- Key Takeaways
- How Much Does Laser Cutting Cost?
- How Laser Cutting Prices Are Calculated?
- What Drives Laser Cutting Cost?
- How Can You Reduce Laser Cutting Cost?
- Does the Production Location Change the Price?
- FAQ
The cost of laser cutting sheet metal largely depends on your order quantity. The thickness of the sheet and any surface finish that is applied will also affect the price.
To see how volume moves the needle, consider the cost for a flat 2.0 mm cold-rolled steel plate with 113 cut-outs. Using September 2026 quotes, a single unit comes up to $27.98 on the Komacut platform. But if you bump up the order to 100 units, each part only costs $5.33. And it goes down to $4.69 per part for an order of 1,000 units.
That's about a 6x change in price for the same exact part. All that changed is the order volume.
In this article, we'll go over the cost of laser-cut sheet metal parts in more detail. All the numbers used will be based on our quotes from our China facility for the part described above (2.0 mm cold-rolled with 113 cut-outs and an antirust oil finish) at Standard tolerance.
Key Takeaways
The cost of laser-cut sheet metal parts is mainly affected by order quantity, with higher volume orders costing less per part.
Any surface finish applied to the part also adds to the cost, and the difference shows mainly at production volumes.
Parts made of thicker sheet will be more expensive, since it will involve more material and will cause the laser to cut more slowly.
On factory price, laser-cut parts cost less from China than from Mexico, but USMCA-qualified parts from Mexico ship duty-free to the U.S. and Canada, so North American buyers should compare landed cost.
Table of Contents
How Much Does Laser Cutting Cost?
Making our reference part will require laser cutting and deburring, and each sheet can yield 93 parts. There's no threading, chamfering, or bending involved. The table below shows the pricing for this job, excluding shipping.
| Quantity | Price per part | Order total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $27.98 | $27.98 |
| 10 | $8.06 | $80.60 |
| 100 | $5.33 | $533 |
| 1,000 | $4.69 | $4,690 |
| 10,000 | $4.46 | $44,600 |
Even at low volumes, the cost differences are evident. Ordering 10 units would cost you a total of $80.60, which is only 2.9x the price of ordering a single part. If you anticipate needing spare units or test-fit parts, order them with the first batch to save on total costs.
That being said, the curve flattens quickly. The price drop is drastic when moving from 1 piece to 100, which reduces the unit price by 81%. But increasing your order from 100 to 1,000 units only lowers the per-part price by another 12%. And going from 1,000 to 10,000 will only add another 5% reduction.
This shows that most of the savings you get from volume pricing are already secured when you order just a few hundred parts.
How Are Laser Cutting Prices Calculated?
The unit price for laser-cut parts is based on two things.
First, the fixed costs of the order. These are distributed across all the units in a single production run, so the costs get smaller (per part) as the order quantity grows.
Second, the costs that are inherent to producing each part. This includes the cost of the materials, the cutting time, and the surface finish. These costs scale with your order volume, and they remain more or less the same per unit whether you're ordering ten parts or ten thousand.
Instant quote platforms will calculate both of these cost factors based on the 3D model you upload.
What Drives Laser Cutting Cost?
Order Quantity
The number of units you order is the main factor behind the prices you get, especially for orders of less than 100 parts. An order of 10 parts already costs about 71% less per unit than an order for a single part.
Material Thickness
The thicker the sheet, the more material is used to make each part. As TRUMPF notes, thicker sheet also cuts more slowly, and this added time factors into the overall cost.
Here's a breakdown of how material thickness affects the price of 1,000 pieces in SPCC:
| Thickness | Price per part (1,000 pcs) | vs 1.0 mm |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 mm | $3.56 | Baseline |
| 1.5 mm | $4.18 | +17% |
| 2.0 mm | $4.69 | +32% |
| 3.0 mm | $5.98 | +68% |
If you're ordering a single piece, the added costs for thicker sheet won't be as noticeable, with $26.64 for 1.0 mm, $27.49 for 1.5 mm, $27.98 for 2.0 mm, and $29.76 at 3.0 mm. In other words, there's only a 12% increase when moving from 1.0 to 3.0 mm on a single-unit order (vs. a 68% increase on a 1,000 unit order). On an order of 1,000 parts, you'd be looking at an extra $1,290 ($1.29 per unit) to move from 2.0 to 3.0 mm sheet.
And SPCC isn't an outlier. The same pattern applies for parts made of stainless steel. When we plug in an order of 1,000 pieces in SUS304, our quote jumps from $3.64 for 2.0 mm sheet to $4.87 for 3.0 mm (a 34% increase).
Material Type
The type of material you use will determine which assist gases are needed. And the specific gas used will affect both the type of edge you get and the cutting process used to make it.
According to TRUMPF, for mild steel, the standard method is flame cutting with oxygen at up to 6 bar. Fusion cutting instead uses nitrogen or argon at 2 to 20 bar, which doesn't react with the metal and creates cut edges that are free of burrs and oxides.
The easiest way to compare material prices is to upload your design and get it quoted for different materials. Consult our guides on laser cut steel and laser cut aluminum for details on grades and thickness limits.
