Break-Even Calculator
When does your 3D printer pay for itself?
Enter your printer cost, print economics, and monthly volume to find your payback timeline, profit margin, and first-year ROI.
Tip: Use realistic net profit per print — include material, electricity, and labour.
Printer preset
Per-print economics (averages)
Break-even timeline
~3.3 months
≈ 66 total prints to pay off printer
0 months24 months
Paid off in 3.3 of 24 months
Profit per print
£6.00
Profit margin
50.0%
Monthly net profit
£105.00
Annual net profit
£1260.00
First-year ROI
361.0%
Total investment
£349
Cumulative profit after overhead
3 months£-34
6 months+£281
12 months+£911
24 months+£2171
How it's calculated
Net profit/month = (sell price − variable costs) × volume − overhead. Break-even = total investment ÷ monthly net profit.