Use a formula when your price follows a rule you can say in one sentence, like "area times the rate for the material." Use a pricing table when your price comes from a sheet of numbers someone set by hand, like a supplier's width-by-drop grid.
Most complex products end up using both. The table holds the rates, and the formula does the math around them: the area, the rounding and the minimum.
In Appify Custom Product Options, a formula reads a table directly, so you never have to pick one.
Formula or table: the short answer
| Your pricing looks like this | Use |
|---|---|
| "Width times height times a rate per square foot" | A formula |
| "Engraving is charged per letter" | A formula |
| A supplier's price grid by width and drop | A pricing table |
| A price list: one rate per material | A pricing table, read by a formula |
| The math stays the same, the rate changes by choice | Both: a table for the rates, a formula for the math |
| Cheaper per unit as the order grows | Quantity discount rules |
When a formula is the right tool
Reach for a formula when you can write the price as a rule. The formula editor reads what the customer typed and picked, then does the math.
- Measurements. Width times height, divided by 144 to turn square inches into square feet.
- Counts. CHARCOUNT prices engraving by the letter. COUNT prices by how many boxes were ticked in a checkbox group.
- Rounding. CEILING rounds up to whole units, like full cartons or full sheets.
- If/then. IF, AND, OR and HAS change the math when a certain choice is picked.
- Floors and caps. MIN, MAX and CLAMP keep a number inside a range.
Formulas work in more places than the final price. Any choice can have one, and so can fees, price adjustments and weight. On the total price formula, you can also set a minimum and a maximum price.
For a big formula, break it into pricing variables. Work out AREA once, give it a name, and use it in every formula that needs it. Variables can also be used as conditions in your rules, like "AREA over 100."
When a pricing table is the right tool
Reach for a pricing table when the numbers came from somewhere else, like a supplier sheet or a price list you've used for years. If there's no rule behind a number, don't force one. Put the sheet in as it is.
Tables come in two layouts:
- One column. One key, one value. Material to price per square foot, for example.
- Grid. A row key and a column key. Drop down the side, width across the top, a price in every cell.
A table made on the Pricing Tables page is global. Every calculator in your store can read it, so one price list can feed many products. Update the rates once and every calculator that reads the table picks them up. Before you change a shared rate, here's how to preview price changes before they go live.
What happens between the sizes on your sheet?
A grid lists set sizes. Customers type whatever they measured. Each table has a lookup mode that decides what a size between the columns gets.
Say your grid has width columns at 24, 36 and 48 inches, and a customer enters 33:
| Lookup mode | What 33 inches gets |
|---|---|
| Exact | Only the sizes on the sheet: 24, 36 or 48. Use it when customers pick from set sizes. |
| Nearest lower | The 24-inch price |
| Nearest upper | The 36-inch price |
| Nearest | The 36-inch price, the closer column |
| Interpolate | A price blended between the 24 and 36 columns |
On a grid of sizes, Interpolate blends across both the rows and the columns. So a size that sits between rows and between columns still gets a price that fits your sheet.
Most complex products use both
The TABLE function pulls a number from a table into any formula. The formula then does whatever math you need around it.
Take a custom sign priced by the square foot, with a different rate for each material (the full setup is in how to price custom signs on Shopify):
- A pricing variable named AREA works out the area:
INPUT("WIDTH") * INPUT("HEIGHT") / 144 - A one-column table holds the rate for each material.
- The price formula multiplies them:
VAR("AREA") * TABLE("rates", OPT_TOKEN("MATERIAL")) - A minimum price on the total covers the small orders.
When your material prices change, you edit the table. The formula never changes.
The table and the formula make one price. A table lookup is just a number inside the formula, so it can be multiplied, rounded, capped or used in an IF. Add pricing variables, a minimum and maximum price, and quantity breaks by size, and one calculator prices your whole rate card.
Quantity breaks have their own tool
You can price quantity with a table and Nearest lower. But quantity discount rules are built for it. Set breaks by quantity alone, or by quantity plus a second value like width or area.
Already have the breaks in a spreadsheet? Click Import table and paste the cells from Excel or Google Sheets.
A quick test for your own pricing
- Can you say the price in one sentence? Write it as a formula.
- Did the numbers come from a supplier or a rate card? Put them in a table.
- Does the rate change by material but the math stays the same? Rates in a table, math in a formula.
- Do customers type sizes that aren't on your sheet? A table, with the lookup mode set to match how you quote.
- Do many products share one price list? One global table, read by every calculator.
You don't have to build either by hand
Attach your price sheet to Chat with AI, as a CSV or Excel file, and describe your product. It builds the options and the pricing, rate tables included. Tell it "I sell fabric by the yard, and the price per yard depends on the fabric," and it adds the options with a table-based formula.
In any formula field, Describe with AI writes a formula from plain English using your own option names. Explain formula reads any formula back in plain English.
If a price comes out wrong, the Troubleshoot tab shows every part of the formula. For a table lookup, it shows the row and column it tried, and whether they matched. When a choice doesn't match a table key, it offers a one-click fix.
For the full walkthrough, see setting up formula pricing with pricing tables and turning your pricing spreadsheet into a Shopify pricing system. For a grid in action, see how to sell made-to-measure blinds.
FAQ
Should I use formulas or tables for complex product pricing?
Use a formula when the price follows a rule, and a table when it comes from a sheet. Most complex products use both: rates in a table, math in a formula.
Can a formula read a pricing table?
Yes. In Appify Custom Product Options, the TABLE function looks up a value by the customer's size or choice, and the formula can multiply, round or cap it.
What happens when a customer's size is between two sizes on my grid?
The table's lookup mode decides. It can take the size below, the size above, the closest one, or blend a price between them.
Can one pricing table serve several products?
Yes. Tables made on the Pricing Tables page are global. Every calculator can read them, and a rate change reaches all of them.
Do I need to write formulas myself?
No. Chat with AI builds pricing from a description or a price sheet, and Describe with AI writes a single formula from plain English.
Your rate sheet and your math, in one price.
Whatever you sell, however you price it · The last options app you'll shop for