Surface Finish
You can't order SPCC without a finish, so it needs antirust oiling at the very least. We'll use that as our baseline to compare the cost of other finishes on 2.0 mm SPCC plate.
| Finish | Price per part (1,000 pcs) | Price per part (10,000 pcs) | Added vs antirust oiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antirust oiling | $4.69 | $4.46 | Baseline |
| Zinc plating (trivalent, blue-white) | not quoted | $4.76 | +7% |
| E-coating | $5.14 | $4.89 | +10% |
| Powder coating (black matte) | $5.49 | $5.23 | +17% |
On another comparison using aluminum (AL5052) plate, the mill finish price of $3.52 increased to $4.28 at 1,000 pieces when specifying clear anodizing (a 22% bump).
When comparing different surface finish options, make sure to do it at your production quantity. On a single part, e-coating actually quoted 0.3% below antirust oiling and powder coating added only 1.7%, well below the increase you would see at larger volumes.
Another option is pre-galvanized carbon steel. On an order of 10,000 pieces, it came out to $4.45 per part (about equal to oiled SPCC and 6.5% below zinc plating after cutting). But for an order of a single piece, it came out 25% higher than oiled SPCC. So, pre-galvanized only competes on price at production quantities.
But the unit price isn't the only consideration here. According to the Galvanizers Association, the cut edges on pre-galvanized sheet are uncoated, and the thin coating may not fully protect them. So if corrosion protection at the edges matters for your part, specify zinc plating or powder coating after cutting. Our surface finishes guide covers each option in more detail.
How Can You Reduce Laser Cutting Cost?
Use thinner sheet (if your design allows for it). For an order of 1,000 SPCC parts, our platform quotes 22% less for 2.0 mm sheet compared to 3.0 mm sheet.
Avoid ordering just one part. In our test, an order of 10 units cost only 2.9 times as much as a single unit. If you need spares, order them with the first batch.
Don't specify a finish unless your part actually needs one. On an order of 1,000 pieces, powder coating added 17% to the price per part.
Compare the cost of zinc plating to pre-galvanized sheet for parts made of carbon steel where the edges can remain bare.
Get a DFM review and fix any issues that were flagged before placing your order. On the part we tested, the platform flagged insufficient distance between holes. And keep inside corners at R0.2 or larger, the minimum listed on Komacut's laser cutting page.
To see how your design will fit on a sheet before getting a quote, try out our sheet metal nesting calculator.
Does the Production Location Change the Price?
Yes, it can.
Running a plate (cut from 2.0 mm ASTM A366 cold-rolled with antirust oiling) from Komacut's facility in Mexico costs 24% more for a single piece than the same plate from our facility in China. And it's 29% higher ($6.06 vs. $4.69) for a 1,000-piece order.
But those prices don't count shipping costs or import duties, which can change the comparison. Parts that qualify under the USMCA ship duty-free to the U.S. and Canada from our Mexico facility, and with shorter transit. Compare the landed cost for your order, not just the factory price.
For details on freight, check out our guide to shipping from China.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does laser cutting cost per hour?
Some manufacturers (including Komacut) don't quote laser cutting per hour. Instead, laser cutting jobs are priced based on material and thickness, surface finish, and order quantity. For a better comparison, evaluate suppliers based on their quoted price per part, not an hourly rate.
Why is laser cutting so expensive for one part?
Because every production run has some fixed costs, which stay the same whether you're ordering one part or one thousand. When you order just one unit, all those fixed costs fall on that single part. But when you order higher volumes, those fixed costs get distributed across each individual part. In our test, ordering a single 2.0 mm steel plate cost $27.98, but ordering ten dropped the per-unit price down to $8.06 (a 71% reduction).
How do you calculate laser cutting cost?
First, calculate the fixed costs for the production and divide that number by the quantity of parts ordered. Then, add up the cost of materials, cutting time, and surface finishing. And be aware that the cost of materials and cutting time increase when using thicker sheet. By far the easiest way to calculate the price is to upload your 3D model to an instant quote platform, which will automatically run the numbers for you.
Does thicker material cost more to laser cut?
Yes, because a thicker sheet takes longer to cut and uses more material. On our reference plate (1,000 pieces in SPCC steel), the cost moves from $3.56 in 1.0 mm sheet, to $4.69 in 2.0 mm sheet, and $5.98 in 3.0 mm sheet. But when we ran the numbers for a single unit, there was only a 12% price difference between 1.0 and 3.0 mm sheet, which shows that thickness has a bigger impact at production volumes.
How much does powder coating add to the cost of a laser cut part?
On a 2.0 mm steel plate, powder coating added $0.80 per part at 1,000 pieces (17% more expensive than antirust oiling). At 10,000 pieces, e-coating added 10% and zinc plating added 7%. But for a single piece, powder coating added only 1.7%, so compare finish options at your production quantity to get accurate numbers.
Is laser cutting cheaper in Mexico or China?
It depends whether you're looking at factory price or the full landed cost. Across Komacut's facilities, China comes out cheaper on factory price ($4.69 per part at 1,000 pieces in steel plate vs. $6.06 from Mexico). But for North American buyers, USMCA-qualified parts from Mexico ship duty-free with shorter transit, which can change the comparison. Compare landed cost.