Price Per Unit Calculator

Price per unit reveals true value when comparing different pack sizes. A 500g cereal box at 3.50 has price per 100g 0.70. A 1kg box at 6.00 has price per 100g 0.60 - 14% cheaper per unit despite 2.50 higher total. This calculator handles any unit type.

Simple but useful. Supermarkets often display unit pricing but not always prominently. Use this for bulk comparisons, shrinkflation detection (price same but grams down), and multipack deal verification.

The tool accepts any unit - grams, litres, pieces, metres. Just enter total price and quantity; get price per unit and per 100 units for scale comparison.

Quick example

With total price of 6 and quantity of 1,000 (plus unit label of 0), the result is 0.01. Change any figure and watch the output shift — it's often more useful to see the pattern than to memorise the formula.

Which inputs matter most

You enter Total Price, Quantity, and Unit Label (0=grams, 1=litres, 2=pieces).

What's happening under the hood

Price per unit = total / quantity. Per 100 units = per unit × 100. The formula is listed in full below. If the number looks off, you can retrace the calculation by hand — that's the point of showing the working.

Why run the calculation

Utility bills creep. Small annual increases stack into meaningful differences over a decade. Running this once a year and switching providers when the gap widens is one of the easiest ways to keep household costs in check.

What this doesn't capture

Usage varies month-to-month; tariffs change; discounts come and go. The figure here is a clean baseline — your actual annual bill will fluctuate around it. Use the calculation to benchmark providers, not as a prediction of a specific bill.

Worked example

Imagine comparing two laundry detergent bottles:

• Brand A: 2 litres at 8.00 → price per litre = 4.00 → price per 100 litres = 400
• Brand B: 5 litres at 18.50 → price per litre = 3.70 → price per 100 litres = 370

Brand B costs 0.30 less per litre. Over several refills, the difference accumulates. The calculator surfaces this comparison instantly rather than requiring mental division.

Common scenarios

Unit pricing matters when:

• Supermarket shelf labels are absent or hard to read
• Comparing own-brand and name-brand products across different pack sizes
• Buying in bulk and checking whether the larger pack actually offers savings
• Monitoring whether a product's price per unit has risen over time (often masked by shrinkflation)
• Evaluating multipack deals — three smaller packs versus one larger pack

What the result does and does not capture

It captures: The arithmetic relationship between total outlay and quantity, expressed as cost per single unit and per 100 units.

It does not capture: Quality differences, brand reputation, product lifespan, storage space required, delivery costs, or payment terms. Two products with identical unit price may differ significantly in durability or performance. This calculation is purely a price-per-quantity metric for direct numerical comparison.

Educational illustration

The outputs from this calculator are for educational and planning purposes. Real purchasing decisions depend on factors beyond unit price alone. Use the result as one input into a broader evaluation, not in isolation.