Tattoo removal cost calculator
Updated
This tattoo removal cost calculator estimates laser sessions with the Kirby-Desai scale, a six-factor score published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology in 2009, then multiplies them by the per-session price your clinic quotes. No prices are built in. The session count is the authors' estimate, not a promise, and treatment decisions belong to a dermatologist.
The form opens on example answers, not typical ones, and the price is a round placeholder rather than an average: this calculator holds no price data. The examples in brackets after the two limb regions are our reading of the terms; the paper names the regions without examples. Nothing you enter leaves this browser tab.
$2,200
11 laser sessions at $200 each.
- Kirby-Desai score
- 11 on a scale of 4 to 26
- Estimated sessions
- 11
- First to last session, 6–8 weeks apart
- 60–80 weeks, about 14–18 months
| Factor | Your answer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Skin type | Type II | 2 |
| Location | Distal extremity | 5 |
| Color | Black only | 1 |
| Amount of ink | Moderate | 3 |
| Scarring and tissue change | No scar | 0 |
| Layering | No | 0 |
| Total | Estimated sessions | 11 |
This is the authors' estimate, not a promise. Among the 100 patients in their study, the number of sessions actually needed ranged from 3 to 20.
How to use the tattoo removal cost calculator
Answer six questions the way a clinician would score the tattoo, then enter the per-session price your clinic quoted. The authors read the Kirby-Desai score directly as a session count, and the calculator multiplies it by that price. Each answer shows its points, so the sum can be checked by hand.
- Step 1Pick a skin type by how it reacts to sunFitzpatrick types sort skin into six classes by how easily it burns and tans. Type I scores 1, Type VI scores 6.
- Step 2Place it, then describe the inkAmount of ink follows the paper’s wording: amateur means letters, words or small symbols; significant means a multicolored, complex design.
- Step 3Let someone who has seen it grade the scarScarring moves the score by up to 5 points, as much as any factor. If the skin is raised or textured, try more than one level and ask the clinic.
- Step 4Enter the quote, not a guessThe price opens on a placeholder. If your quote is a package, divide it by the number of sessions it covers.
The example answers in the form score 11. At $200 a session that is $2,200, spread over 60–80 weeks, about 14–18 months, at the interval the scale assumes.
The Kirby-Desai scale, factor by factor
The Kirby-Desai scale gives points to six factors and adds them; the total is the authors’ estimate of the laser sessions a tattoo needs. The table carries the point values of tables 1 to 6 of the paper on PubMed Central, checked against that copy on September 15, 2026.
| Factor | Points | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Skin type | 1–6 | Type I (always burns, never tans) 1; Type II (usually burns, tans with difficulty) 2; Type III (sometimes mild burn, gradually tans) 3; Type IV (rarely burns, tans with ease) 4; Type V (very rarely burns, tans very easily) 5; Type VI (never burns, tans very easily) 6 |
| Location | 1–5 | Head and neck 1; Upper trunk 2; Lower trunk 3; Proximal extremity 4; Distal extremity 5 |
| Color | 1–4 | Black only 1; Mostly black with some red 2; Mostly black and red with other colors 3; Multiple colors 4 |
| Amount of ink | 1–4 | Amateur 1; Minimal 2; Moderate 3; Significant 4 |
| Scarring and tissue change | 0–5 | No scar 0; Minimal scarring 1; Moderate scarring 3; Significant scarring 5 |
| Layering | 0–2 | No 0; Yes 2 |
Two factors can each move the total by 5 points: skin type, and scarring and tissue change. Layering moves it least, by 2. Scores run from 4 to 26.
The paper does not define where the upper trunk ends, or which body parts count as proximal or distal. The bracketed examples in the calculator are our reading of those words: nearer to or farther from the trunk. Neighboring regions differ by 1 point, which is 1 session either way for a tattoo on a border.
What the 2009 study measured
Kirby, Desai and colleagues reviewed the charts of 100 patients treated at the first author’s Beverly Hills clinic from July 2004 through August 2008. One investigator scored each tattoo from history and pre-treatment photographs, and the scores were compared with the sessions each patient went on to have.
Those patients needed 9.91 sessions on average (standard deviation 3.18, range 3 to 20), against an average score of 9.87. Treated as a straight line, a correlation of 0.757 means the score accounts for about 57% of the variation in session counts; the other 43% it does not capture.
The paper is not fully consistent with itself: the abstract reports satisfactory removal in all patients, the results say complete removal, and the discussion gives p<0.0001 where the abstract and results give p<0.001. The scale is the same either way, but satisfactory and complete are different answers to whether a tattoo will disappear.
Turning a session count into a budget
A session count becomes a budget only when it meets a price, the one number this calculator will not guess. Before comparing quotes, ask whether each covers one session or a package, whether it changes with size, and what extra sessions cost. A new tattoo is priced from an artist’s hourly rate in the tattoo cost calculator.
The one other removal calculator we read, inkstudioai’s, on September 15, 2026, builds in per-session price bands by tattoo size, from $100–$200 for the smallest tier to $400 and up for the largest, and names no source for them. We read that page but did not test its calculator.
Where the scale stops being useful
The authors proposed the scale as a consultation aid for physicians. They call for larger studies to confirm it is reproducible, and note that their patients may have included too few difficult tattoos, such as scarred or layered ones.
The study also excluded patients who stopped early because of pain, missed appointments or lost contact, so it says nothing about how often people finish. It has no size question beyond amount of ink, and it scores location by blood and lymph supply, which is about clearing ink rather than how a tattoo wears; the placement guide covers that.
None of this is medical advice. Whether and how to treat a tattoo is a decision for a dermatologist or another physician who examines the skin.