Art and Craft Supplies
Watercolour palette cost.
Tube sizes and prices make paints hard to compare. Enter each colour once, see what a millilitre costs, which colour is dearest, and what a painting costs in paint.
Cost per mL = price / tube mL. The example 5-tube palette costs $54.00 for 75 mL, or $0.720 per mL on average. At 2 mL per painting, that is $1.44 of paint.
Your colours
Cost
Fill the form and press Calculate.
Worked example
Five 15 mL tubes at $11.00, $9.50, $9.00, $14.00 and $10.50 cost $54.00 in total for 75 mL, so the blended cost is $54.00 / 75 = $0.720 per mL. The dearest colour is Alizarin crimson at $14.00 / 15 = $0.933 per mL, and the cheapest is Yellow ochre at $0.600 per mL. If a painting uses 2 mL of paint, the paint cost is 2 x $0.720 = $1.44, and the palette lasts about 38 paintings.
How it works
Each tube's cost per millilitre is its price divided by its volume. The palette cost is the sum of the prices, and the blended cost per mL is the total price over the total millilitres. Cost per painting is the paint you use times that blended price, which treats your colours as equally used. Lightly used colours make real cost lower; heavily used ones, higher.
The prices in the example are made-up round numbers for illustration, not any maker's current price list. Prices are shown with a $ sign, but the maths works in any currency. Use millilitres from the tube label; if a tube lists only grams or a pan count, convert it to an approximate volume yourself.
Sources and basis (opened 2026-10-08): no outside data is used: the figures are the prices you enter, and the five example prices are illustrative.
FAQ
How do I compare watercolour tubes of different sizes?
Divide each price by its mL. In the example, Alizarin crimson is $0.933 per mL and Yellow ochre is $0.600 per mL, even though both are 15 mL tubes at different prices.
How much does a watercolour palette cost?
Add up the tube prices. The example 5-tube palette costs $54.00. Your total depends on the brand and colours you choose.
How much paint does one painting use?
It depends on the size and style. Estimate it by measuring a few paintings, then enter it to see the cost per painting.
Does a higher price per mL mean better paint?
Not necessarily. Price per mL says what you pay, not pigment load or lightfastness. Compare those on the maker's data sheet.
Can I use pans instead of tubes?
Yes, if you know the pan's approximate volume. Enter the pan price and that volume as the tube size.
Disclaimer
Results are arithmetic from the numbers you enter. Example prices are illustrative. Cost per painting is an estimate from the paint use you enter.