GUIDES

Tech pack cost in 2026: real prices from a manufacturer that’s spec’d 2,000+ styles

The honest range across every provider category, what you pay for at each tier, and the hidden costs nobody lists upfront.

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Most tech-pack pricing pages on Google are written by services that want you to call before quoting. This one isn’t. We’ve spec’d over 2,000 tech packs across the UK, USA, and EU, and we know what every category of provider charges in 2026. Below are the real numbers, what you’re paying for at each tier, and the hidden costs nobody lists upfront.

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The honest range, in one table

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For one tech pack of a typical apparel style — t-shirt, hoodie, dress, jacket — here’s what you’ll actually pay in 2026:

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Provider categoryRealistic price (per style)SpeedProduction-ready?
Fiverr designer (bottom tier)£30–£803–7 daysSometimes
Fiverr designer (top tier)£100–£2005–10 daysUsually with 1–2 revisions
Boutique solo freelancer (UK/US/EU)£300–£8002–3 weeksYes
Fabrickly (productized)£349 basic / £549 pro7 daysYes, with guarantee
Sewport (brokered marketplace)£200–£5001–3 weeksDepends on matched factory
Tech Packs LA$300–$7001–2 weeksYes
Full-service manufacturer“Free” — bundled with production2–3 weeksYes
DIY with a template£20–£45 + your 40 hoursYour timeOnly if you know the craft

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That’s the range. Now the explanation of why each is what it is.

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Why prices vary so much

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A tech pack is a 12–30 page document. The same garment can be spec’d in 8 hours by a senior designer or 40 hours by a junior one, and both produce “a tech pack.” The price reflects:

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  1. Where the designer is based. UK/US/EU labour at £60–£120/hr. Pakistan/Bangladesh/Philippines at £8–£25/hr. Quality varies within each region but the labour cost floor is hard.
  2. How experienced the designer is. A senior who’s spec’d 500 styles produces a production-ready file in 8 hours. A junior who’s spec’d 5 styles needs 40 and still misses critical details.
  3. Whether the spec is portable. A bundled-with-production manufacturer writes the spec FOR their specific factory. The file is cheaper because you’re committed to producing there.
  4. What’s included in revisions. Some services charge per revision. Some include 2. Some include none. Read the fine print.
  5. Whether there’s a guarantee. Productized services charge more partly because they back the work — if a sample fails due to spec error, they fix it free.

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Read the named comparison of all five provider categories for our honest take on who each is right for.

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What you’re actually paying for at each tier

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Fiverr bottom tier (£30–£80)

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You’re paying for: a beautiful PDF with the flat sketch, BOM, and POMs. Usually no tolerances. Usually no construction page. Usually no grade rules. Usually no labelling spec depth.

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You’re NOT paying for: an actual production-ready spec.

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The math nobody tells you: £80 spent + 2 revision rounds + £200 in sample errors when the factory misinterprets your unspec’d seams = real cost £280-£400. That’s the same as a real service that gets it right the first time.

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Fiverr top tier (£100–£200)

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The top 5% of Fiverr designers are genuinely competent. Look for:

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If you can find this designer, £150–£200 is excellent value. The catch is finding them — expect to test 3 designers before committing. Budget a £30 single-page test (just the flat sketch) on each. That’s £90 to find your designer, then £150-200 for the full job. Total: £240–£290.

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Boutique solo freelancer (£300–£800)

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This is the upper tier of one-person operations. UK and US-based, often fashion-school instructors moonlighting or ex-senior-designers at known brands. The work is excellent. The catch is:

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When to use them: 1-2 styles per year where craft matters more than speed. Brands trying to perfect ONE flagship piece.

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Productized service like Fabrickly (£349–£549)

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This is our pricing. Here’s the breakdown of what you’re paying for at £349:

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The £549 pro tier adds:

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Read more about our tech pack service or see the pricing breakdown.

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Sewport brokered (£200–£500)

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Sewport is a marketplace. They don’t spec your tech pack — they match you with one of 1,000+ manufacturers, some of whom offer the spec service. The price reflects:

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The catch: quality varies wildly because Sewport doesn’t standardize the spec format. You get whatever the matched factory delivers. Trustpilot reviews flag this consistently.

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Tech Packs LA ($300–$700)

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LA-based studio. Solid reputation in US streetwear and casualwear. Productized like ours but US-only invoicing.

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When to use them: you’re US-based, you produce in LA, you want a US-based partner. They’re stronger than us in the LA market specifically.

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Full-service manufacturer that bundles

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The tech pack is “free” — rolled into your unit cost on the bulk production order. The catch:

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When to use this: you’re committed to one production partner for your first 200–2,000 units and you’re never planning to switch.

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DIY with a template (£20–£45 + your time)

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Apparel Entrepreneurship sells templates for $45. StartUp Fashion for $27. We publish our 14-page template free.

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You’re paying for the structure. You still have to do all 40+ hours of actual work yourself. The math:

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The DIY route is cheapest only if you genuinely value your time at zero. Most founders don’t.

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The hidden costs nobody lists upfront

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This is the part of tech-pack-cost articles nobody else publishes. Here’s what you’ll pay BEYOND the headline number:

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Revision fees. Some services charge £50–£150 per revision beyond what’s included. Two unplanned revisions can add 50% to your bill.

