If you're reading this, you're probably about to spend real money. $3k on a logo, $10k on a website, maybe $30k on a full launch.
Here's the plain answer. Most small businesses spend between a few hundred dollars for a logo and $30,000 or more for a full brand with a website. The price depends on 3 things: how much strategy is included, how many pieces you get, and who does the work.
This is for founders, small business owners and ministry leaders who are about to hire someone. I want to say a few things before you sign.
First, the numbers. Then a confession, because I've been on the other side of this: I used to sell $300 brands, and I'll tell you what that taught me.
How much does branding cost?
The range is wide. A logo from a freelancer and a full launch from an agency can be $50,000 apart, and both get called "branding."
The biggest thing that moves the number is who does the work. The second is what's in the box.
Here's what the companies that sell branding publish. These come from 3 guides that show up when you search this question: Fabrik Brands (a UK agency), Helms Workshop (an agency in Austin) and Logoworks (a logo design company).
| Who does it | What you usually get | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| You, with DIY and AI tools | A logo file | Your time, plus any app fees | |
| Logo company, basic package | A logo and the files to use it | $300 to $1,000 | Logoworks |
| Logo company, fuller package | Logo, colors, fonts, some launch pieces | $1,000 to $5,000 | Logoworks |
| Freelancer | Anything from a logo to a full identity | $500 to $15,000 | Helms Workshop |
| Branding company, small business | All the branding assets you need | $5,000 to $30,000 | Fabrik Brands |
| Agency, strategy-backed brand | Strategy, identity, often a website and launch | $10,000 to $75,000 | Helms Workshop |
Read these as a ballpark. Every number here comes from a company that sells branding, and that includes me.
Look at the freelancer row. $500 to $15,000 is a huge spread for one word. Fabrik also lists its parts one by one, and they add up to $6,000 to $70,000, well past its own headline range.
Pricing branding from the outside is hard. Even the people who do it for a living can't make the math tidy.
What's in a brand package
A brand package is just parts bundled together. That's how I price, and it's how most studios price, whether they show you the parts or not.
Once you know the parts, you can read any quote.
| Part | What it is | Do you need it now? |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy and message | Who you serve, what you say, why you | Yes. Everything else is built on it. |
| Naming | A name, plus trademark and domain checks | Only if you're starting or renaming |
| Logo system | Main logo, a second version, a small mark | Yes, once the message is set |
| Colors and type | A palette and fonts | Yes, comes with the logo |
| Brand guidelines | The rulebook for using all of it | Yes, if anyone else will touch your brand |
| Website and copy | Your main home online | Usually, and it's the biggest single cost |
| Launch and marketing assets | Social templates, sales pages, decks | When you're ready to launch |
| Ongoing care | Someone who keeps it consistent after launch | After launch |
That last row gets skipped a lot. I wrote about what it costs to hire design one project at a time in Creative infrastructure for Kingdom brands.
When 2 quotes look far apart, line them both up against this list. The lower one is usually missing the first row.
Want this as something you can fill in? Grab the free "What's in a brand package?" worksheet below. It has the parts list with boxes for Have it, Need it now and Can wait, plus a column to compare 2 or 3 quotes side by side.
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What's in a Brand Package?
The parts list with boxes for Have it, Need it now and Can wait, plus a column to compare 2 or 3 quotes.
Why branding prices are all over the place
If you've collected a few quotes, you've probably noticed they don't line up. Here are 3 reasons why.
The word means different things. One designer's "branding" is a logo. Another's is a 3-month project with research, a message, a logo system and a website. Before you compare prices, ask what's in it.
Strategy is the hidden line. It's the part you can't see in a portfolio. A logo looks great in a mockup, and a clear message doesn't photograph at all.
So when someone needs to hit a lower price, strategy is usually the first thing to go. You can see it in the guides. Helms Workshop frames its small business range as "meaningful, strategy-backed work." Logoworks says that once a project gets strategy-heavy, pricing "can move above $5,000 and climb quickly."
So ask every quote the same thing: is strategy in here, and who does it? If nobody can tell you, it probably isn't.
Who does the work. A freelancer, a small studio and an agency carry different overhead and different risk. An agency has a team to pay and a process to run. A freelancer might be one talented person doing all of it.
Neither one is wrong. You're paying for different things. So when the numbers don't match, go back to the parts list and ask each one what's included.
The part most quotes skip
In January of 2021 a friend and I launched a little brand shop. I wrote the pitch in my journal. We'd help your brand stand out "without the hassle of consultation after consultation."
