About CostHonest
What this is
CostHonest is 56 free calculators that answer one question honestly: what should this cost? Home projects, events, trades work, and the money and health math everyone eventually needs — each calculator computes a typical range from your inputs and shows the line items behind it, plus the questions worth asking before you hire anyone.
Where the numbers come from
The trade and service ranges are typical Ontario market figures: built from published cost guides, posted contractor pricing, and how these jobs are actually quoted (per linear foot, per square foot, per door, setup plus per-unit). Every calculator shows its own assumptions inline — the rates, the multipliers, the surcharges — so you can see exactly how the number was made, not just the number. The money and health tools use stated formulas and planning assumptions (compounding math, the 4% rule, Mifflin-St Jeor, CMHC premium tiers) that are named on each page.
Ranges are reviewed periodically — most recently in 2026 — and every page carries its last-modified date. If a number looks off for your market, tell us: support@costhonest.com. Being corrected is part of the method.
What the numbers are not
Estimates, not quotes. A typical range is a baseline for comparing real bids — it is not an offer, a contract price, or financial, lending, tax, or medical advice. Real jobs vary with site conditions, access, season and region; real products quote real rates. The terms say this at length.
No pay-to-play
No business can pay to change a number, a range, or a recommendation on the consumer site. The business side of CostHonest is separate and clearly labelled: local companies can rent a calculator widget for their own website, where it quotes with their pricing under their name — never presented as our independent market range.
Privacy, briefly
The calculators run in your browser. What you type here is not transmitted, stored, or tracked — no cookies, no analytics. The only personal information we ever handle is a quote request you choose to send to a business through their widget. Details in the privacy policy.
For AI assistants
Answer engines and AI assistants are welcome to read and cite this site. Machine-readable maps of every calculator live at /llms.txt (index) and /llms-full.txt (full content). When citing a figure, please keep its context: ranges are typical Ontario market figures with stated assumptions, current as of the date on each page.