Free pricing calculators for artists

Two free pricing tools for artists working out what to charge: one for commissions and one for brand collaborations. You set your own fee, and each tool builds the full quote around it the way Nonesuch Works approaches it: time, materials, usage, rights and contingency. Pick a tool below to open it. Use the figures as a starting point, not a final quote.

Commission pricing calculator

A free calculator to help artists estimate commission pricing, including artist fee, materials, complexity, usage and contingency. You set your own artist fee and the tool builds the full quote around it, then tells you the minimum your fee should be to cover the time the work takes.

Brand collaboration fee calculator

A free calculator to help artists estimate brand collaboration fees, including licensing, usage, territory, duration and exclusivity. You set your creative fee for making the work, then the tool adds the licence fee on top from brand scale, reach, licence duration, territory and exclusivity, and flags the minimum to cover your time.

These tools give a defensible starting range, not a fixed quote. Real pricing depends on the project, the client and the context. Email hello@nonesuchworks.com to talk a number through.

What gets missed

Even a careful estimate can leave things out, and it is often the same things that quietly eat into a fee: the overhead of running a practice, time spent on research, revisions and admin, materials and production that shift as the work develops, the rights a client is actually buying, and a contingency margin for when a brief or a timeline changes. These calculators build those in, so the figure you walk away with reflects more of the real cost of the work, not just the hours spent making it.

How to use the figure

These tools give you a starting range, not a fixed price. Real pricing depends on the project, the client and the context. Set the inputs to match the job in front of you, then use the range as a basis for your next conversation. The articles below go further into the thinking behind each tool.

When a rough estimate is not enough

A calculator is useful for early thinking: a quick, defensible figure that helps anchor a conversation. It is less useful once a project becomes significant or complex. As soon as a commission grows in scale, value or risk, a rough estimate needs to become a proper budget: one that reflects the client, the contract and what is actually at stake. That is the point to move from a figure to a conversation. An artist strategy session helps test the number, and project support is where it becomes a real quote you can stand behind.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should an artist charge for a commission?

There is no single figure. A fair commission price covers your time, your materials and production, the overheads of running your practice, how the work will be used and a contingency margin for the unexpected. The commission pricing calculator lets you set your own fee and builds the full quote around it, then shows the minimum your fee should be to cover the hours the work takes.

How do I price a brand collaboration?

Brand work is priced on how the work is used, not just the time it takes to make. You set a creative fee for making the work, then add a licence fee on top based on the scale of the brand, the reach of the usage, how long the licence runs, the territory it covers and any exclusivity. The brand collaboration calculator builds this for you and keeps the licence in line with standard practice.

What is a usage or licensing fee?

A licence fee is what a brand pays for the right to use your work, separate from the fee for making it. The more prominent, widespread and long-lasting the usage, the higher the licence. A limited social post is worth a fraction of a full global campaign that runs for years with exclusivity. Keeping ownership of the work and licensing specific uses usually serves an artist better than handing over full copyright.

Are these pricing tools free to use?

Yes. Both calculators are free and run entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or shared. They are built to give artists a defensible starting point before a conversation with a client.

How accurate are the figures?

The tools give a considered starting range, not a fixed quote. Real pricing depends on the specific project, the client and the context, which no calculator can fully hold. Use the numbers to anchor your thinking, then pressure-test them. If a project is significant or unfamiliar, talking it through with Nonesuch Works is the better route.