.
Typical: 0.1–0.2 min/cm².
Extra effort for supports resting on the partsupport_on_part_factor
Multiplier for supports that land on the part itself rather than on the plate.
Price: Part-on-part supports leave marks and take longer to remove; above 1.0 charges for that.
Typical: 1.0–1.5.
Orientationorientation_policybasic
How the build orientation is chosen.
Price: Cheapest prices every stable candidate and takes the minimum.
Typical: Cheapest.
File preparation per modelfile_prep_min
Opening the file, orienting it, slicing and checking it before anything prints.
Price: Charged once per model, whatever the quantity - so it is a real part of the cost of a one-off.
Typical: 2–5 min.