Cost-Plus Pricing Calculator
Calculate a selling price using cost-plus pricing by adding a markup percentage to your unit cost, with profit and margin shown.
Last reviewed by the Radiatus Cloud team
Set a selling price by adding a markup to your cost, with the resulting margin.
Want this done for your business?
Radiatus delivers cloud, security & automation for growing teams.
Price products with cost-plus pricing
Cost-plus pricing is a straightforward method of setting a selling price by adding a fixed markup percentage on top of the unit cost. This calculator takes your cost and desired markup and returns the selling price, the profit per unit, and the resulting gross margin. A product costing forty with a fifty percent markup sells for sixty, giving twenty of profit. Crucially, it shows both the markup, which is relative to cost, and the margin, which is relative to price, because these two percentages are often confused.
A fifty percent markup, for example, produces only a thirty-three percent margin.
When to use cost-plus pricing
Cost-plus pricing is popular because it is simple, transparent and guarantees that costs are covered with a consistent profit on every sale. It is widely used in retail, manufacturing, construction and contracting. The main drawback is that it ignores what customers are willing to pay and what competitors charge, so it can leave money on the table for in-demand products or price you out of the market for commodities.
Many businesses use cost-plus as a starting point and then adjust based on demand and competition. Understanding the difference between markup and margin is essential to avoid under-pricing. All calculation happens locally in your browser.
Related tools
- Incident Impact Calculator — Estimate the cost of a security incident from severity, affected users and downtime hours, with a compliance and trust rating and the response actions each severity level demands.
- Third-Party Risk Assessor — Assess vendor risk based on data access and type.
- Data Breach Cost Estimator — Estimate what a data breach would cost from records exposed, cost per record, days to detect and hours of downtime, split into direct and indirect costs.
- SaaS Risk Heatmap — Pick the SaaS apps your company runs, add your own, and get a heatmap ranking each by data criticality times access scope, with the risk each carries.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is cost-plus pricing?
It sets the selling price by adding a fixed markup percentage to the unit cost, ensuring every sale covers cost plus a consistent profit.
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost, while margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. A fifty percent markup is a thirty-three percent margin.
What are the drawbacks of cost-plus pricing?
It ignores customer demand and competitor pricing, so it may underprice popular products or overprice against cheaper rivals.
How do I choose a markup percentage?
Base it on your target margin, industry norms and the need to cover overheads and desired profit, then adjust for demand and competition.
When is cost-plus pricing a good fit?
It suits situations where costs are clear and stable, such as manufacturing, construction and contracting, where a reliable profit per unit is needed.
Privacy & Security
Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to Use
Enter the unit cost and your desired markup percentage.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Results are for educational and utility purposes.
Related Tools
Incident Impact Calculator
BusinessEstimate the cost of a security incident from severity, affected users and downtime hours, with a compliance and trust rating and the response actions each severity level demands.
Third-Party Risk Assessor
BusinessAssess vendor risk based on data access and type.
Data Breach Cost Estimator
BusinessEstimate what a data breach would cost from records exposed, cost per record, days to detect and hours of downtime, split into direct and indirect costs.