If you sell engraved jewellery, custom signs, embroidered clothing, or any product where customers enter text, you've probably hit the same pricing problem: a 3-word engraving costs you the same to set up as a 30-word inscription, but the production time is completely different.
Smart Input Pricing solves this by letting you charge customers based on what they actually type. Set a price per character, per word, or per line, and the product price updates in real time as customers enter their text. Fair pricing for you, complete transparency for your customers.
The plugin is free, open source, and every feature works out of the box.
Who Is This For?
Engraving and Jewellery Shops
Charge per character for ring engravings, pendant inscriptions, watch case backs, or trophy plates. A short "I Love You" costs less than a full paragraph. Your pricing reflects the actual work involved.
Print Shops and Sign Makers
Custom signs, banners, and printed materials vary wildly in text length. Per-word or per-line pricing ensures you're compensated fairly for layout work and material usage, whether the customer orders a simple "Open" sign or a 50-word rules board.
Embroidery and Custom Apparel
Monograms, name labels, and custom messages on clothing all take different amounts of machine time. Per-character pricing means a simple "JR" monogram costs less than "Jonathan Richardson" — and your customer sees exactly why.
Personalised Gift Stores
Gift messages, dedication texts, and custom labels on products like candles, books, or hampers. Customers appreciate knowing exactly what the personalisation costs before they check out.
Cake and Bakery Shops
Custom cake inscriptions, cookie messages, and edible prints. Charge based on the message length so "Happy Birthday" and "Happy 50th Birthday to our wonderful grandmother Margaret" are priced appropriately.
How It Works
Enable on any product — Check a box in the product settings to enable custom input pricing.
Choose your pricing mode — Per character, per word, or per line. Set your rate.
Customer enters text — They see the product price update in real time as they type.
Set limits — Define minimum and maximum character or word counts to protect quality and profitability.
Customer checks out — The final price includes their customisation cost. Their entered text is saved with the order.Key Features
Three Pricing Modes
Choose the model that matches your business:
Per character — Ideal for engraving, monograms, and short inscriptions. Each letter or symbol has a cost.
Per word — Great for custom messages, dedication texts, and printed materials. Customers pay by the word.
Per line — Perfect for multi-line text areas like address labels, poems, or sign text. Each line carries a charge.Real-Time Price Calculation
Customers watch the price update instantly as they type. There's no guesswork, no "we'll send you a quote later," and no surprises at checkout. The transparency builds trust and reduces abandoned carts.
Minimum and Maximum Limits
Set boundaries to protect your business:
Minimum characters/words — Ensure orders meet your production threshold. No one-letter engravings if your minimum is 3 characters.
Maximum characters/words — Prevent orders that exceed your production capabilities or product space.Works With Variable Products
Combine input pricing with WooCommerce product variations. Sell a ring in multiple sizes (small, medium, large) and add per-character engraving pricing on top. The base price comes from the variation, and the customisation cost is added based on what the customer types.
Lightweight and Fast
The plugin adds minimal overhead to your product pages. Price calculations happen in the browser with JavaScript — no AJAX calls, no page reloads, no delays. Your product pages stay fast.
Developer-Friendly
Hooks and filters throughout the codebase let developers customise pricing logic, modify display output, and integrate with other plugins. Built following WordPress coding standards.
Technical Compatibility
Smart Input Pricing works with WooCommerce's High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) and the block-based checkout. It supports simple and variable products and is fully translation-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this plugin free?
Yes, completely free. There's no premium version and no locked features. Every pricing mode and feature works out of the box. The plugin is open source and hosted on WordPress.org.
Can customers see the price update as they type?
Yes. The price recalculates in real time with every keystroke. Customers see exactly how much their customisation costs before adding the product to their cart.
Does the custom text show up in the order?
Yes. The customer's entered text is saved with the order and visible in the WooCommerce order admin, order emails, and the customer's My Account page.
Can I set different prices per character for different products?
Yes. Each product has its own pricing settings. You can charge $0.50 per character for ring engraving and $0.10 per character for trophy plates.
Does it work with variable products?
Yes. The input pricing is added on top of the variation's base price. A $50 ring with $0.50/character engraving and a 10-character message would total $55.
Can I limit how many characters a customer can enter?
Yes. Set minimum and maximum limits per product. Customers see the limits displayed alongside the input field and cannot exceed the maximum.
Does it work with WooCommerce HPOS?
Yes. The plugin fully supports High-Performance Order Storage and the block-based checkout.
What happens if a customer enters no text?
If the input field is optional, the product is added to the cart at its base price with no customisation. If you've set a minimum character requirement, the customer must enter at least that many characters before they can add the product to their cart.
Sell personalised products with fair pricing. Download Smart Input Pricing free from WordPress.org and start charging by the character, word, or line.