How Much Does Laser Tattoo Removal Cost?

We could not confirm a national average price for laser tattoo removal at a med spa: our research found no tier-1 or tier-2 source that publishes one specific to the treatment, and the price-comparison site RealSelf blocked our researchers' access.

The one national figure our research found is the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' (ASPS): its tattoo-removal cost page says the average cost of laser skin treatments like laser tattoo removal is $697, according to the latest statistics.

That figure carries limits.

It is a plastic-surgeon fee, not a med spa price.

The same $697 sits on ASPS's laser hair removal page, so it is a generic laser figure rather than a tattoo-removal one.

The page does not say whether it covers one session or a whole course, and it does not name the year behind the statistic.

The prices we could verify for this treatment are chains' own.

LaserAway's pricing page, read October 16, 2026, prices laser tattoo removal by tattoo size — five sizes, from Quarter to Full Page — at $200 per treatment for a quarter-size tattoo, or $82 per treatment inside a 16-treatment package; a dollar-bill-size tattoo is $420, or $169 per treatment in the same package.

Those are LaserAway's own listed prices on the day we read the page, not a national average and not a quote for your tattoo.

The tattoo itself is the first driver, and it works on the bill twice.

FDA says removal takes multiple treatments a few weeks apart, with the number depending on factors including the tattoo's size and its colors — and LaserAway ties its per-session price to a size band.

Color sets the difficulty: FDA says green, red and yellow inks are the hardest to remove and dark blue and black the easiest, and that multicolored tattoos may need multiple lasers because different colors absorb different wavelengths.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) adds a point to take into the consultation: a single laser cannot remove all ink colors, so a provider who has only one laser may leave some ink behind.

Which lasers a practice has is a fair question to ask before you compare on price alone.

The remaining session-count factors are the ones the Kirby-Desai scale, a 2009 scoring tool, formalizes: skin type, where the tattoo sits on the body, how much ink is in it, any scarring or tissue change, and how deeply the ink is layered.

Its authors considered tattoos scoring over 15 points to be ones that may be difficult to remove.

The laser type is worth asking about, but the evidence that newer lasers do better is thin.

A 2016 systematic review of picosecond lasers — 6 trials, 160 participants — found 69–100% of tattoos reached more than 70% clearance after 1 to 10 treatments, but found only sparse evidence that picosecond lasers beat the older nanosecond (Q-switched) type, mainly for black and blue ink.

On that evidence, a newer laser is not by itself a reason to expect fewer sessions.

The last drivers are the practice and the city.

We found no fixed national price list, and the sources we could verify do not establish a national or city-by-city picture for this treatment, so the honest comparison is between written quotes for your tattoo where you live.

The session is the unit, and the course is the bill.

FDA says complete removal can take many treatments, and in some cases may not be possible, so the number to plan around is a series total.

The clearest session-count data comes from one clinic and one laser era: in the Kirby-Desai study, 100 patients treated with Q-switched Nd:YAG or alexandrite lasers 6 to 8 weeks apart needed an average of 9.91 treatments for satisfactory removal, in a range of 3 to 20.

Read that as a picture of the spread, not a prediction: it is a 2009 study of nanosecond-era lasers averaged across 100 patients, and a study average is not what any one tattoo will need.

Under a per-session structure, the course length is the multiplier: the session price is paid once per treatment, whether the course runs 3 treatments or 20.

That arithmetic is why a written plan — how many sessions your provider expects, at what price each — beats any single-session number.

Packages change the multiplier.

At LaserAway's published prices, the same quarter-size tattoo is $200 a single treatment but $82 per treatment bought as a 16-treatment package: the per-session number drops when you commit to the course up front.

Packages matter because the session count is uncertain in advance: you do not know whether your tattoo sits at the bottom of the 3-to-20 study range or the top, and the structure you pick is a bet on that question.

LaserAway sells a single treatment or packages of 3, 10 or 16, priced by tattoo size, per its pricing page as read October 16, 2026.

Removery, a chain focused on tattoo removal, sells the opposite shape: it says on its own site that its Complete Removal Package is one price for unlimited sessions until the tattoo is gone, and its October 2026 promotion notes that treatment is subject to consultation and that no guarantee is made as to outcome.

An unlimited-session price moves the risk of a long course from you to the chain.

A fixed package leaves the overflow to its terms, so the clause that matters is what a session beyond the package costs — get that, and the package's definition of done, in writing.

If the course total is more than you want to pay at once, the pay-over-time routes med spas offer — medical credit cards, installment loans and buy-now-pay-later plans — each come with their own terms.

Our financing options guide compares the programs line by line, with each figure dated.

A low session price says little on its own: what you actually pay is the session price times the number of sessions, done by whoever operates the laser, and a printed price alone may not tell you either.

On the operator: FDA has cleared tattoo-removal lasers for use by, or under the supervision of, a health care professional.

Who actually works the machine at a discount operation, and who supervises them, is a fair question to ask.

On the promise: any price sold with a promise attached — a fixed number of sessions and your tattoo gone — should make you stop.

FDA says complete removal can take many treatments and in some cases may not be possible, and the session counts in the Kirby-Desai study ran from 3 to 20.

And the cheapest "removal" is not laser at all: FDA has not approved tattoo removal creams, ointments or do-it-yourself kits, is not aware of evidence that they work, and warns they may cause rashes, burns or scars.

A price comparison works when both quotes assume the same tattoo, the same session count and the same terms — which is why the useful comparison is between written consultations, not advertised numbers.

Use each consultation to get five things in writing:

Set the quotes side by side on those five lines and the real differences show.

For how the treatment itself works, how it feels and what can go wrong, our laser tattoo removal guide covers the treatment end to end; this page stays on the money.