Bagged vs Ready Mix Calculator

1. Enter the dimensions of your pour and a 5 to 10 percent waste allowance, the same way you would size any concrete job.
2. Pick the bag size and enter the price per bag you would pay.
3. Enter the ready-mix price per cubic yard, plus any delivery and short-load fees your supplier charges on a small order.
4. Read the result: which option is cheaper, the two totals side by side, and the bags you would need.

Here is what each result line means:

A bagged vs ready-mix calculator is a decision tool that prices the same concrete pour two ways and tells you which is cheaper. It answers the question on every mid-sized job: do I buy bags and mix them, or order a ready-mix delivery?

The two are sold differently. Bagged concrete is priced per bag, each covering a fixed volume, so the cost rises step by step with the bag count. Ready-mix is priced per cubic yard delivered, often with a delivery charge and a short-load fee on small orders. This tool sizes the volume once, then applies both pricing models so you compare like for like. To price a ready-mix pour on its own, use the concrete cost calculator.

The tool first finds the volume of your pour in cubic feet and cubic yards, with the waste allowance added, because that volume is what you buy either way. It then costs each option separately.

1. Divide the volume in cubic feet by the bag yield and round up to whole bags, then multiply by the price per bag.
2. Multiply the cubic yards by the ready-mix price per yard, then add the delivery and short-load fees.
3. Compare the two totals and report the cheaper one and the difference.

The short-load fee matters most on small pours, where it can swing the decision toward bags, so enter it to compare fairly.

Suppose you are pouring a driveway section 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and 4 inches thick, with 10 percent waste, 80 pound bags at $7, ready-mix at $160 a yard and a $60 short-load fee.

Calculation: volume = 20 x 10 x (4 / 12) = 66.7 cu ft, plus 10 percent is 73.3 cu ft, or 2.72 cu yd. Bagged: 73.3 / 0.60 = 123 bags at $7 = $861. Ready-mix: 2.72 x $160 + $60 = $495. Ready-mix is cheaper by about $366.

The lesson: once a pour reaches a couple of cubic yards, the bag count and its cost climb past a ready-mix delivery, even with the short-load fee. On a small pad the fee can flip the answer the other way.

Volume

Volume is the biggest lever. Bagged cost rises in a straight line with the bag count, while ready-mix spreads its fixed fees over more yards, so the more concrete you need, the better ready-mix looks.

Short-load and Delivery Fees

On a small pour the short-load fee can be most of the ready-mix bill, which is why bags often win under a cubic yard. Always enter the fee, or the comparison flatters ready-mix.

Bag Size and Price

Bigger bags cost less per cubic foot but weigh more. The price per bag you can actually get, including sales and bulk pallets, moves the bagged total up or down.

Hidden Costs

This tool compares material and delivery only. Mixing bags by hand costs time and a mixer rental; ready-mix must be placed fast. Those real costs are not in the price per bag or per yard.

Price is only half the decision. The two options differ in effort, speed and flexibility, and the right choice depends on the pour as much as the total cost.

If you lean toward bagging, the concrete mix calculator helps you batch your own from cement, sand and gravel, and the cement calculator sizes the binder.

Mid-sized Pours

The comparison matters most between about half a cubic yard and three cubic yards, where neither option is the obvious winner and the fees decide it.

Budgeting a Project

Before you buy, price both ways so the budget reflects the cheaper route and the fees you will actually pay.

Remote or Access-limited Sites

Where a truck cannot reach or a delivery minimum is high, bags may win even on a larger pour. Enter a high short-load fee or delivery charge to see the effect.

1. Leaving Out the Short-load Fee

Comparing a bare price per yard against bags ignores the surcharge that makes small ready-mix orders expensive. Always include it.

2. Forgetting Waste on Both Sides

Both options need the same waste allowance. Sizing bags with waste but ready-mix without, or the reverse, skews the result.

3. Ignoring Your Own Time and a Mixer

Mixing dozens of bags by hand is hours of work and often a rental. The cheaper material total is not always the cheaper job.

4. Using an Unrealistic Bag Price

Shelf price, sale price and pallet price differ. Enter the price you can actually get for the quantity you need.

5. Treating the Totals as the Full Invoice

Neither total includes tax, pump hire, labour or finishing. Use the comparison to choose the route, then get a full quote.

The arithmetic and the bag yields are exact; the result is only as good as the prices and fees you enter, which vary by supplier and region.

It depends on the volume and the fees. Below about one cubic yard, bags are usually cheaper once a ready-mix short-load fee is counted. Above one to two cubic yards, ready-mix almost always wins because its fixed fees spread over more concrete. Enter your prices above to see the crossover for your job.

About 45. An 80 pound bag yields roughly 0.60 cubic feet and a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so 27 divided by 0.60 is 45 bags. At typical prices, 45 bags usually cost more than a yard of delivered ready-mix once you place a full load.

A surcharge ready-mix suppliers add when you order less than a full truck, often around a few yards. It covers the trip for a partly filled truck and can be most of the bill on a small pour, which is why it often tips small jobs toward bags.

Usually between one and two cubic yards, but the fees move the line. A high short-load fee pushes the switch to a larger volume; a low one brings it earlier. The tool shows the totals at your size so you can see where your crossover falls.

No. It compares the material plus delivery and short-load fees only. Mixing many bags by hand is hours of work and often a mixer rental, so the true cost of bagging is higher than the bag total alone.

Because it is batched in bulk at a plant and delivered in volume, while bags carry packaging, handling and retail markup. The saving only shows once your pour is big enough to cover the delivery and short-load fees.

Yes. Both the bag count and the ready-mix volume should include the same waste allowance, usually 5 to 10 percent, so the comparison is fair. The tool applies your waste to both sides.

Yes. Switch the bag size and the tool recomputes the bag count and bagged total. Larger bags cost less per cubic foot but weigh more, so the cheapest bag option is not always the easiest to handle.

It includes the delivery and short-load fees you enter, but not sales tax, pump hire or labour. Treat the result as a material-and-delivery comparison to choose a route, then get a full quote.

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• QUIKRETE Concrete Mix 1101 data sheet (QUIKRETE; bag yields 0.60, 0.45 and 0.30 cu ft).
• National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA; ready-mixed concrete sold by the cubic yard, delivery and ordering).
• American Cement Association (American Cement Association; what concrete and cement are).