How much does a brand identity really cost in 2026?

Ask ten different providers and you’ll get ten answers separated by a factor of a thousand. That’s the kind of price gap that makes the decision impossible — and pushes many entrepreneurs to choose at random, or put it off indefinitely.

The difference is understandable. But you need to know what lies behind each price level.

Under €50: the generated logo

At this price, you’re not buying design. You’re buying a file.

Online generators and ultra-low-cost marketplaces work on a simple principle: a catalog of pre-existing shapes, your name inserted into one of them, and an automatic export. Nobody looks at your industry, nobody looks at your competitors, nobody asks whether the result actually feels like you.

The problem isn’t aesthetics — some of these logos are perfectly appealing. The problem is that they are neither exclusive nor protectable. The same shape may have been sold three hundred times. You won’t be able to trademark your brand, and you’ll often have no usable vector file for printing.

What you actually get: a PNG, sometimes an SVG, no variations, and no guarantee of exclusivity.

€50 to €300: the one-off freelancer

This is the first level where someone is actually designing something specifically for you.

At this budget, you’ll generally work with a designer who executes a specific request. You tell them what you want, and they produce it. It’s a transaction, not a process: the strategic side — why choose this direction rather than another, how to differentiate yourself from your competitors — is outside the scope.

That can work perfectly well. If you know exactly what you want and your need is simply a clean, well-built logo delivered in usable formats, it’s an honest value for money.

What usually becomes an issue at this level: revisions are limited or charged separately, variations cost extra, and you rarely get a coherent system — just a standalone logo that you’ll then have to adapt yourself.

What you actually get: a logo, a few formats, and a limited number of revisions.

€300 to €1,500: the structured studio

This is the level where you move from a logo to a brand identity.

The difference is real and not merely semantic. A logo is an image. An identity is a system: a color palette that works on screen and in print, a structured typography system, usage guidelines, and variations designed for your actual communication channels.

What makes a brand look consistent six months later is never just the logo — it’s the system around it.

At this level, you also normally receive full ownership of the work, editable source files, and documentation that allows any future provider to take over without breaking everything.

This is where most of the real needs of small and medium-sized businesses fall. And it’s also where the relationship between what you pay and what you can actually do with it is the most favorable.

What you actually get: logo and variations, color palette, typography, usage guidelines, source files, and transferred rights.

€1,500 to €5,000: extended support

Beyond this point, you’re no longer primarily paying for design. You’re paying for thinking time and implementation.

This budget makes sense when the project goes beyond visual identity: defining positioning, developing a tone of voice, producing packaging, creating variations across numerous touchpoints.

In other words, when there are many surfaces to cover and many decisions to make upfront.

For a business starting out with a single sales channel, this is generally overkill.

Over €5,000: the agency

The price of traditional agencies doesn’t just reflect the creative work. It includes a structure: account management, project managers, discovery meetings, formal presentations, approval rounds, offices.

That structure has real value for complex projects — multiple decision-makers, multiple markets, or an extensive existing brand that needs to evolve. It has much less value when one person is making the decisions and the need is clear.

The timeline follows the same logic: six to eight weeks is a normal agency timeframe, and most of that time isn’t spent actually designing.

The real question isn’t the price

The real question is: what will you be able to do with what you receive?

Three criteria matter more than the amount on the quote.

Ownership. Do you actually receive the rights, without limitations? Without an explicit transfer of rights, you may not be able to trademark your brand, and you remain dependent on the provider for future changes.

Source files. A logo delivered only as a PNG is a logo you won’t be able to scale properly, modify, or print correctly. Vector files aren’t a bonus — they’re the foundation.

Consistency. A standalone logo leaves every subsequent decision up to you. A system gives you answers: which color for this button, which font for this document, which version of the logo on a dark background.

A €200 quote that checks all three boxes is better than an €800 quote that checks none.

How to determine what you need

A few simple questions are usually enough to make the decision.

How many different materials will you produce this year? If the answer is “a website and an Instagram page,” you don’t need a complete system right away. If it’s “a website, business cards, signage, packaging, and three social networks,” you need one now — otherwise you’ll end up paying to fix inconsistencies later.

Are you planning to trademark your brand? If so, the transfer of rights is non-negotiable, which immediately rules out generative solutions.

Who makes the decisions? If it’s just you, you don’t need an agency’s approval structure. You’d be paying for a process that doesn’t serve you.

What’s your deadline? If you’re launching in three weeks, a six-to-eight-week process is incompatible with your timeline, regardless of your budget.

What we charge, and why

We work within the structured studio price range. Our complete brand identities include the logo and its variations, the color palette, the typography system, usage guidelines, source files, and full transfer of rights.

Our price is lower than an agency’s for one specific reason, and it’s better to say it clearly: we don’t have an agency structure.

No account management, no discovery meetings, no six-week approval cycle. A written brief replaces the initial meeting, a senior designer creates the work, and you approve it.

What we don’t charge for are intermediaries. What we charge for is design time.

This isn’t right for everyone. If your project requires several months of strategic exploration and buy-in from an executive committee, an agency will be a better fit.

If you know what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to, and you need a strong brand quickly, that’s exactly what we’re built for.