How Much Do Tattoos Cost? What Seven U.S. Studios Charge

What does a shop minimum cover?

A shop minimum is the least a studio charges for any tattoo, because every session needs a fresh setup and single-use supplies, however small the design.

Club Tattoo's page, read November 5, 2026, says its minimum covers a completely new setup for every client. For a tiny symbol or a short word, the cost of tattooing can stay at the minimum: the same page says simple designs up to 2 inches can fall under its shop minimums.

Some studios price small work by time instead. Tattoo 34 PDX in Portland listed walk-in prices for its resident artists on November 5, 2026: $150 for flash and $200 for a custom design, each for one hour or less. Up to two hours cost $300 for flash and $400 for custom. Flash means a design the artist has already drawn. How artists draw, price and sell those designs is in our guide to tattoo flash sheets.

How much do tattoo artists charge per hour?

The studio pages we read on November 5, 2026, listed hourly rates from $100 to over $250, with apprentices lower and senior artists at the top.

The hourly rate for tattoo work depends on the artist as well as the shop. Aloha Tattoos listed a $160 general shop rate on November 5, 2026, artists from $140 to $250, and apprentices from $60. West Seattle Tattoo listed a $200 shop rate, with some artists at $225.

Table 2. Worked example: cost equals hours times the hourly rate, before tip and tax. The rates are published studio rates read November 5, 2026; the session lengths are hypothetical.

Tommy's Supplies' 2026 guide, read November 5, 2026, puts apprentice and junior artists at $80 to $130 an hour, mid-level artists at $130 to $250 and senior artists at $250 to $400. A lower rate is not always a cheaper tattoo: Aloha Tattoos notes that a faster artist can finish the same piece in fewer hours.

Apprentices charge less because they are still in training; our guide to the tattoo apprenticeship explains how that training works. A studio owner who sets the shop's own rate can plan chair hours against it in a tattoo shop business plan.

What changes the price of a tattoo?

Size and time set most of the price, and detail, color, placement, the artist and the city move it up or down from there.

• Size: guides read November 5, 2026, differ, but all rise with size. Hustle Butter's 2025 averages list small pieces up to 4 by 4 inches at $150 to $250 and full sleeves at $2,000 to $5,000 or more; Fash lists small tattoos at $50 to $250.
• Detail and style: fine detail and realism take more hours than simple line work at the same size, as Tommy's Supplies explains.
• Color: color usually costs more than black and gray because it takes more passes, according to Hustle Butter. On November 5, 2026, Snow Tattoo listed a $1,000 minimum for simple designs with any color.
• Placement: on November 5, 2026, Aloha Tattoos listed a higher minimum, $120 to $150, for areas that are harder to tattoo.
• Flash or custom: flash usually costs less than a custom design, as Tattoo 34 PDX's walk-in prices show.
• City: on November 5, 2026, Club Tattoo listed an $80 minimum at its Arizona locations and $150 in Las Vegas.
• Cover-ups: Snow Tattoo listed cover-up rates from $1,000 on November 5, 2026, almost twice its starting price.

Aftercare products and tattoo removal also cost money, but they are outside this guide because they involve skin care rather than the studio's price.

What do you pay on the day: deposit, tip and tax?

On a hypothetical three-hour piece at $200 an hour, a studio rate read November 5, 2026, you pay $500 on the day after a $100 deposit, plus a tip and any sales tax.

Table 3. Worked example with a hypothetical three-hour piece, using West Seattle Tattoo's $200 shop rate and the low end of its $100 to $200 deposit range, both read November 5, 2026. West Seattle Tattoo's page does not say whether its deposit comes off the price.

Studios take a deposit to hold the appointment. Three of the four studio deposit policies we read on November 5, 2026, said deposits are non-refundable; Club Tattoo's page did not say. Our guide to tattoo deposits explains how studios set the amount and word the policy.

West Seattle Tattoo's FAQ, read November 5, 2026, suggests a tip of 20% of the tattoo price. Tommy's Supplies puts the usual tip at 15% to 20% and Needle Supply at 15% to 25%, and both call 20% the common figure. At 15%, the tip in Table 3 would be $90. West Seattle Tattoo lists its shop rate plus tax, so ask whether tax is added to your quote. For when and how to hand over the tip, our guide to how to tip a tattoo artist compares 12 guides' ranges.

How do you get an accurate tattoo quote?

You get an accurate quote by sending the artist the size, placement and references, then asking how the price is built before you pay anything.

1. Pick the artist first. Rates differ by artist inside one studio, so ask for the artist whose style you want.
2. Send the details: size in inches, where on the body, color or black and gray, and reference images.
3. Tell the artist your budget. Aloha Tattoos asks clients to share it, so the design can fit what you plan to spend.
4. Ask how the price is built: the minimum, an hourly rate or a set price, and how many sessions the piece needs.
5. Ask about the deposit: the amount, whether it comes off the final cost, and the notice needed to move the date.
6. Ask whether tax is added, and budget the tip on top.

Expect a range rather than a fixed figure. Daredevil Tattoo and Aloha Tattoos both said on November 5, 2026, that they give prices in person, and Aloha calls any estimate given online a rough estimate, not a quote.

Where Twizzlo fits

Twizzlo is web-based online booking and appointment scheduling software for appointment-based service businesses; a tattoo studio can list each consult and session length as a service with its own price.

With prepaid bookings turned on for the services you choose, the client pays the full service price through Stripe when they book. If a client skips a prepaid booking, the studio decides whether to keep or refund that payment. Tips can be paid online at booking or checkout.

Worked example (hypothetical): two artists booking 60 sessions each a month make 120 bookings (2 x 60 = 120), inside the Free plan's 150-booking limit at $0 a month. Both plans include unlimited staff, so a guest artist's calendar costs nothing extra.

Three artists at 60 sessions each make 180 bookings (3 x 60 = 180), past the Free limit, so the studio needs Business Pro at $29.99 a month. With one text reminder per booking, 130 texts go past the 50 included, at $0.03 each, or $3.90, for $33.89 a month.

Online payments on either plan carry Stripe processing plus a 1.5% platform fee. On a $600 session like the one in Table 3, paid in full as a prepaid booking, the platform fee is $9.00, before Stripe's own charge. See Twizzlo pricing for the current plans.

A studio that prefers to take part of the price up front keeps that in its own process, because a Twizzlo prepaid booking charges the full service price. Our booking software comparisons show other tools a studio might weigh. If listing your prices as bookable services fits your studio, you can start on the Free plan.