The Complete Graphic Design Pricing Guide (2024 Update)

The cost of graphic design depends on many factors: the type of provider, design project, designers’ experience, and more. We’ll help you understand how much to pay for design and why.

A simple Google search will tell you that freelance graphic designer rates stand between $15 to $150 per hour. That’s a big ballpark. 

More importantly, freelancers aren’t the only way to outsource graphic design work. Hiring a design agency or unlimited design service are also ways to get professional design. 

Let’s explore how much you can expect to pay for graphic design work, with each of these providers. 

Graphic design pricing: type of service

So, how much do graphic designers charge? Here are 4 different types of design providers and their usual fees. 

Freelancer

A freelancer is someone who works on their own and for multiple clients. A pro that comes with hiring a freelancer is that you can opt for someone specialized in a specific area of design.

The cons are that it usually takes time to find the right person, and costs pile up with regular design work.

Here are average freelance graphic designer hourly rates from popular platforms:

• Upwork: $25 per hour 
• ZipRecruiter: $32 per hour
• Fiverr: $60 per hour
• Shillington: $45 per hour

So, it’s best to expect to pay around $35 to $40 per hour, in case you don’t want to end up working with a total beginner. 

Remember that the cost of freelance graphic design also depends on 3 key factors:

• Experience: More experienced designers often work also as strategists or design consultants to provide creative direction, as well as design. 
• Location: Freelance designers determine rates also based on the cost of living in their country. So, it’s no surprise that designers based in developing countries charge a lot less than those located in the US, Australia, or Western Europe.
• Type of project: A logo usually costs much more than a set of social media graphics. We’ll provide a comprehensive graphic design price list below.

Design agency

A graphic design agency employs graphic designers with a range of experience and skills. This is often the most costly option since a premium service like this comes with a premium price. 

Agencies typically charge $50 per hour for junior designers and between $75 and $150 per hour for senior designers. If you want a more specific range, you can ask an agency for a quote, as most price their service per project. 

However, most people hire graphic design agencies for specific (and usually larger) projects, such as web design, social media marketing and design, big ad campaigns, etc. If this is the case, expect to pay several thousands of dollars for one of these projects. Sure, this oftentimes includes additional services such as content writing, SEO optimization, and web development. But nevertheless, hiring a design agency is rarely an affordable route to take. 

In-house designer

Hiring someone full-time does come with a lot of responsibilities and costs. Especially if you don’t have enough design tasks to fill a workweek with, then costs won’t be viable in the long run. Moreover, you need to think about additional costs, such as paid annual and sick leave, administrative costs, taxes, etc. 

According to Indeed, the national average salary in the U.S. for a graphic designer is $56,599 per year. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates even higher, at $64,500. 

Subscription-based design services

What is subscription-based design?

Think of it as Netflix for graphic design: you get all the designs and projects you want, for a fixed monthly rate. 

There are many different unlimited design companies on the market with rates between $400 and $2,000 a month. At ManyPixels, we have 3 pricing tiers:

• Advanced - $549 per month
• Business - $999 per month
• Dedicated Designer - $1,299 per month

You can scale up or down in plans each month, depending on your needs. The flat rate will remain the same no matter how many requests you put in. So, unlimited design is definitely one of the best ways to keep your budget predictable.

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Graphic design pricing: type of project

We’ve already mentioned that freelancer hourly rates vary depending on several factors. However, it’s much more common for clients to pay on a per-project basis. 

There are several reasons for this.

• It’s easier to calculate value. The business value of a logo or website is much greater than the hours it takes to produce them. 
• It’s more predictable. Agreeing on a number of revisions can avoid overhead costs for the clients, and excessive hours of work for the designer.
• Offering competitive rates. Paying per-project works better for both clients and designers. Since there are many other factors that can affect hourly rates, with per-project pricing designers are able to offer more competitive rates. 

So, let’s look at a graphic design price list for common design projects.

Logo: $200-$800

A good logo takes about 8-10 hours to create. So, if your freelancer charges $35 per hour, it works out at around $350.

However, a good logo requires a lot more work than design alone. Designers need to do extensive market research and dive deep into your brand strategy. This way they’ll be able to come up with visual solutions that 

Moreover, a logo is the brand’s most recognizable part. So, designers usually charge upwards of $500 for a logo, to reflect the huge value it has for a company.

Visual identity design: $100-$3,000

Creating a logo is merely the beginning of branding design. Since companies require design regularly, a brand style guide helps to keep visual communication and marketing consistent.

