How much does it cost · electroless nickel
Electroless nickel is priced per dm² for racked or basketed parts and per kg for small parts processed by weight: QuoteBuddy publishes €0.30 to €0.80 per dm² for 25 µm and €6 to €15 per kg, with an order minimum of €120 to €250 (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). RFQdecoder starts from bath time, calculated with a published deposition rate of 18 to 25 µm per hour (source: Magnaplate, October 2020) and divided by the number of parts in the load. Below €120, the price is raised to that amount and the quote shows it on a separate line for the subcontractor’s order minimum.
The billing unit depends on how the part goes into the tank. A part that has to be racked is priced on treated surface area: the tank works on area, not kilograms, and a hollow, light part can cost more than a solid block three times its weight (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). The French plater Verbrugge states that in most cases pricing is based on developed surface area in dm² rather than on weight (source: Verbrugge, February 2026). Bulk processing remains cheaper than rack plating, where parts are handled individually (source: Micron Coatings, June 2025).
Published benchmarks for subcontract work in Europe in 2026 (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026):
QuoteBuddy presents these figures as calibration ranges: they give the order of magnitude and do not replace the plater’s own price list (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). For the same surface area, electroless nickel costs three to six times as much as electrolytic nickel (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). The Italian plater Micron Coatings publishes €0.50 to €5.00 per dm² as a first estimate shared by electroless nickel and anodizing: the low end for standard treatments on simple geometries in medium to large batches, the high end for high-performance treatments or special requirements such as greater thickness (source: Micron Coatings, June 2025).
RFQdecoder prices medium-phosphorus electroless nickel on parts supplied by the customer, in steel, aluminium or copper. The parts are placed in baskets or on racks and are immersed together in the bath: this is the load. The deposit forms without passing electric current through the bath or the part (source: Magnaplate, October 2020), by chemical reaction, and stays uniform down into holes: QuoteBuddy reports thickness uniform within roughly ±10% wherever the bath touches the part (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026).
Bath time follows from thickness and deposition rate. For medium-phosphorus electroless nickel, Magnaplate publishes a rate of 18 to 25 µm per hour (source: Magnaplate, October 2020). PrecisionFab publishes a coating range of 5 to 50 µm (source: PrecisionFab, June 2026): when the drawing gives no thickness, the tool takes the middle of that range, 27.5 µm, and the quote says so. On request, the tool adds hardening by a one-hour bake at 400 °C, for which PrecisionFab gives 500 to 700 HV for medium phosphorus (source: PrecisionFab, June 2026).
Bath time and oven time are load times: the tool divides them by the number of parts in the load to get the time per part.
Deposition rate depends on the bath. QuoteBuddy gives 10 to 20 µm per hour for electroless nickel (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026); Verbrugge, which runs high-phosphorus electroless nickel, states about 10 µm per hour (source: Verbrugge, February 2026).
At a plater, the real minimum is in euros, not kilograms: €80 to €150 per order for electrolytic nickel, €120 to €250 for electroless nickel (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). On small lots this minimum dominates everything: the per-kg or per-dm² arithmetic may say €60, and the invoice will still read €120 (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026).
Since 4 October 2026, RFQdecoder applies this published minimum. When the calculated electroless nickel amount for the order is below €120, the bottom of the range, the price is raised to €120 and the quote shows it on a separate line for the subcontractor’s order minimum. Above that, the calculated amount applies as is.
The minimum is spread over the quantity actually quoted: on a batch of 20 parts, the treatment line costs the minimum divided by 20 (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026).
The following assumptions are chosen for illustration and do not come from a source: a steel part with 2 dm² of developed surface and no thickness on the drawing; a deposition rate of 22 µm per hour, taken within the published range; full loads of 50 parts; a rate of €60 per hour for the electroless nickel line and €40 per hour for the oven.
For comparison, QuoteBuddy’s benchmark for 25 µm, €0.30 to €0.80 per dm², gives €0.60 to €1.60 for a 2 dm² part (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). The €1.50 of the example, for 27.5 µm, falls within that range.
Two steps are not priced by RFQdecoder, and the quote says so:
These steps should be requested from the plater and added to the price when the part needs them.
For 25 µm, racked or basketed, QuoteBuddy publishes €0.30 to €0.80 per dm² for subcontract work in Europe (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). Micron Coatings gives a first-estimate range of €0.50 to €5.00 per dm², shared by electroless nickel and anodizing (source: Micron Coatings, June 2025).
For small parts processed by weight, QuoteBuddy publishes €6 to €15 per kg. A per-kg price only applies to parts that can tumble in bulk; the others are priced on surface area (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026).
QuoteBuddy publishes €120 to €250 per order (source: QuoteBuddy, September 2026). Since 4 October 2026, when the calculated amount is below €120, RFQdecoder raises it to €120 and shows it on a separate line for the subcontractor’s order minimum.
27.5 µm, the middle of the published 5 to 50 µm range (source: PrecisionFab, June 2026), and the quote says so. Bath time follows from it, with a deposition rate of 18 to 25 µm per hour (source: Magnaplate, October 2020).
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