Custom 3D printed electronics enclosures, priced
You have a board that works and need a housing for it: for a pilot run, a product launch, or equipment that has to look finished. Off-the-shelf boxes rarely fit, and an injection mold costs thousands before the first part.
A 3D printed enclosure fits your board exactly and needs no tooling, so changing the design for the next version costs nothing extra.
What a printed enclosure costs
We ran real open-source enclosures through our instant quoter on 19 October 2026. The prices are per piece at Standard speed, before shipping and tax.
| Enclosure (source) | Size (mm) | SLS nylon, 1 | SLS nylon, 10 | SLS nylon, 50 | SLS nylon, black, 1 | FDM PETG, 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IoT sensor enclosure, 2-piece set (HARDWARIO TOWER HWE101, CC-BY-SA-4.0) | 46 × 37 × 34 | $13.42 | $9.40 | $8.72 | $15.51 | $9.51 |
| PCB case base (OpenBCI, GPL-3.0) | 67 × 67 × 10 | $7.65 | $5.36 | $4.98 | $8.63 | $4.23 |
| Controller cover (Prusa MK3S Einsy, GPL-2.0) | 106 × 92 × 16 | $20.20 | $14.14 | $13.13 | $22.28 | $9.63 |
| Robot controller box (BCN3D Moveo, MIT) | 272 × 111 × 88 | $262.38 | $183.67 | $170.55 | $272.04 | $91.65 |
What this shows:
- Small sensor and PCB enclosures cost a few dollars per piece. At 50 units, a complete two-piece sensor housing in nylon is $8.72.
- The price per piece drops 30% at 10 units and 35% at 50, so a pilot run of 10–50 doesn't cost much more than a handful of prototypes.
- Large boxes favor FDM. A shoebox-sized controller box is $262 in SLS nylon and $92 in FDM PETG. Use SLS where finish and strength matter, and FDM for big, plain housings.
SLS nylon or FDM for an enclosure?
| SLS PA12 nylon | FDM (PETG, ASA, ABS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks | Even matte surface, no layer lines or support marks. Natural gray or dyed black | Visible layer lines, in your choice of filament color |
| Strength | Tough, nearly even in all directions; snap fits and clips last | Strong along layers, weaker between them |
| Detail | Fine vents, text and thin ribs print cleanly | Small features soften |
| Best for | Customer-facing products and pilot runs | Large housings, internal brackets, low-cost prototypes |
Design rules for a printed enclosure
- Walls: 0.8 mm is the minimum we print. For an enclosure, use 1.5–2.5 mm so it feels solid and doesn't flex. Thicker than about 3 mm mostly adds cost.
- Lid fit: leave a small clearance between the box and a sliding or press-fit lid, and order one test set before a batch to confirm the fit.
- Snap fits: PA12 nylon is tough enough for snap-fit lids and clips that open many times. Give the snap arm a gentle taper and a radius at its base.
- Screws: for lids you'll open more than a few times, add our heat-set brass threaded inserts (M2 to M6, or #4-40 to 1/4-20). We install them, and they give strong, reusable threads. Design the boss for the insert size you choose.
- Board mounting: add standoffs that match your PCB's mounting holes, with heat-set inserts or self-tapping screws.
- Vents and openings: SLS prints fine vent slots, port cutouts and engraved or embossed text without supports.
- Gaskets: for a softer seal, print the gasket in TPU 90A, a flexible SLS material, on the same order.
- Common fix: in our test, part of the OpenBCI case cover was about 0.6 mm thick, below the 0.8 mm minimum. Thin lid edges like that are the most common change before printing.
Finishes
- Standard (bead blasted): an even matte texture, included with every SLS part.
- Black dye: deep matte black dyed through the surface. It adds about $1–2 on a small enclosure.
- Vibratory smoothing: a smoother, softer sheen for parts people handle.
From prototype to production
- Prototype: order 1 or 2 enclosures to check the fit around your board.
- Pilot: order 10–50 for field units or beta customers. Per-piece prices drop 30–35%.
- Production: order the same file again whenever you need more. It's priced instantly every time, with no setup fee or quote to wait for.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a custom 3D printed enclosure cost?
In our test, small sensor and PCB enclosures cost about $4.50 to $15 per piece for one, and less in batches. A large controller box costs about $90 in FDM or $260 in SLS nylon.
Is there a minimum order?
No. One enclosure plus shipping is the smallest order, and ground shipping is free when the order's parts total $50 or more.
What files do you need?
STEP, STL, 3MF or OBJ. Upload the box and lid as separate files, set a quantity for each, and you'll see the price in seconds.
What's the largest enclosure you can print?
Up to 165 × 165 × 300 mm in SLS nylon, and up to 340 × 320 × 340 mm in FDM.
Can I get my enclosure in black?
Yes: SLS nylon dyed black, or FDM in black PETG, ABS or ASA.
Price your enclosure
We print more than 3,000 parts a month. Upload your enclosure files and see the price in SLS nylon and FDM at any quantity, in seconds. If you're buying enclosures somewhere else today, we'd love the chance to improve your current pricing. Get an instant price →
Enclosure designs belong to their projects: HARDWARIO TOWER (CC-BY-SA-4.0), OpenBCI Ultracortex (GPL-3.0), Prusa Original i3 MK3S (GPL-2.0), BCN3D Moveo (MIT). These projects don't endorse MakePartsNow.