RecipePricer

Recipe Cost Calculator

Before you decide what to charge, see what your cookies really cost.

Start with a free true-cost breakdown for home bakers, cottage food sellers, and anyone who sells food. Add ingredients, labor, packaging, and overhead; paid tools add price recommendations, saving, and export.

Calculate your true cost — free
✓ Free cost breakdown✓ No account needed✓ Data stays on your device
Baker dusting powdered sugar over muffins and croissants

The real problem

Most food makers only count ingredients.
The real cost is 3-5x higher.

Your time, packaging, overhead, and platform fees add up fast. Here's what that looks like for a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

What you think it costs

Flour$2.49
Butter$3.20
Sugar$1.80
Eggs$0.90
Chocolate chips$2.50
Total$10.89
→

What it actually costs

Ingredients$10.89
Your labor (2.5 hrs)$37.50
Packaging$4.80
Overhead$3.00
Platform fees$2.50
True cost$58.69
$47.80 hidden cost per batch you're absorbing

How it works

Three steps to your true price

1

Enter your recipe

Add ingredients with purchase prices and amounts. Smart unit conversion does the math between cups, grams, and ounces.

2

Add your real costs

Your hourly rate, packaging, kitchen overhead, delivery or platform fees. The costs most bakers forget or ignore.

3

See your true cost

Your true cost vs. ingredient cost, side by side. When you're ready to price, the paid version adds a recommended selling price with adjustable margin.

Features

Built for makers, not accountants

📊

True cost breakdown

See every hidden cost. Ingredient cost vs. true cost, with the gap you've been absorbing on every batch.

🎯

Recommended selling price

See what to charge per unit and per batch — and how your price moves as you dial your profit margin up or down. Included in the paid version.

📖

Save your recipes

Build a recipe library with costs. Download a backup file anytime and restore it on any device — your data never leaves your hands.

⚡

No signup, works offline

No account, no login, no cloud. Everything runs in your browser. Start calculating in under 10 seconds.

Testimonials section — reserved for real user quotes after launch. Don't ship fake social proof. Wait for Etsy reviews and Reddit feedback.

FAQ

Common questions

Is this recipe cost calculator really free?
The cost breakdown is free. You'll see your true recipe cost, the gap between ingredient cost and real cost, and a full breakdown of hidden costs. The paid version ($19 one-time, not a subscription) adds a recommended selling price with adjustable margin, recipe saving, and export.
How do you calculate the cost of a recipe?
We add up four layers: ingredient costs (with unit conversion so you can mix cups, grams, and pounds), labor cost (your hourly rate times batch time), packaging and overhead (utilities, kitchen rental, etc.), and platform fees (Etsy, farmers market booth, delivery apps, etc.). Most recipe calculators only handle the first layer.
How should I price my homemade food products?
A common rule of thumb is that ingredient costs should be 25-35% of your selling price. But many home food makers forget to include their labor, packaging, and overhead. Our free calculator shows your true total cost; the paid version adds a recommended selling price based on your target profit margin. For example, if your cookies cost $2.44 each to make (including labor), a 30% cost target means selling at $8.13. Works for baked goods, ice cream, sauces, prepared meals, and more.
Where is my recipe data stored?
Everything stays on your device in your browser's local storage. There are no accounts, no servers, no cloud sync. Your recipes never leave your computer. You can export them as a JSON backup file anytime and import them on another device.
Does this work for cakes, ice cream, BBQ, and other foods?
Yes. RecipePricer works for any food product: cakes, cookies, ice cream, BBQ, sauces, prepared meals, catering portions, and more. Enter your ingredients and quantities, add your time and overhead, and get a true cost per serving or per batch. The unit converter handles weight, volume, and count conversions automatically.
What if I sell on Etsy or at farmers markets?
The calculator supports both fixed fees (like a farmers market booth split across a batch) and percentage fees taken from your selling price. For Etsy there's a built-in preset that pre-fills the listing fee, transaction fee, and payment processing — every value editable. See the Etsy pricing calculator for a worked example of what the fees do to a real order.

Stop guessing.
Start pricing.

If you only count ingredients, you're seeing a fraction of your real cost. Find out where you stand in 3 minutes.

Calculate your true cost — free