# LaserQuote

> LaserQuote is a quoting calculator for laser cutting and engraving businesses. It turns machine time, material, setup labour, design fees and a target profit margin into a customer-ready price. The calculator and the tools below are free and need no account or email.

Free tools run in the visitor's browser. They do not require an account, an email address or a payment, and nothing entered into them is sent to LaserQuote.

## Free tools

- [Material Cost & Waste Estimator](https://laserquote.app/tools/material-estimator): How many parts fit on a sheet, what the material costs per part, and how much you throw away.
- [Laser Test Grid Generator](https://laserquote.app/tools/laser-test-grid-generator): Generate custom speed and power test grids for laser cutting & engraving, with a LightBurn file that has the settings built in.
- [Custom Shipping Box Generator](https://laserquote.app/tools/shipping-box-generator): Cardboard shipping box die-lines with cut and score lines on separate layers, ready for LightBurn.
- [Machine ROI / Payback Calculator](https://laserquote.app/tools/machine-roi-calculator): Weeks to pay off a laser and projected annual profit, from price, jobs per week and profit per job.
- [Laser Tools Directory](https://laserquote.app/tools/directory): 33 curated third-party tools for laser cutters, grouped by category.
- [Free quote calculator](https://laserquote.app/#calculator): price a whole laser job without signing up.

## Directory categories

- Boxes & Cases: 4 tools
- Living Hinges: 3 tools
- Text & Stencils: 5 tools
- Generators & Art: 8 tools
- Control Software: 9 tools
- Costing & Benchmarks: 4 tools

## Guides and articles

- [The Best Free Online Tools & Generators for Laser Cutters (2026 Directory)](https://laserquote.app/blog/best-free-laser-cutting-tools-generators): Box makers, living hinge generators, connected text, nesting and control software: the free tools laser owners actually reach for, and how to choose between them.
- [Sheet Offcuts vs. Nested Pricing: How to Stop Losing Money on Custom Laser Cuts](https://laserquote.app/blog/sheet-offcuts-vs-nested-laser-pricing): Pricing material by the square millimetre you use hides the offcut you pay for. Learn when to bill nested area, when to bill the whole sheet, and how to absorb the waste on purpose.
- [How to Laser Cut Custom Cardboard Shipping Boxes: Cut vs. Score Die-Lines, Flute Direction & Zero-Waste Packaging](https://laserquote.app/blog/how-to-laser-cut-cardboard-shipping-boxes): Choose the right corrugated board, tell cut lines from score lines, fold three box styles and export a LightBurn file with the layers already set up.
- [The Hours You Don't Bill: Pricing the Time Away From the Laser](https://laserquote.app/blog/hours-you-dont-bill-laser-job-pricing): The laser is only running for part of every job. Here's how to find the hours you're giving away — messages, file prep, masking, packing — and put them on the quote.
- [How to Price Laser Engraving Jobs (Without Guessing)](https://laserquote.app/blog/how-to-price-laser-engraving-jobs): A repeatable way to price laser engraving and cutting work: the four things every job actually costs, why setup time is the number most people miss, and how to choose a margin instead of a markup.
- [The Real Cost of Running a Laser Cutter](https://laserquote.app/blog/real-cost-of-running-a-laser-cutter): Tube and diode wear, power draw, extraction, overhead and your own time add up to a real per-hour cost of running a laser. Here's how to turn all of it into one hourly rate you can quote from.
- [Common Pricing Mistakes Laser Engravers Make (And What They Cost You)](https://laserquote.app/blog/common-laser-engraving-pricing-mistakes): Eight pricing mistakes that quietly drain margin from a laser business — from charging only for cut time to confusing markup with margin — and how to fix each one.
- [Spreadsheet vs. Laser Quote: Why We Built a Dedicated Tool](https://laserquote.app/blog/spreadsheet-vs-laser-quote): Nearly every laser shop starts with a pricing spreadsheet. Here's exactly where spreadsheets break as the business grows — and what a purpose-built quoting tool changes.
- [User guide](https://laserquote.app/guide): how to use the LaserQuote dashboard.

## Optional

- [Full documentation for language models](https://laserquote.app/llms-full.txt): pricing formulas, tool behaviour and die-line specifications.