3D Printing Services on Wave pay $16/month — $192/year. Over three years, that's $644. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 17.4 months. The median 3D printing operator earns $28,000/year, so Wave's annual cost is roughly 0.7% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $644 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
See the full history of Wave price changes in the SaaS Graveyard →
You're not the only one who's had enough.
3D Printing Services face unique challenges: Calculating cost per print including filament, electricity, machine wear, and failed prints. Failed prints waste hours and materials with no revenue. Quoting custom projects with unknown print times. Machine maintenance and nozzle replacements eating into margins. On top of all that, Wave charges $16/month ($192/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median 3D printing operator earns $28,000/year. Software at $192/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your FDM and/or resin 3D printers is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
Wave is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact Wave cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Wave | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $16/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $644 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most 3d printing services are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Settings → Data Export. Download customers, invoices, transactions, and accounts.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and chart of accounts from CSV.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Verify bank connections and recurring invoices work.
Cancel paid features. Your free account data stays accessible for records.
You're running 3 printers simultaneously. Printer 1 is doing a 14-hour cosplay helmet, Printer 2 is running 20 miniatures for a board game customer, and Printer 3 just failed 8 hours into a 12-hour print — $4 in filament and 8 hours of machine time gone. The cosplay customer wants a quote for 4 more pieces. The miniatures customer wants to know if you can do 100 more at a volume discount. Your per-print cost calculation is a guess at best.
Real 3d printing services near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a 3d printing operator? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every 3d printing operator on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Wave may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Wave is $16/month — that's $644 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from Wave as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $1,900/year on software — and 3D printing operator face their own version of that math. New York State income tax up to 10.9%. No Buffalo city income tax but high property taxes. Cross-border Canadian clients add complexity. New York State requires home improvement contractor registration in many jurisdictions. Erie County and the City of Buffalo have separate business permit requirements.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Buffalo metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps 3D Printing Services run into with Wave, and what Nexa does instead.
If you want to compare notes or see how other 3d printing services are running their tools, here's where the conversation happens.
$644 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once