3D printing is an amazing technology and one of the most diverse in terms of methods, materials, and applications. You can spend just a few hundred dollars to take home a reliable 3D printer to make a huge variety of parts and models out of affordable plastic filament.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can spend more than a million dollars to 3D print large, complex metal objects for aerospace and satellites, tiny biocompatible devices for advanced medical applications, or entire buildings from extrudable concrete material. Some of the most expensive 3D printers on the market today use multiple high-powered lasers to sinter metal powder, layer by layer, into 3D parts, or they harness the power of photons to cure liquid resin into micrometer-small objects, or they’re two stories tall printing the bulk of a house in a day.
As you will see, printer size isn’t a determination of how expensive a 3D printer will be. Today price is usually a matter of advanced – often proprietary or patented – technology and features that enable the printer to print better parts faster, and without a lot of specific technical expertise.
Some of the most expensive printers aren’t even for sale. They are only made available on a subscription model, such as those from Carbon 3D, which makes them more affordable to use. Others are hired – with operators on hand – on a project bases, such as the Vulcan construction printer from homebuilder Icon 3D.
Features that boost a 3D printer’s price tag:
- Uniqueness of the technology
- How automated the processes are
- How large the capacity
- Quality assurance features
- Proprietary software
- Multiple controls and adjustments
- Carefully controlled environments (gas-filled chambers, consistent heat/cooldown)
Features that can add to the price of a printer include custom software that’s tuned to the printers specific technology, real-time print monitoring systems, and anything that automates processes that are sometimes done by hand with lower-cost systems (bed leveling, post-processing, or material filtration) or processes that require metallurgical or polymer expertise.
3D printing technology that requires a tightly sealed 3D printing build chamber filled with inert gas or printers that are cleanroom certified have these features reflected in the price tag.
Materials, likewise, play a huge role in the cost of 3D printing. Many 3D printers run only with proprietary materials developed by the manufacturer to run on their unique machines, which can range from custom metal powders where every tiny grain has a consistent diameter to specialty resins filled with carbon-fiber particles and unique polymer powders. You can 3D print in everything from pure gold to advanced plastics designed to withstand the harsh environment of space, provided you have the right budget.
Multi-material, multi-color printers are also on the higher range of the price spectrum, but many are surprisingly affordable.
If you’re looking for the best money can buy, check out these guides:
Most Expensive 3D Printers
No, There’s No Price Tag
As with anything extremely expensive, 3D printer makers are reluctant to publish exact prices. One reason is that they often customize these machines to your needs and offer optional features. It also makes a difference where in the world you live (taxes, import duties) and how far from the source the machine needs to be shipped. Also affecting price is your support package, installation, and training, among other factors.
With that in mind, though, below we detail some (but certainly not all) of the most expensive 3D printers available today – all above half a million dollars – and what they deliver.
Even though 3D printers are often a hefty capital expenditure, the ROI comes from the fact that no other manufacturing method can make the part complexity that’s possible with these machines, which leads to tremendous technological advancements in products, such as rocket engines, motors, and even medical implants.
EPlus3D EP-M1550
China-based EPlus3D makes massive metal 3D printers for the country’s demanding manufacturing industry. The company’s models are used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and tooling, to not only make huge parts, such as molds for heavy industry, but mass-produced parts.
The EP-M1550 metal 3D Printer is the company’s largest, with a 1,558 x 1,558 x 1,200 mm build volume in which it uses metal powder and 25 lasers to produce 99.9% dense metal parts in a wide range of materials at a rate of 650 cm³ per hour. The company says it “pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in metal powder bed fusion,” and it would seem they’re right.
There’s also an option to extend the height up to 2,000 mm, providing a functional printing volume of 2,670 liters.
XJet Carmel 1400C
Israel-based XJet developed a unique technology for ceramic 3D printing that demands a high price. NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology enables the production of metal and ceramic parts featuring high levels of detail, finish, and accuracy. It’s not just the technology and the proprietary materials that make this printer a serious investment, but the advanced automation in the printer itself that makes it easy to use.
Featuring a 1,400 cm² build tray – one of the industry’s largest – the Carmel 1400C enables the simultaneous production of multiple ceramic parts.
SLM Solutions NXG Xll 600
Nikon SLM Solutions is one of the leaders in metal 3D printing with a wide range of printers, but its NXG Xll 600 is what it says is a revolution in industrial manufacturing. The NXG XII 600 is designed for high-volume, serial productions and features an industry-first 12 lasers with 1,000 Watts each. The lasers enable speed and throughput not available elsewhere in a single machine.
More than lasers, the NXG Xll 600 features all the bells and whistles that SLM Solutions’ manufacturing customers have demanded over the years, including automatic build start, a laser focus function, and a closed powder system among other developments.
UpNano NanoOne Bio
Austria-based UpNano has developed a 3D printer and a hydrogel-based bioink that enables direct printing of 3D structures containing living cells at both the meso- and microscale. The NanoOne Bio is a printer based on the company’s NanoOne range of laser-powered printers that are able to build structures across 12 orders of magnitude. The new hydrogel is the only commercially available resin that allows embedding living cells straight from a culture plate within 3D printed structures for biological applications.
UpNano says the combination of X Hydrobio INX U200 and the NanoOne Bio opens up new possibilities in biomedical R&D, both in industry and academia enabling pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to design cell models that mimic natural growth conditions in the human body.
Black Buffalo
US-based, South Korean-backed Black Buffalo 3D officially launched its Nexcon 1G in 2023, which is a concrete construction 3D printer for houses and other large concrete objects. The printer can complete a 1,000 square-foot structure in under 20 hours and uses Black Buffalo’s proprietary cement material – the company calls ink – that can be colored and customized to match temperature, humidity, and altitude-specific conditions.
The Nexcon 1G is a modular 3D construction printer that can be extended on its X, Y and Z axis to scale up (or down) to fit the size of a project, up to three stories tall. A bit unique about the 1G is the ability for users to reposition the base tracks and move the printer to a new print area without having to dismantle the X or Z axis.
Voxeljet VX4000
Voxeljet offers one of the world’s largest and most powerful 3D sand printing machines for large components or large batches of small components. 3D sand printers are used to make molds, cores, and patterns used at metal foundries for traditional casting metal.
The company offers sand 3D printers in four sizes using binder jet 3D printing technology.
Voxeljet uses common foundry materials, including sand and binders, to ensure seamless integration into traditional production processes. In June 2023, the company launched its cold IOB (inorganic binding) technology so molds and cores no longer need a microwave post-printing treatment, which reduces costs. Voxeljet says this process reduces emissions and improves working conditions in foundries because only water vapor is produced during casting instead of harmful gases. The process is available now on the VX1000 and VX1000S printers.
Caracol Heron
Robotic-arm style 3D printers, which are used for all types of large-scale 3D printing, typically with plastics, but also ceramics and cement-like materials, are another high-price category.
Large-format 3D printing service Caracol launched a printer package for sale, called Heron, that includes a Kuka robotic arm, an extruder head, a material feeding system, software and more so that companies can achieve large-scale thermoplastic 3D printing in-house.
Optomec LENS 860
This US-based company uses directed energy deposition (DED) metal 3D printing technology that enables the repair of oversized titanium components, such as those used in aircraft engines or in the energy industry. Optomec offers several models of 3D printers that offer larger build volumes and higher power capabilities for metal additive and hybrid manufacturing metal processing.
LENS 860 Machine tool systems are ideal for building, repairing, or coating mid- to large-size parts with metal.
Lead image source: EPlus3D's EP-M450H SLM 3D printer.
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