Should you stay on shop percentage or go independent? Free, no signup.
| Month | Shop deal | Booth rent | Better |
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Most tattoo artists eventually face the same fork in the road: hand the shop a cut of every piece, or pay flat booth rent and keep the rest. This calculator puts real numbers on that choice. Start with your gross tattoo revenue per month and your average tattoo price, which the tool uses to estimate how many sessions you are doing and any per-tattoo costs.
Then describe the shop deal: the shop's cut percentage, and whether the shop or you covers supplies. Next, build out the booth rent side: monthly rent, supply costs as a flat monthly amount or per tattoo, monthly insurance, any per-tattoo booking fee, and other costs like booking software, licenses, or marketing.
The results show take-home pay under both deals, the monthly difference, and a verdict naming the winner. You also get a break-even gross, the revenue level where booth rent starts paying off, plus a slow vs busy month table at 70, 100, and 130 percent of revenue, because the right answer shifts with the seasons. Every field is editable, so match it to your real deal and real costs.
Example only, not typical earnings/pricing/numbers. Say your gross is $8,000 a month on a 40 percent shop cut with the shop covering supplies. Shop take-home: $8,000 x 0.60 = $4,800. Now the booth side: $1,200 rent + $250 flat supplies + $60 insurance + $0 booking fees + $100 other = $1,610 in costs, so booth take-home is $8,000 - $1,610 = $6,390. Booth rent wins by $1,590 a month, and the break-even gross works out to $1,610 / 0.40 = $4,025: booth pays off only above that level. In the slow-month row (70 percent of revenue, or $5,600 gross), booth still wins, $3,990 vs $3,360, which shows why the table matters.
It is the monthly revenue where your take-home under booth rent equals your take-home under the shop percentage. Above that number, booth rent wins; below it, the shop deal wins. It comes from comparing your fixed booth costs against the shop's cut rate, and it updates automatically as you edit any cost.
The usual blind spots are monthly insurance, supply costs (flat or per tattoo), booking software and per-booking fees, licenses, and marketing. The tool has a field for each, so work through them instead of guessing a lump sum.
Usually when you are building clientele or your revenue is inconsistent. A 40 percent cut flexes with you in slow months, while booth rent is a fixed bill due whether you tattooed ten people or two. The slow vs busy month table shows this trade-off directly.
If the two deals differ by less than $50 a month, the calculator calls it a tie. At that point factors like foot traffic, mentorship, shop reputation, and your commute matter more than the math.
It can. Shop artists are often employees while booth renters are usually independent contractors, which changes how income and expenses are reported. This tool is information only, not tax advice; talk to a tax professional before you switch.