Most quotes for machine embroidery start from the same question: how many thousands of stitches does the design have, and what do you charge per thousand? This page puts the published numbers in one place and turns them into a chart.
What published guides say
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| Printful (2025) | Industry average of US$1–3 per 1,000 stitches; its own worked example uses US$1.50 per 1,000 |
| ImprintNext (2021) | Beginners can start at US$0.50 per 1,000 and go up to about US$4 depending on design size; in its cost example, 1,000 stitches cost US$0.68–1.03 to produce before profit |
| Printavo (2020) | Raise the price with the stitch count (its example: US$5 for 5,000 stitches, US$6.50 for 6,000), but not in a straight line: price by complexity |
So the published range is roughly US$0.50 to US$3 per 1,000 stitches, all of it from US sources. We haven’t found sourced rates for Mexico or Europe yet.
Price per piece by stitch count
The chart is simple math: stitches ÷ 1,000 × rate. It covers the embroidery only, without the garment, digitizing or setup.
| Stitches | US$0.50 per 1,000 | US$1.00 per 1,000 | US$1.50 per 1,000 | US$2.00 per 1,000 | US$3.00 per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | US$1.50 | US$3.00 | US$4.50 | US$6.00 | US$9.00 |
| 5,000 | US$2.50 | US$5.00 | US$7.50 | US$10.00 | US$15.00 |
| 8,000 | US$4.00 | US$8.00 | US$12.00 | US$16.00 | US$24.00 |
| 10,000 | US$5.00 | US$10.00 | US$15.00 | US$20.00 | US$30.00 |
| 15,000 | US$7.50 | US$15.00 | US$22.50 | US$30.00 | US$45.00 |
| 20,000 | US$10.00 | US$20.00 | US$30.00 | US$40.00 | US$60.00 |
| 30,000 | US$15.00 | US$30.00 | US$45.00 | US$60.00 | US$90.00 |
Typical stitch counts depend on size and fill. A small text or name may be a few thousand stitches, while a full back design can go well past 30,000. The exact count comes from the digitized file.
Which rate is yours?
A rate from a chart doesn’t know your costs. To find yours, turn it around:
and get the price per piece from your own costs: machine time, cost per hour of machine time, materials and margin. Our guide on how to price embroidery by stitch count explains each step, and the pricing calculator does the math.
Two things to watch:
- Small designs: a low per-thousand rate on a 2,000-stitch name can be less than the time it takes to hoop the garment. Many shops set a minimum per piece or a minimum order.
- Single-needle machines: each color change is manual, so a design with many colors takes much longer than its stitch count suggests. A rate per 1,000 stitches doesn’t capture that; machine time does.