Small batch 3D printing vs injection moulding

Small batch 3D printing is producing anywhere from one to a few hundred identical parts directly from a CAD file, with no mould to make first. Injection moulding needs a steel tool before the first part exists, then makes each part very cheaply. So 3D printing wins while the quantity is low or the design is still changing. Moulding wins past a few thousand identical parts that will not change.

Get a free quote at the quantity you actually need and see the price per part for your own file.

3D printing vs injection moulding compared

Factor	Small batch 3D printing	Injection moulding
Tooling	None. The file is the tool	A steel mould must be designed and made first
First parts	Production starts once the quote is confirmed	Only after the mould is made
Design change	A new file, no tooling cost	A modified or new mould
Price per part at 1 to a few hundred	Moderate, with no tooling to recover	High, because the tool is spread over few parts
Price per part at thousands of identical parts	Falls slowly with quantity	Much lower once the tool is paid for
Geometry	Undercuts are free, no draft angle, walls can be any thickness	Draft angles and moulding rules apply
Minimum order	€20 for the whole order, no minimum piece count	Only economic at volume
Best range	One to the low thousands, depending on part size	Past a few thousand identical, frozen parts

The crossover sits somewhere in the low thousands, and where exactly depends on part size more than anything else. The short run production page covers the same trade from the production side.

Where small batch 3D printing wins

The volume does not justify a tool. Tens or hundreds of a part rarely pay back a mould.

The design is still moving. A revision between batch three and batch four costs a new file, not a new mould. If you expect changes, say so, because it changes what is worth optimising.

The parts are needed before a mould could exist. Printing starts from the file, so bridge parts can ship while tooling is being made, or instead of it.

The part is a set of variants. Fixtures for several stations, or one bracket in five lengths, are separate files in one order. Jigs and fixtures are the most common case.

The original is out of production. A discontinued plastic part needed in single figures is a print job, not a tooling job. The spare parts page sets out when that works and when it does not.

Where injection moulding wins

Past a few thousand identical parts that will not change, injection moulding is cheaper per piece and 3D printing is the wrong process. We would rather say so early than win the order. Moulding also produces a different part: a moulded surface straight from the tool, and the properties of a moulded rather than a layered material. Parts carrying a safety certification, or parts under pressure, need the original or an engineered equivalent, not a printed one. Our what we do not print page lists the processes we do not run and when to look for them.

How quantity changes the price per part

Ordering 100 parts does not cost 100 times one part. Four effects push the price per part down as the quantity rises:

• Setup is shared. Preparing the print profile, arranging the plate and checking the first article happen once per batch, not once per piece.

• Parts share a plate. Small parts nest together on one build plate, and a plate takes about as long whether it holds one part or forty.

• Machines run in parallel. Plates print at the same time on different machines across a fleet of 200+ printers.

• Larger orders earn a volume discount. It is applied automatically on order value, and the calculator shows it at the quantity you enter.

One thing quantity does not change: a tall part is still a tall part. Height is layer count, and layer count is machine time on the machine printing it. The practical rule is to quote at the real quantity, not at one, because the price per part at one is not the price per part at 200.

Lead times for a batch

The calculator shows the estimated production time for your exact files and quantity. Production days are calendar days, because the farm runs seven days a week. Three production speeds are offered on the quote: Economy costs less when the date is not the constraint, Standard suits most batches, and Express costs 20% more to finish sooner. A run large enough to occupy the farm for weeks does not leave as one delivery. It ships in stages, so the first parts arrive while the rest are still printing.

Courier transit is counted separately, in business days, with DPD, GLS, Cargus, FedEx or DHL:

Destination	Standard transit	Express transit
Bulgaria, Hungary	2 to 3 days	1 to 2 days
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia	3 to 4 days	2 days
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia	4 to 5 days	2 days
Other destinations	5 to 6 days	2 to 3 days

How to get a quote for a batch

1. Upload each part as its own file. Up to 20 files fit in one quote, and each can carry its own quantity.

2. Choose the material. If unsure, start with PETG for indoor functional parts and ASA for outdoor ones.

3. Enter the real quantity. Presets run from 1 to 100, and any number can be typed.

4. Write acceptance criteria in the notes. Load direction, cosmetic faces, and any dimension that must be checked. We do not publish a tolerance figure because we have not measured one, so a critical dimension belongs in the notes. A QC report is available on request, free on orders over €500.

5. Consider one sample first. Validate fit, finish and colour on one piece, then order the batch.

Every quote is reviewed by a person before an invoice is issued, and an NDA is signed fast once the text is agreed if the design is confidential. We are an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer with 1200+ orders shipped since 2022. The instant quote vs RFQ comparison explains why a batch price can come back in minutes rather than days.

Get a free quote by uploading your parts, setting the batch quantity and reading the price per part and the production time together.