How this embroidery pricing calculator works
Five layers, one true cost.
The formulas are the same as in our free Embroidery Lite spreadsheet, and the defaults are its sample settings. They are examples, not a going rate: replace them with your own.
- Material
blank + (backing per piece + consumables) × hoopings + stitches ÷ 1,000 × (top m × $ per m + bobbin m × $ per m) - Machine + power
sew minutes ÷ 60 × (machine price ÷ life + maintenance + watts ÷ 1000 × price per kWh) - Labor
(hands-on × hoopings + setup ÷ pieces in the order + manual re-threads on a single-needle) ÷ 60 × your hourly rate - Scrap allowance
(material + machine and power) × scrap % - Packaging and extras
whatever you type: bag, tag, tissue
Sew minutes = stitches ÷ (top speed × running efficiency) + color changes × seconds ÷ 60 on a multi-needle machine. Color changes = colors − hoopings. Caps use the cap speed. Thread $ per meter = cone price ÷ (length × 0.9144 if in yards). The five lines add up to the true cost. Rule price = stitches ÷ 1,000 × your rule rate + blank × (1 + markup).
Why “$1 per 1,000 stitches” misleads
The rule prices stitches, but most of the cost of an embroidered piece is not stitches. With the example settings, thread for 1,000 stitches costs about 1.5 cents and a running minute of a $4,799 multi-needle machine about 1.7 cents. The blank, your setup and your hands-on minutes are what count, and they do not grow with the stitch count. The sample rows of the Embroidery Lite spreadsheet show it:
- Logo cap in a 12-cap order, 7,000 stitches, 4 colors: true cost $12.13. The rule price of $19.19 makes a profit but leaves 34.1%, under a 40% target. The price for 40% after Square fees is $21.99.
- One-off name cap, 2,000 stitches, 1 color: true cost $16.47, because the 15-minute setup is carried by one cap. The rule says $14.19 and loses $2.80. The price for 40% is $28.99.
- Customer’s towel with a name, 3,500 stitches, no blank: true cost $4.94. The rule says $3.50 and loses $1.68.
So the rule works best on large, dense designs in long runs, and worst on small names and one-offs. That is why this calculator shows the rule check next to the price that reaches your margin.
How to read the verdicts
Rule check: red means the rule of thumb loses money on this design, amber means it makes a profit below your target margin, green means it reaches your target. Your price: LOSING MONEY, BELOW TARGET or ON TARGET, after all costs and fees. A line with a ⚠ means a number the calculation needs is missing. If your target margin plus the fee percentage reaches 100%, no price can reach it, and the calculator asks you to check the settings.
When one design is not enough
You priced one design. Now price the whole shop.
The same formulas in three sizes. Start free, and move up only when you outgrow it.
01 · ONE DESIGN
This calculator
Free, in your browser
- One design at a time
- Five cost layers, fees and a quote for the order
- Suggested price, verdict and the rule check
02 · TEN DESIGNS
Embroidery Price Checker (Lite)
Free spreadsheet
- Up to 10 designs on one machine
- True cost, the price that reaches your margin, profit, earned per machine hour
- Your price per 1,000 stitches and the rule check for each
Free · Opens on Gumroad · Excel + Google Sheets
03 · THE WHOLE SHOP
Embroidery Business Tracker
$17, one-time
- Price, quote and track every embroidery job
- Up to 200 designs and 20 machines, with trims, pieces per hooping and customer-supplied items
- Quotes for 1 to 144 pieces with setup and digitizing fee, thread, backing and blank stock, orders, a misstitch log, profit dashboard
$17, one-time · 30-day refund · Opens on Gumroad · Instant download
Nothing here asks you to take our word for it.
We are a new, small studio with no reviews to show yet. So here is what you can check yourself.
Tested against the spreadsheet
An automated test compares this calculator with the sample rows of our free Embroidery Lite spreadsheet, to nine decimal places, and checks every number quoted on this page.
Formulas in the open
Every formula is written out under how it works on this page, and the sources of the default prices are listed at the end.
No account, no tracking
No sign-up, and no cookies or analytics from us. Your numbers are saved only in your own browser, and Reset deletes them.
Built with AI, said plainly
The tools and texts were made with AI assistance under human direction. Tested does not mean infallible. Read how we work
Questions
How do you price machine embroidery?
