How much does a logo cost, and a full brand identity

Logo prices do not vary because some people draw more beautifully. They vary because five different things are sold under the same word: a file, a file with variants, a visual system, a documented system, or a documented system plus the strategy it came from.

The price tiers

Why the range is so wide

Three factors explain nearly all of the variation:

1. 01How many pieces you get. A logo is one piece. A visual identity has seven, set out here. Price tracks the number of pieces, not the hours spent drawing.
2. 02Whether it is documented. Guidelines are what separate a system that holds from one that degrades on the first new contractor. They are also one of the most expensive parts to produce.
3. 03Whether strategy is included. Research, interviews and positioning are the most expensive and least visible work. At agency level they can be half the budget.

Included, or charged separately

The rest of a branding budget

• The domain, usually under €40 a year.
• Trademark registration, official fees for one class start in the low hundreds; with an attorney, budget more.
• Print, cards, packaging, signage. Easy to underestimate; it frequently exceeds the design cost.
• Photography, a product or team shoot is a separate and necessary cost if image style matters in your field.
• The website, separate from the identity, even though it derives from it.

How to avoid paying twice

Money is most often lost not to a high price but to a repeat. Four precautions prevent it:

1. 01Check the name before paying for any drawing. Domain, company registry, trademark register. A logo drawn for an unavailable name is money burned, see the naming guide.
2. 02Get the exact deliverables list in the quote. Formats, variants, who owns the rights, how many revision rounds the price includes.
3. 03Require vector files in the contract. Without a vector, any future change means redrawing.
4. 04Require at least one page of rules. Clear space, minimum size, misuse. Without them the system degrades on its own.

When each option makes sense

• A generator or cheap option: you are validating an idea, testing a market, or need something presentable now. Reasonable, provided you get a vector and know you will redo it as you grow.
• An experienced freelancer: the best value for most small companies. You get a coherent system on a controllable budget.
• A studio: you already have customers and a lot of material, and inconsistency is visibly costing you.
• An agency: you are entering a crowded market where positioning decides the outcome, or you are large enough that coordination is the main problem.

The option that did not exist a few years ago

A gap has opened between the €50 generator and the €800 freelancer: generating the complete, editable system from a written brief. Not just a logo, strategy, the mark, the palette, the typography, the website, the campaign and the guidelines, all derived from the same decisions.

That is what RHAM does: you start from a description, get the whole system, edit it and export it. SVG, PNG, multi-size favicon, CSS tokens, archive. The free plan covers two brand projects; see what each plan includes. It does not replace a designer when you need human judgement, but it does replace the empty starting point, and it gives you something concrete to bring to a designer when you get there.