CNC Machining Cost Calculator

A planning-stage estimator for machined parts. Set the basics below and get an indicative per-part range in seconds — no email gate, no download. When the drawing is ready, send it for a real, itemised quote.

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Your Part

Rough numbers are fine — this is for budgeting, not for the shop floor.

Material

Quantity

Rough envelope size

Complexity

Tolerance

Surface finish / secondary

Indicative Cost

Per-part, planning estimate. Not a quote.

Estimated per part

—

set inputs to estimate

Machine time (amortised)—

Setup & programming—

Material—

Finish / secondary—

Get an Itemised Quote on the Real Drawing

Estimates use indicative Shenzhen shop rates and ignore shipping, tariffs and special tooling.

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How the Estimate Is Built

The calculator splits cost the same way a real quote is built — into machine time, setup, material and finish. Knowing the split is more useful than the headline number, because it tells you where to push if the budget is tight.

Machine time scales with part size and complexity, and carries a tolerance penalty (tighter bands mean slower, more careful passes).
Setup & programming is fixed per part design. It dominates at low quantity and nearly disappears across a run — this is the single biggest lever on prototype cost.
Material reflects both stock price and how much the grade fights the cutter. Titanium and PEEK sit at the top; aluminium at the bottom.
Finish is mostly subcontracted (anodising, coating, plating) and adds a roughly fixed per-part charge.

For the full arithmetic behind these lines, see how CNC machining cost is calculated, and for the design-side levers read twelve ways to cut machining cost.

Read Before You Budget

What This Calculator Can't See

Real geometry

Two parts the same size can differ 10x in cycle time. Deep pockets, thin walls, long reaches and awkward angles only show up in the CAD file.

Fixturing

An odd shape may need a custom fixture or a 5-axis setup. That changes both setup cost and how many faces you get in one hold.

Inspection

Tight tolerances on critical features mean CMM time and a documented report — cheap to ignore in a budget, expensive to skip in production.

Special tooling

Unusual threads, internal splines or very small diameters can need dedicated tooling that the estimator can't know about.

The range above is deliberately wide. If your number looks high, the fastest fixes are almost always fewer setups and a looser tolerance where the function allows — covered in our CNC machining design guide.

FAQ

Cost Calculator Questions

How accurate is this CNC cost calculator?

It is a planning-stage estimator, not a quote. It gives an indicative per-part range from material, quantity, size, complexity, tolerance and finish so you can sanity-check a budget before drawings are final. Real cost depends on the actual geometry, fixtures, inspection and secondary operations, which only show up in a drawing-based quote.

Why does quantity change the price so much?

Setup, programming and first-article prove-out are fixed costs that do not scale with quantity. On a single part they fall entirely on that one piece; across a thousand parts they are spread thin. That is the main reason a prototype costs far more per piece than a production run.

Does ordering more always get cheaper per part?

Up to a point, with diminishing returns. The first hundred parts absorb most of the setup; going from 100 to 1,000 saves a smaller percentage than going from 1 to 100. Beyond a few thousand pieces, casting, extrusion or forging plus finishing often beats machining from solid.

Why is titanium so much more expensive than aluminium?

Titanium is harder to cut, dulls tools fast, work-hardens, and carries fire risk with swarf — so cycle times are longer and tooling costs higher. The raw stock is also far dearer. Aluminium machines quickly and cheaply, which is why it dominates prototyping and low-volume work.

From estimate to real number

Send the drawing and we'll quote it itemised — material, machining, setup, inspection and finishing as separate lines. If something in the design is driving cost without adding function, we'll flag it in the quote.

Upload Drawings & Get Quote