Source: https://mokxi.com/schools/lab-cost-calculator Updated: 2026-09-27 Lab cost calculator # What your lab would cost Put in your class, your kit and your own guesses. Every price is a US list price with a link to where we found it, and every guess is a box you can change. Your class Students Students per kit One eachPairsThreesFours Years Kit ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit, $42.99SunFounder Beginner’s Lab Kit (with multimeter), $49.99Build your own: UNO R4 Minima and loose parts, $50.30ELEGOO ESP-32 Super Starter Kit, $35.99Official Arduino Starter Kit, $110Your own kit price Kit price ($) Type your own and the kit becomes "your own". Mokxi plan Teacher, $129 a year per 40 studentsFree plan, $0 Instruments you would buy Multimeter $21.50 per kit Oscilloscope $329 per bench Logic analyzer $26.95 per bench Function generator $377 per bench Bench power supply $104.14 per bench Soldering iron $25.95 per bench Shared benches Benches with a scope, analyzer, generator and supply that groups take turns at. Our guesses (change them) We looked for published breakage and loss rates for school electronics kits and found none we could cite. These are round starting numbers, not data. Your own records beat them. Spare kits (% extra) Breakage (% of kit value a year) Consumables ($ per kit a year) Storage box ($ per kit, once) Inventory (minutes per kit a year) Hybrid: students per build kit Hybrid: breakage (% a year) Hybrid: keep the shared benches as real instruments too Hardware lab $4,216 $46.84 per student per year $3,701 before the first lesson, then $172 a year, over 3 years. Mokxi only $387 $4.30 per student per year $129 (Teacher plan) a year, every instrument included, over 3 years. Simulate first, then build $1,190 $13.22 per student per year 8 build kits for groups of 4, plus Mokxi, over 3 years. | Hardware lab | Mokxi only | Simulate first, then build Kits, with spares | $730.83 (15 + 2 spare) | None | $386.91 (8 + 1 spare) Instruments | $2,833.77 | Included (simulated) | $172 Storage boxes | $136 | None | $72 Breakage, each year | $96.73 | None | $17.20 Consumables, each year | $75 | None | $40 Mokxi plan, each year | None | $129 (Teacher plan) | $129 (Teacher plan) Inventory time, each year | 5.7 teacher hours | None | 3.0 teacher hours Total, 3 years | $4,215.79 | $387 | $1,189.51 See it first For your principal ## Budget justification Filled in from the calculator above. Add your name and school if you like, then print it or save it as a PDF from the print dialog. Nothing you type here leaves this page. Prepared by School Course ### Budget justification: electronics lab equipment and software September 28, 2026 #### Request For 30 students over 3 years: a Mokxi Teacher plan at $129 a year, used on our existing Chromebooks for the whole course, plus 9 ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit kits ($42.99 each) shared by groups of 4 for the final hands-on build. This is the "simulate first, then build" option below. #### Cost comparison Over 3 years, the simulate-first plan comes to $1,189.51 against $4,215.79 for a full hardware lab, $3,026.28 less, on the assumptions listed below. | Hardware lab | Mokxi only | Simulate first, then build Bought before the first lesson | $3,700.60 | $129 | $759.91 Each year after that | $171.73 | $129 | $186.20 Total | $4,215.79 | $387 | $1,189.51 Per student per year | $46.84 | $4.30 | $13.22 #### Assumptions (editable in the calculator) - Hardware lab: one ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit ($42.99) per 2 students, 15 kits plus 10% spares (2). - Instruments: multimeter ($21.50 per kit), oscilloscope ($329 per bench), logic analyzer ($26.95 per bench), function generator ($377 per bench), bench power supply ($104.14 per bench); 3 shared benches. - Breakage: 15% of kit value replaced each year (5% in the simulate-first plan, where most mistakes happen in the simulator). An estimate, not a measured rate. - Consumables $5 per kit a year; a storage box $8 per kit; 20 minutes of inventory per kit a year. - Simulate-first plan: bench instruments used in the simulator only; 8 real multimeters, one per build kit. - Mokxi: the whole simulator, including oscilloscope, logic analyzer, multimeter, function generator and bench supply, is on the free plan. The Teacher plan ($129 a year, 40 students) adds class rosters, submissions, automatic checks and a live room for the class. #### Trade-offs we considered - Students still benefit from handling real parts. The simulate-first plan keeps a small set of real kits for the final build instead of dropping hardware. - Mokxi runs in the browser on the Chromebooks we already have. Nothing is installed, and it works signed out. - The simulator does not teach soldering, and a finished circuit should be tried on real hardware before anyone relies on it. - Mokxi signs school data privacy agreements, including the SDPC National Data Privacy Agreement (see mokxi.com/privacy/students). #### Price sources US list prices at quantity one, checked September 23, 2026, before tax, shipping and any education or bulk discount. Please confirm current prices with the purchasing office. Mokxi prices from mokxi.com/pricing. Calculator: mokxi.com/schools/lab-cost-calculator. Item | Price | Source | Checked ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit Listed at this price but shown as sold out on the day we checked. Other retailers list it at different prices. | $42.99 | ELEGOO US store | September 23, 2026 SunFounder Beginner’s Lab Starter Kit (original UNO R3, includes a multimeter) | $49.99 | SunFounder | September 23, 2026 Arduino UNO R4 Minima | $20 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 USB A to USB C cable, 1 m | $4.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Full-size breadboard, 830 tie points | $5.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Male/male jumper wires, 20 x 6 in | $1.