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Rush fees. Need it in 3 days instead of 7? Most services add 30–50%. Fabrickly’s pro tier (£549) includes 5-day delivery; rush below that adds 25%.

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Sample iteration costs from spec gaps. If the tech pack is incomplete, the factory makes assumptions. The first sample comes back wrong. You pay £80–£250 for a re-do. Multiply that by 3 if the spec is really sparse.

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Grading per size. Some services charge per size graded. £20–£50 extra per size beyond your base sample size. A 6-size run (XS-XXL) could add £100–£300 if you didn’t ask upfront.

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Different fabric specs as a separate fee. If you want the same style in three fabrics, some services charge for each. Fabrickly counts that as one tech pack with three fabric specs in the BOM — no upcharge.

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Translation fees. If your factory’s preferred language is Mandarin/Bengali/Turkish, some services charge for translated callouts. We don’t.

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File handover fees. Some services charge for “release” of the editable .ai source files. Always ask for the .ai source upfront — if a provider holds your source files hostage, run.

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What a real tech pack costs across a whole season

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Most founders don’t spec one style — they spec a season. Here’s what a typical indie-brand season looks like and what it costs:

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Pre-launch (5 styles)

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This is before any bulk production. It’s also tax-deductible as R&D.

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Year 1 brand (12 styles)

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Year 2+ scaling brand (24 styles)

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For comparison, hiring a freelance senior tech-pack designer in-house: £45,000–£70,000 salary + benefits. Tipping point: ~80–100 tech packs per year before in-house is cheaper than productized service.

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Red flags in tech-pack pricing

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Things to watch for that signal you’re about to overpay or get a bad spec:

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  1. “Call for pricing.” A productized service has fixed pricing. If they hide it, they’re price-discriminating by what they think you can pay.
  2. “Tech pack from £49.” This is the bait. The £49 will get you a flat sketch only. The full pack will cost £400+. Look for the “starting from” footnote.
  3. No revision policy listed. If you can’t see “X revisions included” on the pricing page, the answer is zero.
  4. No production-fit guarantee. If the service doesn’t back their spec with a guarantee, why are you paying premium prices?
  5. Multi-tier pricing with unclear differences. Three tiers that all say “professional tech pack” with no clear differentiation. Marketing-speak.
  6. Source files locked behind upcharges. You should always own the editable Adobe Illustrator (.ai) source file. If a service holds it hostage, they’re betting you’ll come back next season for revisions.

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How we price (and why £349)

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I’ll be transparent about our pricing logic because most services aren’t.

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At £349 per style, we make modest gross margin (~30%) after paying our technical designer’s time, project manager oversight, software licenses, and revision allowance. The pricing is set to be:

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The £549 pro tier exists for fit-critical styles where the cost of a bad spec is amplified — activewear, swimwear, lingerie, technical knits. The extra £200 funds an extra construction QA pass before delivery.

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We don’t offer a tier below £349. We’ve tried in the past and the work quality always slips. Below that price point, we’d be on the Fiverr quality lottery, and that’s not our brand.

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What to budget if you’re starting out

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If you’re pre-launch with no idea what to budget:

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The tech pack is the cheapest line item but the highest-leverage one. Spending £349 to save £1,000 in sample errors is the math founders don’t see until they’ve eaten the £1,000 once.

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Frequently asked

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Q: Is a £30 Fiverr tech pack ever worth it?

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Only if you have the technical knowledge to check it yourself AND you’re producing 1-2 simple styles. For complex garments or first-time founders, no.

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Q: How much should I budget for revisions?

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Services that include revisions: zero extra budget. Services that charge per revision: budget £100–£300 per style on top of the headline price.

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Q: Why is Fabrickly £349 when Fiverr is £30?

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The £30 file is missing 30-50% of what makes a tech pack production-ready. The £349 file ships and produces a sample without follow-up questions. Different products at different price points.

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Q: Do you discount for multiple tech packs?

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Yes. 3+ styles in one order: 10% discount. 6+ styles: 15%. 10+: custom quote. Email support@fabrickly.com.

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Q: What about a free quote?

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Send us a brief — we respond within one business day. The quote is genuinely free and includes a sample of similar work we’ve done.

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Q: Can I see a real tech pack before I commit?

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Yes. We publish anonymised real client tech packs. And our free 14-page template is the exact structure we use for paying clients.

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What to do next

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If you’re at the budgeting stage:

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Under £100 budget: vet Fiverr top-tier designers carefully. Test 3 with £30 single-page jobs first. Accept variable quality.

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£300–£600 budget: hire a productized service. We charge £349 (basic) / £549 (pro) with 7-day delivery and a production-fit guarantee. Compare us to Tech Packs LA if you’re US-based.

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£800+ budget: hire a boutique solo freelancer if craft matters more than speed. Find one via fashion-school alumni networks or specific Upwork Top-Rated Plus designers.

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Bundle budget with manufacturing: if you’ve committed to one factory for production, ask if they include the tech pack. Most full-service manufacturers do.

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Either way — get the tech pack first, then shop quotes to factories. Without it, every quote you get is on a different spec and you can’t compare like for like.

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— Hasebul, Fabrickly

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