This document contains the color scheme, fonts, images, shapes, messaging and more to ensure a brand’s design always looks consistent. Depending on how many elements of the visual identity are needed, this can cost between $100 and $3,000.

Social media design: $50-$650

This is one of the cheapest forms of graphic design. Still, since most people need social media graphics on a rolling basis, the costs can pile up fast.

That’s why many freelance designers and services will offer social media design pckages that include reusable templates for posts, stories, ads, and more. These usually cost between $50 and $650.

Web design: $5,000-$30,000

Web design is one of the most complex and most expensive graphic design projects. Design agencies usually charge well over ten thousand dollars for a website, while freelancers usually charge a couple of thousands.

The cost of the website depends heavily on the number of pages and additional features, such as ecommerce, mobile responsiveness, motion design, etc. 

Landing pages: $600-$3,000

 Although it requires the same skill set as creating websites, landing pages are much faster to produce, and therefore cheaper.

However, since a good landing page has immense business value, the cost of this design project can often be a lot bigger than you might expect. The average cost of landing pages is between $350 and $1,500. 

Illustrations: $500-$1,600

Illustrations are generally affordable, and there are even lots of free illustration galleries online. Still, since illustrations have a vast range of applications. So, when you request them, chances are you’ll need a whole illustration or icons pack to use across the board, which usually means several hundreds of dollars. 

If you need a very specific type of illustration, such as digital painting, comics, or portraits, you can expect the price to be higher, and reach several hundreds of dollars for a single illustration.

Print design: $50-$3,000

This type of design includes everything from business cards, brochures and packaging, to books and billboards. Therefore estimating the exact graphic design price can be difficult.

Print design is generally affordable, but there are a few exceptions (e.g. when specific materials or formats are required).

How much should you pay for graphic design?

We hope this helps you understand the answer to the question “how much do graphic designers charge” a bit better.

As you can tell, it’s a pretty vast playing field out there, and figuring out the best easy to get your graphic design can save you a lot of money and a lot of stress. Paying for high-quality graphics always pays off - whether it’s a memorable brand design, user-friendly website, or clickable ads. 

If you’re still unsure about the exact figure of your design budget, here are a few steps to guide you.

1. Calculate your income and profit. - When you take away expenses such as salaries, rent, utilities, and tax, how much have you got left for design and marketing?
2. List your fixed design expenses - Think about your weekly newsletter and social media posts. Use our graphic design pricing list to help you calculate the figure.
3. List your variable design expenses - For example, how often do you run special campaigns (seasonal, Black Friday, promotions, etc.) and what kind of graphics do you need?
4. Anticipate your one-off design expenses - You’ll only need a new website, logo design, or app once or twice. However, it’s worth noting that these major projects incur big costs. 
5. Divide your budget - With the cost ranges and hourly rates you now know, start dividing your budget into fixed, variable, and one-off designs.

When you have a specific number, it will be easier to decide what’s the best design provider for you. It might be better to get all your graphics in one place, or request them one at a time. 

Why is paying for professional design always worth it?

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about different graphic design prices. And yes, the cost of design fits into a pretty vast range - from $20 to tens of thousands. 

But remember that good design is always an investment, and not just an expense. Here are a few reasons why. 

1. Design is the foundation of branding. Whether you have physical products that require attractive packaging or promote your services on a website, graphic design stands between you and your customers. It transforms your product or service into a brand.
2. Visual communication is more effective. People’s attention span online keeps decreasing. Clear, succinct messages in visual form are easier to digest and ensure you’ll reach a greeted number of people. 
3. Good design increases profit. People often buy products because of attractive packaging, and good UI design significantly impacts app downloads. Landing page and ad design can increase conversions.
4. It sets you apart from the competition. Whatever industry you’re in, there’s a solid chance someone else is selling the same product. So, your only chance to set yourself apart is to create appealing visual design that suggests professionalism and creativity. 

The most affordable way to get graphic design

We hope this comprehensive graphic design pricing guide helps you understand the different options and project prices. Whether you’re a huge corporation or a small business with a limited budget, securing the best graphic design prices will depend on the type of project and your needs.

However, if you need design regularly, the simplest and by far most affordable option are unlimited graphic design services.

At ManyPixels, we have an extensive scope of services that covers graphic design, web design, print design, illustrations, and much more!

Discover how we could help you save money and get the professional graphics you deserve!

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Danica Popovic

Having lived and studied in London and Berlin, I'm back in native Serbia, working remotely and writing short stories and plays in my free time. With previous experience in the nonprofit sector, I'm currently writing about the universal language of good graphic design. I make mix CDs and my playlists are almost exclusively 1960s.