Blender render time and cost calculator
By Superluminal Engineering
Choose your hardware, local frame time, frame count, and 1 to 30 nodes. The calculator returns the estimated render time and charge.
Published 2026-08-05 · Updated 2026-08-06
- Reference GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
- Hardware list
- 3,414 configurations
- Selected capacity
- 1 to 30 nodes
- Worked example
- 300 frames · 60 s on RTX 4090
Median Blender Open Data score: 5,789.130.
The dated snapshot includes the median score and benchmark count for each name.
The calculator uses the public rate for the selected node count.
Estimated 30-node result: 20 min 34 s and $40.36.
Use one local Cycles frame time for the estimate, then compare it with the recorded four-scene costs below.
Recorded costs from the render farm benchmark
These prices come from the same four scene attempts and tested plans. They are recorded charges or qualified allocations, not projections from the calculator. A charge does not by itself mean that local delivery completed.
| Tested service and setup |  Classroom |  Junk Shop |  Monster |  Fox (EEVEE) | Four-scene total | Price basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superluminal, 5 nodes | $1.10 | $0.48 | $0.50 | $0.14 | $2.22 | Exact reconciled USD charges |
| Superluminal, 10 nodes | $1.35 | $0.64 | $0.62 | $0.33 | $2.94 | Exact reconciled USD charges |
| Superluminal, 30 nodes | $1.90 | $1.21 | $0.98 | $0.31 | $4.40 | Exact reconciled USD charges |
| RenderJuice, Hobbyist and Blazing | $1.57 | $0.98 | $0.91 | $0.83 | $4.29 | Subscription quota value |
| GarageFarm, High | $7.55 | $3.92 | $2.73 | $1.12 | $15.32 | Exact USD charges |
| Fox Renderfarm, GPU 3 | $3.20 | $2.46 | $1.80 | $2.44 | $9.90 | Exact USD charges |
| RebusFarm, tested working tiers | $11.45 | $10.34 | $3.63 | $15.18 | $40.60 | Dated RP-to-USD estimate. The Fox (EEVEE) charge is kept despite a retrieval defect |
The table keeps each service on the plan used in the benchmark. iRender is omitted because its rate-derived scene windows overlap during one shared machine session and cannot be added into a four-scene total. The iRender comparison publishes those individual windows. The full comparison explains the packages, plans, and currency conversions.
How the estimate works
Choose a local frame that represents a slow part of the animation. Keep the same Blender version, engine, samples, resolution, and output settings.
The calculator first converts the local Cycles time to one farm RTX 3090:
$ t_{3090}=t_{local}\times\frac{score_{local}}{5789.130} $
Higher Blender Open Data scores mean faster Cycles rendering. The searchable list contains all 3,414 named device configurations in the August 5, 2026 snapshot.
The dated device score dataset contains all 3,414 names, median scores, and benchmark counts. Blender's live table can change as new results arrive.
| Example local device | Median score | Submitted tests | RTX 3090 time factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | 11,683.377 | 8,901 | 2.0181 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 | 5,789.130 | 8,208 | 1.0000 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 | 3,360.284 | 4,733 | 0.5804 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | 2,291.838 | 6,474 | 0.3959 |
| Apple M2 Max GPU, 38 cores | 1,776.595 | 297 | 0.3069 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | 213.497 | 3,478 | 0.0369 |
The calculator then estimates the time from upload completion to the last local output:
$ T=15.683+\left\lceil\frac{\text{frames}}{\text{nodes}}\right\rceil t_{3090}+6.233 $
The first constant is the median render-submit-to-active-render interval across 12 Superluminal runs. The final constant is the median from provider completion to local output across the same 12 runs.
The estimated render charge is:
$ C=\frac{\text{frames}\times t_{3090}}{3600}\times\text{rate at the selected node count} $
The calculator uses one RTX 3090 GPU per selected node. It reads the public rate for the selected GPU count.
Worked example
A 300-frame animation takes 60 seconds per frame on an RTX 4090. The estimated farm frame time is 121.09 seconds.
| Selected nodes | Frame rounds | Estimated time after upload | Rate per GPU-hour | Estimated render charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 60 | 2 h 1 min 27 s | $2.00 | $20.18 |
| 10 | 30 | 1 h 0 min 55 s | $2.650959 | $26.75 |
| 30 | 10 | 20 min 33 s | $4.00 | $40.36 |
Thirty nodes save about 101 minutes against five nodes in this example. The higher capacity also raises the render charge. The rates come from the August 6, 2026 curve snapshot, and the calculator itself always reads the live table.
What the estimate cannot measure
- Project upload time depends on file size and your connection.
- Blender Open Data scores do not test your scene's GPU memory fit, add-ons, or simulation state.
- The score ratio estimates Cycles time. It does not estimate EEVEE time.
Superluminal bills successful frame runtimes measured on the farm. The pricing page explains billing, and the benchmark data shows the measured jobs behind this model.