What does the embroidery calculator ask for?

How many pieces, what each blank costs you, about how many stitches are in the design, where the embroidery goes, whether you run a single-head or multi-head machine, how many heads it has, and whether the design is already digitized.

How does stitch count change the cost?

Stitches drive machine time, thread, and bobbin, so a denser design costs more to run. Hooping, loading, and finishing depend on how many pieces you sew, not on how many stitches are in the design.

Does a multi-head machine cut the cost in half?

Not entirely. Heads sew at the same time, so a 12-head machine sews 50 pieces in five machine runs instead of 50. Hooping, loading, and finishing still happen piece by piece, so labor does not disappear.

How is digitizing handled?

As a one-time cost for the job. If the design is already digitized it adds nothing; if it is not, PriceMyPrint includes an estimate. Either way it is spread across the order, so it costs less per piece on larger runs.

Where do the assumptions come from?

Machine speed, thread, backing, handling times, and overhead start as PriceMyPrint modeling assumptions, not universal facts. Open Adjust costs to replace any of them with your shop's real numbers.

Yes, and no account is required.

Free Embroidery Pricing Calculator

PriceMyPrint estimates embroidery cost per piece from the work involved — machine time, thread, backing, digitizing, and hooping — then shows what to charge.

Free. No account required.

Pricing workspace

Embroidery job

Cost Breakdown

Each piece of a job carries its own cost. Amounts appear once your answers are complete.

Blank
The undecorated garment or item.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—
Printing it
Transfers, film, ink, thread, or supplies.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—
Employee time
Hands-on time to produce the job.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—
Equipment
Wear and cost of the machines doing the work.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—
Running the shop
A share of rent, power, software, and other fixed costs.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—
Mistakes & waste
The extra pieces you produce so spoilage doesn't shrink the order.
PriceMyPrint Estimate
$—

Pricing a product with multiple decorations or several items? Price the complete job.

Want to see the math behind these numbers? How PriceMyPrint calculates job costs.

How embroidery pricing works

Embroidery cost follows stitches and machine time more than anything else. A dense left-chest logo can take longer than a simple larger design, and every minute on the machine is a minute it cannot run something else.

Digitizing is usually a one-time cost for a design, which changes how it should be spread across a first order versus a reorder.

Costs embroiderers often forget

Thread is cheap. Time and trims are not.

Hooping and unhooping every single piece
Backing, topping, and stabilizer
Digitizing, edits, and test sews
Needles, bobbins, and machine maintenance
Trimming, inspection, and fixing puckered pieces

Margin vs markup

These two words get used as if they mean the same thing, and mixing them up quietly costs shops money. Markup is added on top of your cost. Margin is the share of the selling price you keep.

If a job costs you $10, a 50% markup gives you a $15 price. A 50% gross margin needs a $20 price. Same words, five dollars apart on every single piece.

Example pricing calculation

Say you print 48 shirts with one front graphic. Your cost is the blank, the decoration supplies, the hands-on time to produce it, a share of the machine, a share of what it costs to keep the doors open, and an allowance for the pieces that go wrong.

Add those together and you have your cost per piece. Choose the margin you want to keep, and the price follows from the math instead of from a gut feeling. PriceMyPrint fills in the dollar amounts once the calculation engine for this method is switched on.

Related pricing guides and tools

Quoting caps and shirts together? Compare against the DTF calculator, and see the methodology page for how every estimate is assembled.

Frequently asked questions

What does the embroidery calculator ask for?: How many pieces, what each blank costs you, about how many stitches are in the design, where the embroidery goes, whether you run a single-head or multi-head machine, how many heads it has, and whether the design is already digitized.
How does stitch count change the cost?: Stitches drive machine time, thread, and bobbin, so a denser design costs more to run. Hooping, loading, and finishing depend on how many pieces you sew, not on how many stitches are in the design.
Does a multi-head machine cut the cost in half?: Not entirely. Heads sew at the same time, so a 12-head machine sews 50 pieces in five machine runs instead of 50. Hooping, loading, and finishing still happen piece by piece, so labor does not disappear.
How is digitizing handled?: As a one-time cost for the job. If the design is already digitized it adds nothing; if it is not, PriceMyPrint includes an estimate. Either way it is spread across the order, so it costs less per piece on larger runs.
Where do the assumptions come from?: Machine speed, thread, backing, handling times, and overhead start as PriceMyPrint modeling assumptions, not universal facts. Open Adjust costs to replace any of them with your shop's real numbers.
Is it free?: Yes, and no account is required.