Already a member? Log in
Tools for the independent artist
Makeup artist pricing calculator

Your craft.
Your time. Your price.

A little clarity for the business behind your beauty.
Edit your numbers. Find a price that works for you.

Start with one appointment
I charge $,
spend minutes,
and have $ in costs.

Include prep, cleanup and travel in your time.
Include products and your share of business costs.

Not sure about your costs?

Direct costs + monthly costs ÷ appointments.
Count each expense once.

I'd like to earn
$ for every hour.

After entered costs. Before tax.

Your target service price
$87
CAD / appointment
Your time, valued$75
Your costs, covered$12
Made for your numbers.
At your current price
you earn per hour$78.67
$43 above your target service price.

How to read it

Four numbers, and what they do.

The calculator asks for almost nothing, on purpose. These are the four it does ask for, and what it builds out of them.

  1. What you charge now

    Your price today, exactly as it stands, even if you already suspect it is too low. It does not go into your target at all. It is there so the tool can tell you what your current price is really paying you, which is usually the line that changes minds.

  2. How long it really takes

    Minutes, not the length of the slot in your diary. Setting up, the service, cleaning down afterwards, and the drive if you go to her. Ninety minutes in the chair is rarely ninety minutes of your day, and the gap between those two numbers is where most underpricing lives.

  3. What it costs you

    Products for this one booking, plus its share of what your business costs to run each month. If you are not sure, open the cost helper: it divides your monthly costs across a month of appointments, so one booking carries one booking's worth and no more.

  4. What you want to earn an hour

    The rate you want for your own time, after the costs you entered and before tax. Your hours at that rate, plus your costs, is the target service price printed on the ticket.

Then read it backwards. Under the ticket, the tool shows what your current price earns you for an hour of your time once your costs come out. At $130 for a ninety-minute appointment with $12 of product, that is $78.67 an hour. Whether that is good news depends entirely on what you typed in the last field.

Before you use the number

Three things it leaves out, on purpose.

A calculator that quietly folds in assumptions is worse than one that admits what it skipped. This one skips three, and each is a decision that should stay yours.

Tax, and why it is a division

The target is pre-tax. If you set aside a percentage of everything you are paid, do not simply add that percentage on top. On a $100 target, adding 30% gets you $130, of which $39 goes away and $91 comes back. To actually keep $100 you charge $100 ÷ 0.7 = $142.86. Work out the target here first, then divide it by one minus your rate.

Profit, beyond paying yourself

Covering your costs and paying yourself an honest hourly rate keeps you afloat. It does not buy new kit, cover a quiet January, or grow anything. If you want profit as its own line, it belongs on top of this number, not hidden inside it.

What your work is worth

This is a cost-based estimate, not a market rate. It cannot see your city, your portfolio, or the fact that a bride has been following you for two years. It gives you a floor you should not go under. What you charge above it is your judgement, and it should be.

The longer version

A price you can say out loud.

A number is a starting point. Turning it into a price list is a longer conversation: a base rate, bridal packages, what to do with the trial, when to raise your rates, and how to tell the clients you already have. How much to charge as a makeup artist walks through it properly. This calculator is the arithmetic behind its first two steps: costing your time honestly, and knowing what one booking really takes out of you.

Common questions

About the calculator.

How does this makeup pricing calculator work?

You tell it three things about one appointment: what you charge now, how many minutes it really takes, and what it costs you. Then you say what you would like to earn for every hour of your time. It multiplies your hours by that hourly goal, adds your costs, and that is your target service price. It also runs the sum backwards, so you can see what your current price is actually paying you per hour.

What should I count as time?

Everything the appointment takes out of your day: setting up, the service itself, cleaning down afterwards, and travel if you go to her. An appointment that is ninety minutes in the chair is rarely ninety minutes of your life, and pricing it as though it were is the most common way artists quietly underpay themselves.

What should I count as costs?

The products the appointment uses, plus that one booking's share of what it costs to run your business each month. Open the cost helper and it works the share out for you: your monthly costs divided by the number of paid appointments you do in a month. Count each expense once.

Does the calculator include tax?

No. It is a pre-tax estimate, so the target price is what you need before anything is set aside. That matters more than it sounds, because tax is a division and not an addition. If you set aside thirty percent, adding thirty percent to a one hundred dollar target leaves you with ninety-one, not one hundred. To actually keep one hundred you would charge one hundred divided by zero point seven, which is one hundred and forty-two dollars and eighty-six cents. Work out your target here first, then gross it up for whatever you set aside.

Does it include a profit margin?

No. It covers your time at the rate you asked for and the costs you entered, and nothing beyond that. Profit on top of paying yourself properly is a separate decision, and so is what your work is worth in your city. The tool gives you a floor to make those decisions from, not the answer to them.

Can I use it if I am not a makeup artist?

Yes. Nothing in the arithmetic is specific to makeup. Hair, lash, brow, nail and esthetics artists price the same way: time, costs, and what you want to earn for an hour of your work. Only the words on the page assume makeup.

Is it free, and do I need an account?

It is free and there is no account, no email address and no download. It runs entirely in your browser, so your numbers never leave your phone or laptop.

Start free

A price is only worth having if it gets charged.

Artisee keeps your prices, deposits and balances on every booking, so the number you worked out here is the number that reaches the invoice. Free to start, no card needed.

Start for free