Comparison

3D Print Cost vs BamBuddy

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

3D Print Cost

This app helps 3D printing enthusiasts and professionals track filament usage, calculate print costs, and manage sales and profits. It provides real-time data on material and energy expenses, inventory alerts, and customer order tracking to optimize workshop operations.

Highlights
  • Real-time cost calculation
  • Material and energy tracking
  • Filament inventory management
  • Sales and profit tracking
  • Customer directory
  • Cross-platform sync
Features
Read full description

Know exactly what your 3D prints cost before setting a price. PrintMate combines a 3D printing cost calculator, filament inventory tracker, and sales manager in one easy-to-use app. Whether you print for fun, sell your creations, or manage multiple printers, keep your workshop organized and make more informed pricing decisions. CALCULATE YOUR 3D PRINTING COSTS Go beyond filament and electricity. Build a detailed cost estimate using your material usage, print duration, printer settings, and additional expenses. • Calculate filament, electricity, and printer wear costs. • Include labor, packaging, delivery, hardware, and custom expenses. • Calculate costs for multiple filaments within a single print. • Create printer profiles with individual power consumption and depreciation settings. • Keep a history of your prints with saved cost breakdowns. PRICE YOUR WORK WITH CONFIDENCE Find a selling price that accounts for your costs and the profit you want to make. • Calculate suggested prices using a target profit margin or markup. • Account for VAT, discounts, and percentage-based fees. • See estimated profit and margin before recording a sale. • Save pricing details for future reference. MANAGE FILAMENT & INVENTORY Manage your filament collection by brand, material, color, and price. Enable inventory tracking to update remaining filament weight when you record a print. • Monitor remaining filament and spot low stock. • Organize materials for single-color and multicolor projects. • Track hardware and packaging supplies. • Manage finished-print inventory alongside your materials. MANAGE CUSTOMERS AND ORDERS Keep the business side of your workshop organized, from the first quote to delivery. • Maintain a customer directory with linked orders and sales. • Track orders through quoted, accepted, printed, and delivered stages. • Monitor payment status and delivery deadlines. • Record quantities, costs, and selling prices. CREATE QUOTES AND INVOICES Turn order details into clear documents for your customers. • Create and share PDF quotes and invoices. • Include your business and customer information. • Keep issued documents available for future reference. TRACK SALES, EXPENSES & PROFIT Understand your revenue, expenses, and profit with sales summaries and detailed breakdowns. • Review performance across different periods. • Identify leading products and customers by revenue or profit. • Record one-time and recurring business expenses. • See where your money goes and which projects earn the most. IMPORT BAMBU LAB PRINT HISTORY Connect your Bambu Lab account to browse available print history and import print details, reducing manual entry. SYNC ACROSS YOUR APPLE DEVICES : Use PrintMate on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with iCloud sync to keep your workshop data available across your devices. PRINTMATE PREMIUM : Get started free with up to 5 filaments, 5 prints, 5 customers, and 5 sales. An optional PrintMate Premium purchase removes these item limits. Download PrintMate and bring your printing costs, inventory, and business records together. ————————— Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

BamBuddy

Monitor and control your 3D printers remotely with live status updates, camera feeds, and print management. Features include lock screen widgets, Siri integration, and detailed statistics. Offers advanced AI features and multi-printer support with a Pro subscription.

Highlights
  • Live printer status and camera feed
  • Lock screen widgets and Dynamic Island integration
  • Remote print control (pause, resume, stop)
  • Filament inventory and usage tracking
  • Print statistics and success rate
  • AI print monitoring and error analysis (Pro)
Features
Read full description

BamBuddy is the companion app for your self-hosted Bambuddy server. Monitor and control your Bambu Lab 3D printers from iPhone and iPad: over your local network at home, via your remote address on the go. The app switches automatically. LIVE ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN • Live Activity with progress, finish time and a pause button, also in the Dynamic Island and StandBy • Widgets for your Home Screen and Lock Screen, with pause and chamber light without opening the app • Chamber light and BamBuddy in Control Center and on the Action button • Ask Siri: "How's my print in BamBuddy?" MONITOR EVERYTHING LIVE • Real-time status: progress, layers, time remaining and finish time • Live camera view, with a snapshot you can share instantly • Temperatures, fans and AMS units with filament colors • Filament overview: every spool on one screen, including what's running low • HMS error messages right in view CONTROL WITH CONFIDENCE • Pause, resume or stop prints • Print speed and chamber light • Manage the queue: start, reorder, cancel • Archive with favorites and print history STATISTICS • Success rate, print hours, filament usage, cost and energy • Charts by filament type and by printer FILAMENT INVENTORY • All your spools from Spoolman or Bambuddy's inventory, with remaining weight • Link a spool to an AMS slot; Bambuddy tracks usage per print (Pro) NEW IN 1.4 • Apple Watch app with complications • Klipper, Prusa, OctoPrint and Elegoo printers, no server needed • AI print monitoring and first-layer check (Pro) • Cost per print, share cards and model search FREE AND PRO The free version controls one printer, including widgets, Siri and all the features above. BamBuddy Pro (subscription or one-time purchase, 7-day free trial) adds: • Unlimited printers: your entire print farm in one app • Live Activity and Dynamic Island for every print • AI Print Assistant: explains error codes and gives advice on failed prints, fully on-device with Apple Intelligence • AI Insights: analysis of your print statistics with practical tips • Smart notifications: print finished or failed, printer error, filament running low PRIVACY FIRST No account, no cloud, no tracking. Your print data stays between the app, your server and your printers. Model search contacts Printables only when you use it. Your server token is stored securely in the Keychain. Available in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese. Bambu Lab printers require a running Bambuddy server (open source, free). SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION BamBuddy Pro is available as a monthly subscription (EUR 1.99 per month) or an annual subscription (EUR 14.99 per year, with a 7-day free trial). There is also a one-time lifetime purchase (EUR 29.99). Prices may vary by country; the App Store shows the price in your currency. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://wemeekit.nl/privacy/bambuddy/

Screenshots

3D Print Cost4 screens
BamBuddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

3D Print Cost and BamBuddy both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 90% of 3D Print Cost's written reviews are positive against 0% of BamBuddy's. 3D Print Cost also leads on ratings volume (18 vs 1). BamBuddy's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (5 vs 3). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. 3D Print Cost sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and BamBuddy sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BamBuddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 3D Print Cost has 18 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of 3D Print Cost's written reviews are positive against 0% of BamBuddy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
3D Print Cost versus BamBuddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter3D Print CostBamBuddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (18 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings18 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEMRE YILDIRIMWeMeekIt

Customer experience

3D Print Cost

All ratings16 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%

BamBuddy

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

9 purchases

3D Print Cost

Subscriptions5
  • Weekly Subscription$0.997 Days
  • Monthly Subscription$0.991 Month
  • Montly Subscription$2.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription$14.991 Year
One-time4
  • Lifetime Offer$14.99
  • PrintMatePromo$19.99
  • Lifetime Subscription$29.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Access$39.99
3 purchases

BamBuddy

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is 3D Print Cost free?
3D Print Cost is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BamBuddy free?
BamBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, 3D Print Cost or BamBuddy?
BamBuddy is rated higher. 3D Print Cost averages 4.8 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while BamBuddy averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do 3D Print Cost or BamBuddy have ads?
3D Print Cost shows ads; BamBuddy does not.
Which is updated more often, 3D Print Cost or BamBuddy?
3D Print Cost ships an update every 3 weeks, and BamBuddy every 3 weeks. Most recently, 3D Print Cost was updated on November 4, 2026 and BamBuddy on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons