How Much Does 3D Printing Filament Cost?
Most 1kg spools of 3D printing filament work out to roughly $15 to $30 per kilogram. Right now, across the listings we track, PLA averages $20.68/kg, PETG $18.68/kg, ABS $20.49/kg, and TPU $26.54/kg. But the sticker price on a single spool is almost meaningless on its own: a $9.99 spool and a $34.99 spool can cost exactly the same per print. Price per kilogram is the only number worth comparing, and once you understand it you will never buy filament the old way again.
Why Total Price is Misleading
Filament comes in wildly different spool sizes — 250g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 5kg, 10kg, and beyond. Two listings that look cheap at first glance can be completely different values once you account for weight.
| Listing | Total Price | Weight | Price / KG | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand A PLA | $9.99 | 500g | $19.98/kg | Expensive |
| Brand B PLA | $18.99 | 1kg | $18.99/kg | Average |
| Brand C PLA (bulk) | $94.99 | 11kg | $8.63/kg | Best Value |
Brand A looks like a bargain at $9.99 — but it's actually the most expensive option per kilogram. Brand C costs nearly $95 upfront but delivers the best value per print by a wide margin.
The Formula
The math is straightforward. You never need to do it manually the tracker calculates it for every listing automatically but it's worth understanding:
Price per KG formula
Total Price ÷ Weight in KG = Price / KG
Example: $47.49 ÷ 6kg = $7.92/kg
If a spool is listed in grams rather than kilograms, divide by 1000 first. A 500g spool is 0.5kg, so a $12.99 listing would be $12.99 ÷ 0.5 = $25.98/kg significantly worse than it appears.
What Each Material Costs Right Now
These are the current average prices across every active listing we track, shown per kilogram and per gram. They update continuously, so this reflects the live market rather than a fixed benchmark.
| Material | Avg Price / KG | Avg Per Gram | Listings Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | $20.68/kg | $0.021/g | 6,467 |
| PLA+ | $19.11/kg | $0.019/g | 1,586 |
| PETG | $18.68/kg | $0.019/g | 2,437 |
| ABS | $20.49/kg | $0.020/g | 483 |
| ASA | $23.37/kg | $0.023/g | 295 |
| TPU | $26.54/kg | $0.027/g | 828 |
A good rule of thumb: anything meaningfully below a material's average is a solid deal. Drill into the PLA, PETG, and other material price trackers to compare every brand by true cost per kilogram.
The Bulk Buying Advantage
The single biggest lever for reducing your cost per kg is spool size. Larger spools almost always carry a lower price per kilogram than single 1kg spools of the same brand and material. The trade-off is upfront cost and storage, but if you print regularly the math almost always favors buying bigger.
One important caveat: Only buy bulk quantities of filament you've already tested and trust. A bad spool of filament at 1kg is an annoyance. Ten kilograms of the same bad filament is a significant loss. Always try a brand on a single spool before committing to a large order.
Things to Watch Out For
Variety packs inflating weight
A "10-pack" of filament where each spool is 100g looks like 1kg total — but 100g spools are impractical for most prints. Always check the per-spool weight, not just the total.
On this tracker: Use the "Single" listing type filter to exclude variety packs and view only same color spools.
Sample or mini spools
250g and 500g spools often have a much higher price per kg than 1kg spools from the same brand. They're useful for testing a new color or material but terrible value for regular printing.
On this tracker: Use the Size filter to restrict results to 1kg or larger spools.
Coupon prices vs. real prices
Amazon frequently shows "clip coupon" discounts on filament listings. These can make a mediocre deal look great. Coupons expire and aren't always available, so compare the base price per kg rather than the discounted price.
On this tracker: Prices are pulled from the live Amazon listing price, not coupon-adjusted prices.
How Much Can You Print With 1kg?
A 1kg spool gives you very close to 1,000g of usable plastic, give or take a few grams lost to priming, skirts, and purges. How far that goes depends almost entirely on what you print: model size, infill density, and wall count matter far more than print speed.
It also helps to know how much filament is physically on a spool. Because each material has a different density, the same 1kg works out to a different length of 1.75mm filament:
| Material | Density (g/cm³) | Length per 1kg (1.75mm) |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | ~1.24 | ~335 m (~1,100 ft) |
| PETG | ~1.27 | ~327 m (~1,070 ft) |
| ABS | ~1.04 | ~400 m (~1,310 ft) |
| ASA | ~1.07 | ~389 m (~1,275 ft) |
| TPU | ~1.21 | ~345 m (~1,130 ft) |
ABS and ASA give the most length per kilogram because they are the least dense, not because you get more material by weight. As a rough sense of scale, a small model like a 3DBenchy uses on the order of 11 to 15g at common settings, so 1kg lands loosely in the range of 60 to 90 of them. That figure swings dramatically with model size, infill, and wall count, and it does not account for failed prints, so treat any "models per kg" number as a wide estimate rather than a rule.
Density and length figures are representative values for standard 1.75mm filament, compiled from manufacturer technical datasheets (Prusament, Polymaker, Ultimaker, Fillamentum, Bambu Lab) and cross-checked against published spool-length references. Exact numbers vary by brand and formulation; TPU and filled or specialty grades vary the most.
Filament Cost FAQ
How much does 3D printing filament cost?
Standard 1kg spools generally run about $15 to $30 per kilogram depending on material and brand. Across the listings we track, PLA currently averages $20.68/kg and PETG $18.68/kg.
How much does PLA filament cost?
PLA currently averages about $20.68/kg (roughly $0.021 per gram) across every listing we track. It is normally the most affordable mainstream material.
How much does filament cost per gram?
Divide the price per kilogram by 1,000. Most common filaments land around $0.015 to $0.030 per gram, so a model that uses 20g of plastic costs only a few cents in material.
How much can you print with 1kg of filament?
A 1kg spool is close to 1,000g of usable plastic. How many parts that makes depends heavily on size, infill, and wall count, so it ranges from a handful of large prints to dozens of small ones. See the length-per-kilogram table above for each material.
See Price Per KG Live Across Every Listing
Every listing on this tracker shows the calculated price per kilogram so you can sort, filter, and compare in real time — no spreadsheet required.
Go to the Tracker →