And then, proudly: "We actually don't even allow phone-calls as part of our model." The price was $300.
I hoped it would be a cash cow (my words, honestly). It didn't make it.
I know now what was wrong with it. We sold the picture and skipped the conversation. The conversation is where the message comes from.
If you bought a $300 logo, you didn't do anything wrong. I sold them. A logo with no conversation behind it is a guess, though. Sometimes it's a good-looking guess. It still can't say anything you haven't figured out yet.
Here's one more, and this one's on me. Around that same time I finished a client's labels and boxes in October. 4 months later we sat down and did the brand script, and I wrote that after a few edits it "feels much better."
Better late than never. But the order was backwards, and I'm the one who let it be backwards.
Design carries a message. It can't invent one. If you pay someone to make it look good before you know what it should say, you'll probably end up paying for it twice.
Paying twice can look like a second designer, a second print run, or a full rebrand a few years in. All of it traces back to the same skipped conversation.
Count the cost before you count it with a designer
Jesus asks a plain question in Luke 14. If you wanted to build a tower, wouldn't you sit down first and estimate the cost, to see if you have enough to finish it?
I used to read that as a money verse. Budget well, don't run out halfway. And it is that. (I wrote about that side of it in The reality of starting a Christian business.)
But I read something in May of 2025 that shifted it for me, and I wrote, "any idea that he's given me is something that he's already dreamed of. He's already counted the cost for it."
So sitting down first means asking whose tower this is and what it's for, before a single stone gets laid.
For your brand, that means a few honest questions come before the budget ones. Is this mine to build? Who is it for? What does it need to say?
Once you can answer those, the money questions get a lot easier.
What to get clear on before you pay anyone
Here's the order I'd follow before you sign with anyone, including me.
1. Write your one true sentence
Here's a question I asked in the Builder's Journal: If your new logo had to say one true sentence about you, do you know yet what that sentence is?
If you don't, start there. These personal brand statement examples will help you get a first draft down.
2. Name who it's for
Pick one person. A real one, if you can.
A brand that tries to talk to everyone usually ends up saying very little. A designer can't draw for "everyone" either.
3. List what you already have
Most founders already own some of the parts. Maybe you have a name you love and a website that works fine.
Go down the parts list and tick off what you have. The worksheet has a column for this, so you only pay for what's missing.
4. Pay in order
Message first, then identity, then website, then launch assets. Each one is built on the one before it.
When you buy them backwards, you usually end up redoing the parts you bought first.
5. Ask every designer the same 5 questions
- Is strategy included, and will we talk through my message before you design anything?
- What exactly do I get?
- How many rounds of changes?
- Do I own the final files?
- What happens after launch?
Write their answers side by side. A clear answer to all 5 tells you more than a nice portfolio does.
Watch the first one most. If there's no real conversation about your message, you're buying my old $300 brand shop at a higher price.
How we price at Legacy Co
Every one of our prices is public. You can see them all on our services page.
Our packages work the same way as the parts table above. They're parts bundled together, and if you only need one piece, that's normal.
The first 2 steps are free: the Imprint Assessment and the Honest Read call. And on that call, "not yet" is a real answer.
FAQ
How much should a small business spend on branding?
The guides above put strategy-backed branding for a small business somewhere between $5,000 and $75,000, with logo-only work starting around $300. Where you land depends on what you already have.
If your message is clear and you only need a logo system, you'll spend far less than someone starting from zero.
Is a $300 logo worth it?
It can be. For a test, a side project or an idea you're still checking, it can be fine.
Just know what it is. A $300 logo won't hold a message you haven't found yet. If you're building something to last, start with the message.
What's the difference between a logo and a brand identity package?
A logo is one mark. A brand identity package is the whole visual system around it: logo versions, colors, fonts and the guidelines for using them.
How long does branding take?
A logo can take a few weeks. A full brand with a website usually takes a few months.
The message work often takes the longest. It's worth the time, because everything after it goes faster.
Before you sign anything
May you count the cost with God before you count it with a designer. May your money go where your message is.
If you're about to spend, talk to me first. That's what the Honest Read is for. It's a free 30-minute call. Bring your brand as it is today, and any quotes you've gotten. You leave with my honest read on what comes next.
Sometimes that's "not yet," and that's a real answer.
Not ready to talk yet? Take the free Imprint Assessment and see what your brand needs first.
Want to go deeper? Builder's Journal No. 10, Before You Pay for the Logo, tells the brand shop story in full and sits with the tower question a little longer.
And may you build a tower you can actually finish.