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Markup Calculator
Set a price the right way. Enter your cost and the markup you want, and see the selling price, the profit per unit, and — crucially — the equivalent gross margin, so you never confuse the two and quietly underprice your product.
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Markup and margin are not the same
A 50% markup on a $60.00 cost gives a $90.00 price — but that's only a 33.3% gross margin, because margin divides profit by price while markup divides it by cost. Quote the wrong one to a client or a spreadsheet and you'll under-earn on every sale.
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<iframe src="https://planypals.com/embed/markup-calculator" title="Markup Calculator" width="100%" height="760" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #ddd3bf;max-width:760px"></iframe> <p style="font:13px/1.5 sans-serif">Free <a href="https://planypals.com/tools/markup-calculator">Markup Calculator by Planypals</a></p>
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Calculations run entirely in your browser. Figures are estimates for planning, not financial advice.
What markup actually is
Markup is the amount you add to a product's cost to arrive at its selling price, expressed as a percentage of that cost. It's the most intuitive way to price — start with what something cost you, add a percentage, and you have a price. A 50% markup on a $60 cost means adding $30, for a $90 price. Because it's anchored to cost, markup is the language of buyers, wholesalers, and anyone pricing off an invoice.
The trap: markup is not margin
The single most expensive pricing mistake is treating markup and margin as the same number. They describe the same dollar of profit but divide it differently — markup by cost, margin by price. That $90 sale on a $60 cost is a 50% markup but only a 33% margin. Because margin is always the smaller figure, a business that thinks it's earning a 50% margin when it's really marking up 50% is over-estimating its profitability on every single sale. This calculator shows both so the gap is never a surprise; for the reverse view, start from margin in the profit margin calculator.
Converting between markup and margin
The math is clean once you see it: margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). So a 25% markup is a 20% margin, a 50% markup is a 33% margin, a 100% markup (retail “keystone”) is a 50% margin, and a 300% markup is a 75% margin. Notice how markup climbs far faster than margin at the top end — which is why high-markup categories like software or spirits still describe themselves in margin terms to sound grounded.
Setting the right markup
Work backward from the margin you need, not forward from a habit. Decide the gross margin that keeps you above break-even after all your costs, convert it to the markup that produces it, and then sanity-check against what the market will pay. Cost-plus markup alone ignores demand; the best pricing pairs a cost-based floor with a value-based ceiling, and lands deliberately in between.
→ Beyond the calculator
Turn pricing into a model that holds up
One price is a start; a business needs pricing that flows through volume, costs, and margins into a full model. We build the financial model that ties your pricing to profit and cash.
Frequently asked questions
- Markup is the percentage you add to a product's cost to set its price: Selling price = cost × (1 + markup%). A $60 item with a 50% markup sells for $90. Working the other way, markup % = (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100 — so that same $90 price on a $60 cost is a 50% markup.
- They use the same dollar profit but a different base. Markup divides profit by cost; margin divides it by the selling price. A $60 cost sold for $90 is a 50% markup but only a 33% margin. Because margin is always the smaller number, quoting markup when you mean margin quietly overstates profitability — the classic pricing error.
- It varies widely by industry. Retail often uses 'keystone' (100% markup, doubling cost); grocery runs thin markups on staples; restaurants mark food up several times; and services and software can carry very high markups because unit cost is low. Set markup from your target margin and what the market will bear, not a rule of thumb.
- Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). A 50% markup is a 33% margin; a 100% markup is a 50% margin; a 25% markup is a 20% margin. This calculator shows both at once so you never have to convert by hand — enter a cost and markup and the equivalent margin appears alongside the price.
- Yes — it runs in your browser, nothing is stored, and there's no sign-up. When you need pricing built into a full financial model or a business plan, that's what our financial modeling service does.