A desktop 3D printer costs $199 to $3,799 at launch, judging by the 53 shipping printers in the database that have a recorded US launch price. The median is $549, so half of them launched for less. A quarter launched at $389 or less, and a quarter at $1,099 or more.
These are launch prices for each printer’s base configuration, without multi-material units unless the maker bundles one. Street prices move after launch with sales and price changes, so a retailer today can charge more or less than the launch figure. Three shipping printers have no recorded launch price and are left out: the FLSUN V2 Max, FLSUN V400 Max and Creality SPARKX i7.
How much does a 3D printer cost?
A desktop 3D printer costs $199 to $3,799 at launch, judging by the 53 shipping printers in the database with a recorded US launch price. The median is $549. Twenty-two of the 53 launched at $500 or less, and five above $2,000. The cheapest is the Creality Ender-3 V3 SE; the most expensive, the Bambu Lab H2D Pro.
By price band, with the list that covers each:
- $300 or less (8 printers): from the $199 Creality Ender-3 V3 SE to the $299.99 Elegoo Centauri Carbon. See 3D printers under $300.
- $300 to $500 (14): ten bedslingers (the bed moves front to back) from $349 to $469 and four CoreXY printers (the bed only moves down), from the $399 QIDI Q2C to the QIDI Q2 and Sovol Zero at $499. See 3D printers under $400.
- $500 to $1,000 (17): 14 CoreXY printers, ten of them enclosed or with a heated chamber. See 3D printers under $1,000.
- $1,000 to $2,000 (9): heated chambers, large build volumes and laser options. See 3D printers under $2,000.
- Over $2,000 (5): the Original Prusa XL+ ($2,299), Bambu Lab H2C ($2,399), Elegoo OrangeStorm Giga ($2,499.99), Snapmaker Artisan ($2,999) and Bambu Lab H2D Pro ($3,799).
Every shipping printer in the database except the H2D Pro launched under $3,000, and all of them under $5,000.
What is the average price of a 3D printer?
The median launch price of a shipping desktop 3D printer in the database is $549, and the mean is $881. The mean sits higher because five printers launched above $2,000. The median depends on the class: $399 for open-frame printers, $549 for enclosed ones and $1,049 for printers with an actively heated chamber.
By enclosure class:
- Open frame (28 printers): $199 to $2,499.99, median $399. Open bedslingers alone have a median of $384; open CoreXY printers, $824.
- Enclosed, no chamber heater (13): $299.99 to $2,999, median $549.
- Actively heated chamber (12): $499 to $3,799, median $1,049.
The chamber temperature list compares the enclosed and heated-chamber printers by chamber rating.
What is a good price for a 3D printer?
A good price is the entry price of the features your prints need. Automatic bed leveling starts at $199, an enclosure at $299.99 and a 300 × 300 mm bed at $349. Multicolor in the box starts at $379, an actively heated chamber at $499 and two nozzles at $649.
The printer that sets each entry price:
- Automatic bed leveling: Creality Ender-3 V3 SE, $199. Every shipping printer under $400 in the database levels automatically.
- CoreXY motion: Creality K2 SE and Elegoo Centauri 2, $299.
- Enclosure: Elegoo Centauri Carbon, $299.99.
- 300 × 300 mm bed: Sovol SV06 Plus ACE, $349.
- Hardened steel nozzle: Anycubic Kobra 4, $379.
- Multicolor unit in the box: Elegoo Centauri 2 Combo, $379.
- Actively heated chamber: QIDI Q2, $499.
- Claimed speed of 1,000 mm/s or more: Sovol Zero, $499 (1,200 mm/s).
- Two nozzles: Bambu Lab X2D, $649, which also has a heated chamber.
- Laser module option: Bambu Lab H2S, $1,249.
How much does a high-end 3D printer cost?
A high-end desktop 3D printer costs $1,000 to $3,799 at launch. Fourteen shipping printers in the database sit above $1,000, with a median of $1,599. Six of the 14 have an actively heated chamber, and the most expensive ones bundle extras such as filament units or laser modules.
Between $1,000 and $2,000, the price buys size and heat: the Sovol SV08 Max prints 500 × 500 × 500 mm for $1,299, and the QIDI Max4 has a 65 °C heated chamber around a 390 × 390 × 340 mm build volume for $1,149.
Above $2,000, three of the five ship with extras in the box. The H2C and H2D Pro include an AMS 2 Pro filament unit, and the Snapmaker Artisan comes with laser and CNC (computer numerical control) modules.
What is the most expensive 3D printer you can buy?
The most expensive shipping printer in the database is the Bambu Lab H2D Pro, launched at $3,799 with an AMS 2 Pro and an AMS HT filament unit included. Next comes the Snapmaker Artisan at $2,999, with laser and CNC modules in the box. The Elegoo OrangeStorm Giga follows at $2,499.99.
The Giga is the largest printer in the database, with an 800 × 800 × 1000 mm build volume. Among discontinued models, the Bambu Lab X1E and the Original Prusa XL launched at $2,499.
The database covers only desktop consumer and prosumer FDM (fused deposition modeling) printers and leaves out industrial machines. Whether prices are rising or falling over time is covered in are 3D printers getting cheaper?.
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