Add up the cost of one piece: the blank, backing and consumables for each hooping, thread for the stitch count, machine time at your real speed (top speed times running efficiency, plus color changes), your hands-on and setup minutes at your labor rate, and a scrap allowance. Add the fixed fees and divide by 1 minus your target margin minus the card or platform fee percentage, then round up to .99. In the example settings, a 7,000-stitch, 4-color logo cap in a 12-cap order costs $12.13 and needs $21.99 for a 40% margin after Square fees.
Is $1 per 1,000 stitches a good rule for embroidery pricing?
It depends on the job. With the example settings, the rule (stitches ÷ 1,000 × $1, plus the blank with a 25% markup) charges $14.19 for a one-off name cap that really costs $16.47 once setup and hands-on minutes are counted, so it loses $2.80. On the 12-cap logo order the rule price of $19.19 still makes a profit but leaves 34.1%, under a 40% target. Short runs and small designs are where the rule falls short.
How much does the thread cost per 1,000 stitches?
Very little. A common rule of thumb for 40 weight thread is about 5 meters of top thread and 3.5 meters of bobbin thread per 1,000 stitches. With a $9.99 cone of 5,500 yards and a $26.43 pack of 144 prewound bobbins, that is about 1.5 cents per 1,000 stitches, so a 7,000-stitch logo uses about 11 cents of thread. The blank and your time decide the price.
What should my embroidery machine earn per hour?
Earned per machine hour is your price minus fees, material and packaging, divided by the sew hours. It has to pay for the machine, your minutes and your profit. In the example, the logo cap at $22 earns $52.75 per machine hour, while the machine itself costs about $1.00 per running hour to own and run, so almost all of that money pays for your time and profit.
How do I price embroidery on a customer's own garment?
Do not charge for a blank, but keep everything else: backing, thread, machine time and your minutes, and consider a risk allowance in case the garment is ruined. With the example settings, a 3,500-stitch name on a customer's towel costs $4.94 and needs $8.99 for a 40% margin. Charging the rule of thumb of $3.50 would lose $1.68.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your numbers are kept in your browser’s local storage so they are still there next time, and they never leave your device. Our pages set no cookies and run no trackers. “Reset” clears the saved numbers.
Sources and how we calculated this
- Thread per 1,000 stitches (about 5 m top, 3 to 3.5 m bobbin for 40 weight): Madeira thread FAQ, madeira.com. Coats publishes a different rule of thumb (6.0 m / 2.3 m), coats.com. Checked 12 November 2026.
- Thread and supply prices in the defaults ($9.99 for a 5,500-yard polyester #40 cone, $26.43 for 144 prewound bobbins of 134 yards, $9.99 for 125 tearaway pieces): allstitch.com, checked 12 November 2026.
- Cap blank $9.75 (a common trucker cap) and tote blank $3.42: public US blank-apparel listings, checked 12 November 2026.
- Machine price $4,799 and speeds of 1,000 stitches per minute (700 on caps): a 10-needle machine’s listing on its maker’s site; 650 stitches per minute for a single-needle home machine: its maker’s US site. Machine life, maintenance, efficiency and color-change seconds are assumptions, not measurements.
- Card fees: Square in-person pricing 2.6% + 15¢ (squareup.com/us/en/pricing); Etsy US fees 6.5% transaction + 3% + $0.25 payment processing + $0.20 listing (etsy.com/legal/fees). Checked 12 November 2026.
- The “$1 per 1,000 stitches” rule and blank × 1.25: quoted by machine embroiderers in public Reddit pricing threads (r/Machine_Embroidery), read 12 November 2026. It is a market rule of thumb, not a recommendation.
- Formulas: how it works on this page. Every number in the quick answer and the questions is computed with the page’s own calculator code and tested against the cached results of our Embroidery Lite spreadsheet.
Last updated 12 November 2026. Example prices are the sample settings of our Embroidery Lite spreadsheet; times, stitch counts and selling prices are illustrative. Works for single-needle and multi-needle machines. Not affiliated with any machine, thread or blank maker. Etsy and Square are trademarks of their owners. A calculation tool, not tax or financial advice. Built with AI assistance; read how we work.