How much to charge for pitch deck design?
Most freelance pitch decks land between $800 and $3,000, and the price mostly tracks slide count, custom icons and charts, and how close the deadline is.
A deck job starts as a bullet-point doc and ends as a slide flow, custom icons, a chart or two, and a rush deadline. Turning notes into a structure is its own job before any slide is designed.
Price more for tight deadlines
Complex projects tend to cost more
Price more if you're more experienced
Pitch deck pricing in detail
Rates by level
| Level | Per project | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | $300–800 | $25–50 |
| 1 to 3 years | $800–2,000 | $45–75 |
| 3 to 7 years | $2,000–5,000 | $75–130 |
| 7+ years | $5,000–12,000 | $130–200 |
Under 1 year, you are laying out slides. At 1 to 3, structuring the story too. At 3 to 7, building a system that survives the founder editing it at 1am. 55% of clients will only pay up to $1,000. Only 20% pay over $2,500.
Why the range will not help you
The range is for a deck in the abstract. The client in your inbox has a Google Doc of bullet points, wants custom icons and a few charts, and needs it ready for demo day in ten days. That is a different price, and it is not on any chart.
A typical brief, priced
“A founder wants a 22-slide investor deck for a seed round. They have a Google Doc of bullet points and some competitor screenshots. They want custom icons, a couple of charts, and it needs to be ready for a demo day in 10 days. I was thinking $600 since it's just a deck.”
| Content structure and slide flow | $350 |
| Slide design, 22 slides | $1,650 |
| Custom icon set | $250 |
| Charts and data visualization, 3 | $300 |
| Two revision rounds | $250 |
| Rush delivery, 10 days | $200 |
| Total | $3,000 |
You were going to charge $600. Twenty-two slides with custom icons and charts on a 10-day deadline is $3,000. A deck is a design system with a deadline attached.
What people forget to charge
- Turning bullet points into a slide structure. That is a job before any slide is designed.
- Custom icons instead of stock ones.
- Charts and data visualization, priced per chart if there are several.
- The demo-day rush.
- Revision rounds, especially with investors giving feedback too.
- A presenter file versus a print or PDF-export version.
How to say it to the client
“A deck is not 22 slides, it's a story with a system behind it. Structure, custom icons, charts and a rush deadline are four different jobs stacked together. Here is what each piece is, and you can drop any of them.”
FAQ
Should I charge per slide?
As a rough estimate, yes, but structure, icons and charts don't scale cleanly per slide. Price the whole scope once you've seen the content.
What if they just send bullet points, no structure?
That's a separate line. You're writing the narrative, not just laying it out.
Do investor decks cost more than internal decks?
Usually, because the stakes and the revision rounds are both higher.
How much is a rush deadline worth?
10 to 25% on top is typical, more if it eats your weekend.
Should I hand over an editable file?
Yes, but say so upfront. Founders will edit it themselves after you're done, plan the handoff for that.