Markup Calculator
- Free Calculator
- Interactive
- Real-time Results
This calculator is powered by Founderpath — built to help founders access capital faster, deploy it smarter, and stay in control of their cash flow.
How it works
3 steps · Instant results- 01Enter your cost priceInput what you pay to produce, purchase, or deliver your product or service
- 02Set markup or selling priceEnter your desired markup percentage, or switch modes and enter your selling price to reverse-calculate markup
- 03See your results instantlyGet selling price, profit, markup percentage, and gross margin — plus see how markup and margin differ
Calculation Mode
Choose how you want to calculate
Enter Your Numbers
Enter cost and desired markup to calculate selling price
What you pay to produce or acquire the product
Percentage added on top of cost
Results
Your markup and margin breakdown
Industry Benchmarks
Typical markup ranges by industry
Markup Calculator: Markup Formula, Percentage & Margin
What Is Markup?
Markup is the percentage added to the cost price of a product or service to determine its selling price. It represents how much more than the cost you charge your customers. For example, if a product costs $50 to produce and you sell it for $75, your markup is 50% — you added half the cost on top. Markup is one of the most fundamental concepts in pricing because it directly controls your profit per unit sold.
Markup Formula
There are two versions of the markup formula depending on what you are solving for:
Example: You sell a SaaS product with a delivery cost of $20 per user per month and want a 150% markup. Selling price = $20 × (1 + 150/100) = $20 × 2.5 = $50. Your profit is $30 per user and your gross margin is 60%.
This arithmetic sets the price of one unit. Deciding what a unit is — an account, a seat, a metered API call, a packaged tier — is a separate question, and it moves gross margin far more than the markup percentage does. The SaaS pricing model template compares those four packaging structures side by side against the same cost to serve.
Markup vs Margin: The Key Difference
Markup and margin both measure profitability, but they use different denominators — and confusing them is one of the most common pricing mistakes in business:
- Markup is profit as a percentage of cost. It answers: "How much did I add on top of what I paid?"
- Margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. It answers: "What fraction of revenue is profit?"
Why this matters: A 50% markup does not equal a 50% margin. If you buy something for $100 and mark it up 50%, you sell it for $150. Your markup is 50%, but your margin is only 33.3% ($50 / $150). Markup is always higher than margin for the same transaction because cost is always smaller than selling price.
Markup to Margin Conversion Table
Use this reference table to convert between common markup and margin values instantly:
| Markup % | Gross Margin % | Example (Cost $100) |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% | $110 selling price, $10 profit |
| 20% | 16.7% | $120 selling price, $20 profit |
| 25% | 20.0% | $125 selling price, $25 profit |
| 50% | 33.3% | $150 selling price, $50 profit |
| 75% | 42.9% | $175 selling price, $75 profit |
| 100% | 50.0% | $200 selling price, $100 profit |
| 150% | 60.0% | $250 selling price, $150 profit |
| 200% | 66.7% | $300 selling price, $200 profit |
| 300% | 75.0% | $400 selling price, $300 profit |
| 500% | 83.3% | $600 selling price, $500 profit |
| 900% | 90.0% | $1000 selling price, $900 profit |
To convert in either direction: Margin = Markup ÷ (1 + Markup) and Markup = Margin ÷ (1 − Margin), where both are expressed as decimals.
Markup by Industry
Typical markup percentages vary widely by industry due to differences in cost structure, competition, and perceived value:
SaaS and Software: 200–900% Markup (70–90% Margin)
Software has near-zero marginal cost per additional user, enabling the highest markups of any industry. The cost of goods sold is primarily hosting and infrastructure, which scales sublinearly with users.
Professional Services: 100–230% Markup (50–70% Margin)
Consulting, legal, and accounting firms mark up labor costs significantly. The "cost" is primarily employee compensation, and the markup covers overhead, profit, and business development.
Retail Markup Calculator: 50–150% (30–60% Margin)
Wide range depending on category. Fashion and accessories command higher markups (100–150%), while electronics and commodities operate on thinner margins (15–50%). Use the calculator above to find your retail selling price from any cost and markup target.
Wholesale Markup Calculator: 15–30% (13–23% Margin)
Wholesale distributors add 15–30% on top of manufacturer pricing. Grocery stores operate on 1–3% net margins with markups of 5–25%. High volume offsets the thin per-unit markup. Enter your wholesale cost above to calculate the selling price at any markup level.
How to Set the Right Markup
Choosing the right markup requires balancing profitability with market competitiveness. Consider these factors:
- Cover all costs: Your markup must cover not just direct costs (COGS) but also overhead — rent, salaries, marketing, and R&D. Many businesses fail by marking up enough to cover COGS but not enough to cover total operating expenses.
- Know your competition: Research what competitors charge for similar products. If your markup pushes your price well above the market, you need a clear differentiation story to justify the premium.
- Consider perceived value: Customers pay based on the value they receive, not your cost. A SaaS tool that saves a company $100K per year can justify a $20K price tag regardless of the $2K delivery cost — that is a 900% markup driven by value, not cost.
- Account for volume: Higher volume businesses can sustain lower markups because fixed costs are spread across more units. Lower volume businesses need higher markups to stay profitable.
