Logo design cost ranges from about 10 euros for an online generator to tens of thousands for a full brand built by an agency, and the cheapest option usually turns out to be the most expensive. This guide breaks down the real price tiers for a small business in Europe, what you actually get at each level and how the process looks inside a studio. We run a creative studio, so these numbers come from our own projects, not guesswork.
Key takeaways
- A generator logo costs 10 to 50 euros, an experienced freelancer 300 to 1,500 euros, and a full visual identity from a studio starts around 2,500 euros.
- A logo is not the same as branding. You pay for a system: logo variants, colours, typography, usage rules and the transfer of copyright.
- A cheap 50 euro logo ends up expensive because you rebrand within a year or two and pay for design twice.
- According to design studio ManyPixels, 60 percent of people avoid a company with an unattractive logo, even with good reviews.
- The pricing guide by the Kittl team lists seven tiers, from a free generator to agencies above 50,000 euros.
- Below is a checklist of what to always ask for so you never buy the same logo twice.
How much does logo design cost for a small business?
Most small businesses in Europe pay 300 to 1,500 euros for a logo and 2,500 to 6,000 euros for a full visual identity. Here are the real tiers you will meet on the market, and what each one actually buys you:
- 10 to 50 euros, generator or AI: tools like Canva or Looka. A logo assembled from a template, no research, no real vector work and usually no extra rights.
- 50 to 300 euros, gig freelancer: a fast logo from a platform like Fiverr. Often just a PNG image, no vectors and no brief. A lottery.
- 300 to 1,500 euros, experienced freelancer: a brief, vector files, variants and a light guide. A sensible start for most small businesses.
- 2,500 to 6,000 euros, small studio: a logo as a set of marks, colours, typography, rules and applications for cards, web and social.
- From 10,000 euros, strategic agency: research, positioning, brand architecture and a full identity. For companies that genuinely compete on brand.
The same layering shows up in the pricing guide from the Kittl team, whose breakdown of logo design cost runs from zero for a generator to more than 50,000 euros for a strategic agency. Western Europe sits at the higher end of these ranges, Central Europe usually a step below.
Why does a 50 euro logo end up expensive?
Because you pay for it twice. A logo from a generator or a gig platform usually has no vectors, no clear rules and no transferred copyright, so within a year or two you rebrand anyway, this time at full price. Meanwhile you have launched a website, cards, packaging and social profiles, and all of it changes with the logo.
Picture a typical case. You buy a 50 euro logo, and two years later it falls apart in print and is unreadable on a dark background. You commission a proper identity for 2,500 euros and redo the website and printed materials on top. You have now spent 2,550 euros instead of 2,500, plus two years showing your brand in a shape you never liked. That is the real cost of a cheap logo.
It is not only about looks. According to a statistics roundup by design studio ManyPixels, 60 percent of people avoid a company with an unattractive logo regardless of its reviews, and 75 percent of consumers say the logo is the most recognisable part of a brand. You make a first impression before you say a single word.
What is actually in the price, and what is just a logo?
A logo is one thing, branding is the whole system around it. When you pay for a brand you are not paying for a single image, but for a toolkit that keeps the company consistent and recognisable everywhere. This short video from the international studio The Futur explains the difference in three minutes:
To avoid buying a logo twice, always ask for this basic set. It doubles as your handover checklist:
- Vector files (SVG, AI or PDF), not just PNG. Without them you cannot scale the logo to a billboard or send it to print.
- Logo variants: the full version, the mark alone without text, a single colour version and a negative for dark backgrounds.
- Defined colours in HEX, RGB and CMYK, ideally with Pantone shades for print.
- Typography: which typeface the company uses and where to get it.
- Clear space and minimum size, so nobody squashes the logo.
- A short brand guide, what is allowed with the logo and what is not.
- Copyright transfer to you, in writing. Without it the logo is not formally yours.
If any of this is missing from a quote, it is not necessarily a scam, you are simply buying less than you think. This is exactly the line we hold in our creative work, where a logo never leaves the studio as a lonely file.
How does the process look inside a studio?
Most of the time goes into thinking, not drawing. Good logo design is not a designer opening a program and trying shapes. Here is how it usually runs for us:
- Discovery and brief: we understand what the company does, who it sells to and how it differs. Without this a logo is just a pretty ornament.
- Research and direction: we look at competitors and propose two or three visual directions, not twenty random sketches.
- Design and revisions: we develop the chosen direction and refine it over two rounds. A fifth round usually means the brief was thin.
- Finalisation and handover: we prepare every variant, file and guide from the checklist above.
- Application: we roll the brand onto the website, cards and social media content so it fits everywhere.
The price grows mainly with how much thinking and how many applications are needed. A standalone logo for a small business can be a few hundred euros, a full identity with a guide and templates sits higher. The same logic runs across disciplines, we unpacked it for corporate video cost too.
When is expensive branding not worth it?
When you still do not know whether your idea will work. If you are only testing the business, have no paying customers yet or might pivot the whole concept in six months, three thousand euros into identity is premature. At that stage a clean typographic wordmark for a few hundred euros, or a decent freelancer logo, is plenty, and you keep the money for the product.
You also do not need a hundred page brand manual if you are a one person business. Let us be honest, a large part of what agencies sell as complete branding is overkill for a small company. Invest in a proper brand once you know who you are and who you sell to, for example when you are building B2B content and need to look consistent. That is when the money comes back.
Frequently asked questions about logo and branding cost
How much does a logo cost for a small business?
Realistically 300 to 1,500 euros from an experienced freelancer if you want vectors, variants and a basic guide. Below that you usually get just an image with no rights and no rules, which you end up redoing anyway. A full identity from a studio starts around 2,500 euros.
What is the difference between a logo and branding?
A logo is a single mark, branding is the whole system: logo variants, colours, typography, usage rules and tone. The logo is what you see, branding is what keeps the company looking consistent and recognisable everywhere.
Is an AI generated logo worth it?
For a quick test of an idea yes, for a brand you want to grow with no. A generator assembles logos from templates, so you risk someone else having the same one, and you usually get no vectors and no copyright. Fine as a temporary fix, not as the foundation of a company.
How long does a logo and identity take?
A logo alone is usually ready in one to two weeks, a full visual identity with a guide in three to six weeks. The drawing is not what takes the time, the brief and revision rounds are.
Want to know what a logo or a full brand would cost for your company? Send us a quick note via our contact page with what you do and where you are heading, and we will come back with a scope and an itemised price. You will see exactly what you are paying for before the first draft. You can also see how we work on our process page.
