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“Is it cheaper to cut my own hair?” is one of the most common money questions people type into Bing once haircut prices start to add up, usually right before the holidays when there are family photos, travel and a lot of other bills. The honest answer depends on one number most comparisons skip: what you actually pay at Great Clips with a coupon, not the regular price.

This guide runs the math both ways. The salon side uses real coupon prices from the Great Clips coupon prices data study, which tracked 960 unique coupons in Great Clips’ official Facebook advertising from December 30, 2025 to July 6, 2026 (189 consecutive days, 44 states and provinces). The home-haircut side uses clearly labelled example prices, because clipper kits vary a lot.

# The short answer

• A home clipper kit usually pays for itself in a handful of haircuts. With an example $50 kit and the most common coupon price of $10.99, you break even on the fifth cut you do yourself.
• Coupons stretch that break-even out. Against full price (the study cites about $15 to $19), the same kit pays off in 3 or 4 cuts. Against a coupon, it takes longer, and against a rare sub-$6 coupon it takes much longer.
• Money isn’t the only cost. DIY takes time and practice, and a bad fade is hard to undo. Many people land on a hybrid: a coupon cut every 6 weeks with DIY neck and edge cleanups in between.
• Your state changes the answer. Median coupon prices in the study ranged from $8.99 in Texas to $15.99 in California, so DIY saves more money in high-price markets.

# Step 1: Know your real Great Clips price

Most “salon vs DIY” articles compare clippers against a regular haircut price. That overstates the savings if you normally use a coupon. Here are the ten most common coupon price points from the study:

Two things stand out. First, $10.99 (192 coupons) and $9.99 (170 coupons) together make up nearly 4 in 10 coupons, so for most people a “normal” coupon cut costs about $10 to $11. Second, the famous ultra-cheap offers ($4.99, $5.00 and $5.99) add up to 144 coupons, about 15%, and the study notes they tend to come in short promotional bursts at specific salons. One caution from the study’s methodology: some round-number offers like $5.00 are “dollars off” deals rather than final prices.

The study also found the typical live coupon price stayed between $8.99 and $10.99 every month from January through July 2026, with no upward trend. That makes $9.99 to $10.99 a fair baseline for the math below.

# Step 2: Estimate what DIY really costs

A home haircut isn’t free; you pay up front and then a little over time. Typical pieces (all examples, not prices from a specific retailer):

• Clipper kit: example range $30 to $80 for a corded or cordless kit with guards.
• Extras: a neck duster, cape, hand mirror and blade oil. Many kits include some of these.
• Upkeep: blades dull and batteries wear out over a few years. Budget a small amount per year if you cut often.
• Your time: 20 to 45 minutes per cut while you learn, plus cleanup. Great Clips is walk-in friendly, and check-in can cut the wait, so time is closer to even than many people assume.

For a simple clipper cut (one guard all over, or a basic taper), the per-cut cost after you own the kit is close to zero. For anything layered, textured or longer on top, DIY gets harder and the risk of a fix-up visit goes up.

# Step 3: The break-even table

This is how many haircuts it takes before the clipper kit has paid for itself, compared with paying a given price each time. The kit prices are examples; the haircut prices are real study price points, plus a $17 example inside the study’s $15 to $19 full-price range.

How to read it: if you normally pay $10.99 with a coupon and buy an example $50 kit, the kit has paid for itself by your fifth home haircut. If you only ever use sub-$6 coupons, an $80 kit needs 17 cuts to pay off, which is more than a year of cuts on a 4-week schedule.

# Step 4: The yearly comparison

Here’s what a year of salon cuts costs at different schedules. “Every 4 weeks” is 13 cuts a year, “every 6 weeks” is about 9, and “every 8 weeks” is about 6. The schedules are examples; pick the row that matches your hair.

Prices are before any add-ons, tip or tax. If you’d tip at the salon, add that to the salon column, because it’s money DIY doesn’t spend.

The takeaway: someone on a 4-week schedule using $10.99 coupons spends about $143 a year. Switching fully to DIY with an example $50 kit saves roughly $93 in year one and more after that. Someone who gets a cut every 8 weeks with $8.99 coupons spends about $54 a year, so DIY savings are small and the learning curve may not be worth it.

# The hybrid approach most people end up with

You don’t have to pick one. A common middle path:

1. Get the real haircut at Great Clips with a coupon so the shape is right.
2. Clean up the neckline and around the ears at home with a trimmer between visits.
3. Stretch the interval from every 4 weeks to every 6 weeks.

Using the study’s most common coupon price, going from 13 cuts a year to 9 cuts at $10.99 saves $43.96 a year, with far less risk than doing the full cut yourself. At the $15.99 California median, the same switch saves $63.96.

# When DIY makes sense, and when the coupon wins

DIY tends to win when:

• You wear a simple one-guard or short clipper cut.
• You get cut often (every 2 to 4 weeks).
• You live where coupon prices are high, like the $15.99 California median in the study.
• You’re cutting for several people in the household, which spreads the kit cost.

A Great Clips coupon tends to win when:

• Your style needs scissors, blending or layers.
• You get cut every 6 to 8 weeks or less often.
• Your local coupons sit near the low end ($7.99 to $9.99), as in Texas, where the study’s median was $8.99.
• You value a predictable result before a photo, interview or holiday trip.

# How to find today’s offer before you decide

Because coupon prices vary so much by market, check what’s live for your salon before you compare:

1. Look at current coupons for your area on the day you plan to go. Offers change often and are set locally.
2. Read the fine print. Make sure the price is a final haircut price, not a dollars-off amount, and check the expiration.
3. Compare to the baseline. In the study, $9.99 to $10.99 was normal. Anything below that is a good price, and sub-$6 offers are rare, so use them quickly.
4. Don’t wait forever for a $5.99 deal. The study’s own takeaway is that waiting usually means paying full price in the meantime.

# FAQ

Is it cheaper to cut your own hair than to go to Great Clips? Usually, over time. With an example $50 kit and a $10.99 coupon (the most common price in the study), DIY pays off by the fifth cut. With rare sub-$6 coupons it takes much longer.

How much is a Great Clips haircut with a coupon in 2026? In the study of 960 coupons, the most common prices were $10.99 and $9.99, and the typical live coupon stayed between $8.99 and $10.99 every month from January through July 2026.

How much is a Great Clips haircut without a coupon? The study cites regular prices of roughly $15 to $19. Prices are set by each franchise, so check your salon.

Are $5.99 Great Clips haircuts real? Yes, but they’re uncommon. Offers at $4.99, $5.00 and $5.99 made up about 15% of the coupons tracked, usually in short bursts at specific salons.

Does where I live change whether DIY is worth it? Yes. The study found median coupon prices from $8.99 in Texas to $15.99 in California, so the same clipper kit pays off nearly twice as fast in a $15.99 market.

# Sources and notes

All coupon figures come from GreatClipsDeal’s tracking of 960 unique coupons in Great Clips’ official Facebook advertising from December 30, 2025 to July 6, 2026. The full price chart, state table and methodology are in the Great Clips coupon prices data study. Clipper kit prices, the $15/$17/$19 regular-price rows and the haircut schedules are illustrative examples, not study data. GreatClipsDeal is not affiliated with Great Clips Inc.