Related SaaS Calculators
Markup is one piece of the pricing puzzle. Use these related calculators to understand your full business economics:
Financial Health
- Profit and Loss Statement TemplateBuild a P&L and export it to Excel, Google Sheets or PDF
- SaaS Chart of Accounts TemplateGenerate a SaaS-specific chart of accounts and export it to Excel or Google Sheets
- SaaS Deferred Revenue ScheduleReconcile monthly billings, revenue and deferred balances across contracts
- SaaS Spending BenchmarksCompare departmental spend with 2026 private B2B SaaS medians
- Burn Rate CalculatorCalculate net burn rate, cash runway, and burn multiple
- ARR CalculatorCalculate annual recurring revenue from monthly subscriptions and annual contracts
- MRR CalculatorBreak down new, expansion, contraction, and churned MRR
- Churn Rate CalculatorMeasure customer and revenue churn with annualized projections
- NRR CalculatorTrack net revenue retention and gross revenue retention rates
- SaaS Quick Ratio CalculatorMeasure growth efficiency — MRR gained for every dollar lost to churn
- Growth Rate CalculatorCalculate MoM, YoY, and CAGR growth rates from revenue data
- Break-Even CalculatorFind the units and revenue needed to cover all costs and reach profitability
- EBITDA Margin CalculatorCalculate EBITDA margin and benchmark against SaaS and industry norms
- SaaS Profit Margin CalculatorReconcile net profit margin against gross, operating, and EBITDA margin
- SaaS Runway CalculatorSee how many months of cash you have left and model scenarios to extend it
- SaaS Financial Model TemplateForecast MRR, ARR, burn, and runway over 24 months with scenario comparison and CSV export
- SaaS ROI CalculatorDecide whether a hire, campaign, or tool returns more than it costs
- SaaS Proration CalculatorWork out what a mid-cycle upgrade, downgrade, or cancellation costs
- SaaS Debt Capacity CalculatorSee how much debt your recurring revenue can safely carry, and what limits it
- Customer Concentration CalculatorSee how much of your revenue one customer holds, and what losing them costs
Customer Metrics
- CAC CalculatorMeasure customer acquisition cost and LTV:CAC ratio
- LTV CalculatorCalculate customer lifetime value, lifespan, and LTV:CAC ratio
- Payback Period CalculatorCalculate how long it takes to recover customer acquisition costs
- Viral Coefficient CalculatorMeasure your K-factor and model viral growth scenarios
- SaaS Magic Number CalculatorMeasure sales efficiency — net-new ARR per dollar of S&M spend
- SaaS Win Rate CalculatorCalculate win rate, segment it, and size the pipeline your ARR target needs
- SaaS Cohort AnalysisSee retention by customer start month, not one blended churn number
- SaaS Renewal Rate CalculatorMeasure renewal rate on the contracts that were actually up for renewal
Pricing & Valuation
- SaaS Pricing Model TemplateCompare flat, per-seat, usage and tiered pricing on margin, MRR and price floor
- SaaS Price Increase CalculatorModel the MRR and cash impact of repricing existing customers
- Equity Dilution CalculatorModel how funding rounds affect founder ownership over time
- SaaS Valuation CalculatorEstimate your company value using ARR multiples and growth-rate benchmarks
- Revenue Multiple CalculatorSee what ARR multiple your growth rate, NRR, and gross margin justify
- Rule of 40 CalculatorScore your growth-plus-profitability against the Rule of 40 benchmark
Good margins deserve growth capital — not dilution.
Founderpath turns your recurring revenue into up to $5M, without giving up equity.
You just calculated your markup and margin. If you run a SaaS business with healthy margins, that profitability qualifies you for non-dilutive capital — funding you repay from revenue, with no equity, no board seats, and no dilution.
- Turn margins into capitalHealthy gross margins signal a fundable business. See how much non-dilutive capital your recurring revenue qualifies you for — from $50K to $5M+.
- Keep 100% of your equityFounderpath capital comes from your revenue, not your cap table. No equity, no board seats, no warrant coverage, no loss of control.
- Funded in 24–48 hoursConnect your billing data and get a funding offer within 48 hours. No pitch decks, no term sheets, no months of diligence.
- Repay from revenue, protect marginsPayments flex with revenue as it comes in, so the margins you just calculated stay intact while you invest in growth.
- Benchmark your marginsCompare your gross margin and pricing to thousands of SaaS companies at your ARR stage — know if you are leaving money on the table.
Frequently asked questions
Formula: Markup % = ((Selling Price - Cost) / Cost) × 100
For example, if a product costs $40 and you sell it for $60, the markup is 50% — you added half the cost on top.
- Subtract the cost from the selling price to get profit
- Divide profit by the cost
- Multiply by 100 to get the percentage
- Markup: Profit as a percentage of cost— "How much did I add on top?"
- Margin: Profit as a percentage of selling price— "What fraction of revenue is profit?"
- SaaS / Software: 200–900% markup (70–90% margin)
- Professional Services: 100–230% markup (50–70% margin)
- Retail: 50–150% markup (30–60% margin)
- Grocery / Wholesale: 5–30% markup (5–20% margin)
- 50% markup (0.50) → 0.50 / 1.50 = 33.3% margin
- 100% markup (1.00) → 1.00 / 2.00 = 50.0% margin
Example: Your cost is $25 and you want a 60% markup:
Selling Price = $25 × (1 + 60/100) = $25 × 1.60 = $40
Your profit on each sale would be $15.