Ask what a logo costs a startup and you will hear anything from $200 to $20,000, and most of those answers are honest. They price different things. A first logo, with no old brand to untangle, usually lands between $500 and $5,000 if it is the logo alone. Where in that range you land depends on how much thinking comes with the drawing.
Start with who does the work. DesignMonks puts newer freelancers at $200 to $500 for a simple mark and experienced freelancers at $500 to $1,500. A small studio runs $1,000 to $5,000, and for that you get several concepts, revision rounds, a suggested colour palette and typography, and sometimes a basic brand guide. The gap between bands is rarely drawing time. It's the number of directions explored and the research behind them.
Scope moves the price faster than the logo does. Call the Design Guy sorts startup branding into tiers: logo only at $500 to $5,000, logo plus palette, typography, usage rules and a short guidelines document at $5,000 to $20,000, and strategy with applications such as a website and pitch deck at $20,000 to $75,000. Their line is that price equals scope plus seniority. It holds up. Before you ask for quotes, decide which tier you are actually buying. A pre-launch team with no product on screen yet rarely needs the third one.
Then read what sits outside the quote. Trademark fees, print and signage, and extra revision rounds are often billed separately. One round of changes is standard at some agencies and three is common at boutiques, so ask how many are included. An animated version of the logo can add $500 to $5,000. Regional rates matter too: DesignMonks cites $75 to $300 an hour in North America and Western Europe against $20 to $80 in parts of Asia, which explains some of the spread you will see.
Ownership is the clause most first-time buyers skip. Cheaper providers may keep the rights or hand over only flattened exports, and a logo you cannot edit is a logo you pay for twice. Get it in the contract that you own the mark, and ask for the source files and every format you will need, from a favicon to a large print version.
A template logo is a fair stopgap before you have a product anyone pays for, and we won't argue. The catch: anyone can buy the same template, and Call the Design Guy notes that a rebrand later costs more than getting it right once. If the business is going to carry this mark for years, the first number is the cheaper one.
Your next step is a short brief, not a quote request. Write down who the logo has to win over, the first three places it will appear, and the budget band you are willing to spend. A studio can price that honestly in one conversation, and you will see quickly whether they ask good questions or just send a number.