Rust crafting calculator: crafting, Research, and recycling costs per item

Select the Assault Rifle (AK) in the calculator. Its recipe requires 50 High Quality Metal, 200 Wood, 1 Rifle Body, and 4 Metal Springs, crafted at a Level 3 Workbench. Researching the blueprint costs 120 Scrap once at a Research Table. Broken down into raw materials, that's 58 High Quality Metal, 200 Wood, and 200 Scrap, plus the Rifle Body, which you can only get from loot or the Recycler.

The Research row shows the one-time Scrap cost to research the blueprint at a Research Table, such as 30 Scrap for the Hatchet, 60 for the Thompson, and 120 for C4. If an item needs no research because it's a default recipe like Gun Powder or a starting item like the Hammer, a note appears instead. Raw materials and uncraftable components have no research cost.

The recycling yield shows what the standard Recycler without power returns for your quantity. One C4, for example, yields 10 Explosives, 2 Cloth, and 1 Tech Trash. The calculator deliberately uses only this Recycler as its reference: other Recycler variants or different server settings may yield different amounts.

The net balance shows crafting costs versus recycling yield per item, regardless of the selected quantity. A negative value means a loss, which is normal. For a Hatchet, you lose 50 wood and 38 metal fragments per item. Uncraftable loot items have no net balance; their recycling yield is pure gain.

Under “Quantity,” enter a value from 1 to 1000. If a recipe produces multiple units per craft, crafting costs are rounded up to whole crafting operations: 25 Gun Powder requires 3 crafts, or 90 Charcoal and 60 Sulfur. “Broken down into raw materials” breaks down all intermediate products proportionally and lists uncraftable components such as Tech Trash separately.

The “Workbench 1” to “Workbench 3” badge next to crafting costs shows the required level—for example, Workbench 1 for the Hatchet and Workbench 3 for the AK and C4. In Rust, you need a workbench of that level within range to craft the item. Items without a badge do not need a workbench.

Currently 35 selected items across six categories: resources, components, tools, weapons such as the Thompson and AK, explosives such as the Beancan Grenade, Satchel Charge, and C4, and building materials such as the Armored Door, Tool Cupboard, and Large Furnace. This is not the full Rust catalog. All values were researched against rusthelp.com as of 2026-09-16. Major Rust updates may change balance values.

The calculator is free to use without signing up, and there's nothing to install. It runs directly in your browser. It stores the “Recently viewed” row and collapsed categories only locally in your browser.