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 220 ohm resistors, 25 pack | $0.75 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Diffused red 5 mm LEDs, 25 pack | $4 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Tactile buttons (6 mm), 20 pack | $2.50 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Breadboard trim potentiometer | $1.25 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor | $3.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor | $5 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 ELEGOO ESP-32 Super Starter Kit Listed at this price but shown as sold out on the day we checked. | $35.99 | ELEGOO US store | September 23, 2026 Arduino Starter Kit (official, with 170-page project book) | $110 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 Digital Multimeter, Basic (TOL-12966) | $21.50 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 RIGOL DHO802 oscilloscope, 70 MHz, 2 channels | $329 | RIGOL North America | September 23, 2026 USB Logic Analyzer, 24 MHz, 8 channels | $26.95 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 Siglent SDG1032X function generator, 30 MHz | $377 | Siglent North America | September 23, 2026 KORAD KA3005D bench power supply, 30 V 5 A | $104.14 | DigiKey | September 23, 2026 Soldering iron, 60 W, adjustable temperature | $25.95 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 ## How the calculator works The whole formula, so you can check it or redo it in a spreadsheet. - Kits = students divided by students per kit, rounded up. Spares = kits times the spare percentage, rounded up. Both are bought at the kit price. - A multimeter is bought for every kit on the tables, unless the kit already comes with one. The scope, logic analyzer, function generator, power supply and soldering iron are bought once per shared bench. - A storage box is bought for every kit, spares included. - Every year, the breakage percentage of the kits’ value is spent on replacements, and the consumables amount is spent per kit. Spares are not counted against breakage; they are what keeps a lesson going on the day something breaks. - Mokxi is the plan price times the years. The Teacher plan covers 40 students; for more, the calculator counts one Teacher plan per 40, which is what several teachers each buying their own would pay. A single plan for a whole school is priced by quote instead. - Simulate first, then build: the same formula with one kit per group, its own breakage guess, a multimeter per build kit, and the shared benches only if you check the box. Plus the Mokxi plan. - Teacher time is shown in hours and never added to the dollars, because what an hour of your time costs is your district’s question, not ours. The prices behind the kit and instrument choices are below. For the parts that burn out and go missing, and for what running real boards on Chromebooks involves, see what an electronics lab really costs. Item | Price | Source | Checked Arduino UNO Rev3 | $27.60 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 Arduino UNO R4 Minima | $20 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 Arduino UNO R4 WiFi | $27.50 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 ELEGOO UNO R3 board with USB cable (compatible board) | $15.19 | ELEGOO US store | September 23, 2026 Espressif ESP32-DevKitC-32E | $10 | DigiKey | September 23, 2026 SunFounder ESP32 development board | $12.99 | SunFounder | September 23, 2026 ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit Listed at this price but shown as sold out on the day we checked. Other retailers list it at different prices. | $42.99 | ELEGOO US store | September 23, 2026 ELEGOO ESP-32 Super Starter Kit Listed at this price but shown as sold out on the day we checked. | $35.99 | ELEGOO US store | September 23, 2026 SunFounder Beginner’s Lab Starter Kit (original UNO R3, includes a multimeter) | $49.99 | SunFounder | September 23, 2026 SunFounder ESP32 Ultimate Starter Kit | $59.99 | SunFounder | September 23, 2026 Arduino Starter Kit (official, with 170-page project book) | $110 | Arduino Store USA | September 23, 2026 Full-size breadboard, 830 tie points | $5.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Male/male jumper wires, 20 x 6 in | $1.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Diffused red 5 mm LEDs, 25 pack | $4 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 220 ohm resistors, 25 pack | $0.75 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Tactile buttons (6 mm), 20 pack | $2.50 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Breadboard trim potentiometer | $1.25 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor | $3.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor | $5 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 USB A to USB C cable, 1 m | $4.95 | Adafruit | September 23, 2026 Digital Multimeter, Basic (TOL-12966) | $21.50 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 RIGOL DHO802 oscilloscope, 70 MHz, 2 channels | $329 | RIGOL North America | September 23, 2026 USB Logic Analyzer, 24 MHz, 8 channels | $26.95 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 Siglent SDG1032X function generator, 30 MHz | $377 | Siglent North America | September 23, 2026 KORAD KA3005D bench power supply, 30 V 5 A | $104.14 | DigiKey | September 23, 2026 Soldering iron, 60 W, adjustable temperature | $25.95 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 Hakko FX-888DX soldering station | $129.95 | SparkFun | September 23, 2026 Arduino Cloud plans: Free plan capped at 25 compilations a day; School Plan $20 per seat per year | See page | Arduino | September 23, 2026 Using Arduino kits with a Chromebook (needs the online Arduino Cloud Editor) | See page | Arduino | September 23, 2026 ## More for your budget conversation What an electronics lab really costs Kits, boards, instruments and the costs that never show up on the receipt, priced from US retailers. Simulate first, build second A week-by-week plan that keeps real hardware for the build that matters, and a short shopping list. Paying for it Title IV-A, Perkins V, DonorsChoose and local grants, what E-rate does not cover, and how purchasing works.