Resin printing costs
Resin prints cost more per gram than filament, but print time works differently — and that changes how to price them.
The short answer
A single tabletop miniature printed on a desktop MSLA printer costs about $8.54 to make on its own, with resin at $35/kg, a 10% failure rate and twenty minutes of washing, curing and support removal. Printed as one of eight on the same plate, each miniature costs about $2.54. That gap is the most important thing to know about resin costs.
| Resin incl. supports | Time | Cost to make | Suggested price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One miniature | 5 cm³ (6 g) | 2.5 h | $8.54 | $17.08 |
| Plate of 8 miniatures | 40 cm³ (44 g) | 2.7 h | $20.29$2.54 each | $40.58$5.07 each |
| Display bust | 120 cm³ (132 g) | 9 h | $27.07 | $54.14 |
Each name opens the calculator with those numbers.
Fill the plate: print time follows height, not part count
An MSLA printer cures a whole layer at once, so a plate of eight miniatures takes about as long as one miniature of the same height. Machine time and electricity are shared across every part on the plate. That is why the per-part cost falls so sharply above: on a single miniature, machine time is $3.00 of $8.54; on a full plate, it is spread eight ways.
The same logic tells you to orient tall parts carefully: every extra millimetre of height adds layers, and layers are what take time.
Resin per print
Resin is sold by the litre or kilogram; with a density close to 1.1 g/cm³, a litre weighs about 1.1 kg. Standard resins are usually the cheapest, while tough, flexible, water-washable or plant-based resins tend to cost more — change the material price to what you pay.
Supports and rafts use real resin, so measure them: most slicers for resin report the total volume, supports included. If you only have the model’s volume, adding 10–30% for supports is a reasonable starting estimate for small parts.
Washing, curing and consumables
Every resin print needs washing (usually in isopropyl alcohol or water, depending on the resin), curing under UV light and support removal. That is hands-on time, so it belongs in post-processing minutes. Twenty minutes at $15 an hour is $5.00 per print — on a full plate, the wash and cure happen once for all of the parts.
The consumables — IPA, gloves, paper towels, the FEP or release film that wears out — are easiest to fold into the machine rate: add what you spend on them per month, divided by the hours you print in a month.
Power
Desktop resin printers draw little power compared with filament printers that heat a bed and a hot end; the calculator uses 60 W here. Even over nine hours that comes to $0.10 of electricity — power is rarely what makes resin expensive.
Failed prints
Resin failures — parts that drop off the plate, supports that tear, layers that split — are more common while you are dialling in a new resin or printer. These examples use 10%. Track your own rate for a month and use that; it is one of the few numbers that differs a lot between shops.
For filament prints and the general picture, see how much 3D printing costs. If you are pricing resin work for customers, running a 3D printing business covers machine rates, fees and margins.