Upgrade to the demon butler the moment you reach Construction level 50 if you intend to train on mahogany. It carries 26 items against the butler’s 20 and returns in seven seconds against twelve, and the fee difference is negligible next to the planks it delivers. For oak-based training or occasional building, the butler at level 40 is already enough.
The direct comparison
| Butler | Demon butler | |
|---|---|---|
| Construction level | 40 | 50 |
| Fee | 5,000 coins | 10,000 coins |
| Fee charged | Every 8 trips | Every 8 trips |
| Capacity | 20 items | 26 items |
| Trip time | 12 seconds | 7 seconds |
| Can use sawmill | Yes | Yes |
| Food served | Chocolate cake | Curry |
| Cost per item delivered | ~31 coins | ~48 coins |
Both figures in the last row are so small relative to plank prices that fee is not a real factor in the decision. A single mahogany plank cost more than fifty times the per-item fee on 25 August 2026.
Trip time matters more than capacity
The instinct is to read this as a 30 per cent capacity upgrade. In practice the trip time is the bigger change.
Consider a mahogany table: six planks per build, and a build-and-remove cycle takes only a few seconds. A butler delivering 20 items gives you three builds with two planks spare. If those three builds take less than twelve seconds, you are standing idle waiting for the next delivery.
The demon butler delivers 26 items, four builds with two spare, and returns in seven seconds. That combination is what lets a well-set-up player build continuously rather than in bursts.
Capacity determines how long you can build. Trip time determines whether the servant can keep up. The demon butler improves both, and the second improvement is the one you feel.
Where the upgrade changes your workflow
Mahogany tables (level 52). You unlock the demon butler two levels before the method. There is no scenario where you should be running a butler here.
Gnome benches (level 77). Two seating hotspots in the superior garden means two builds per cycle and the highest plank appetite in the game. This is the method the demon butler exists for.
Oak larders (level 33). Eight oak planks per build. A butler’s 20 items gives two larders with four planks spare, and each larder is a single click. The loop is slow enough that a twelve-second trip keeps up comfortably. This is where the butler is genuinely fine.
Oak doors (level 74). Ten planks per build. A butler carries two doors’ worth exactly; a demon butler carries two with six spare. The awkward remainder makes the demon butler tidier but not transformative.
Mahogany Homes. No servant is involved. Contracts take place in NPC houses, so this comparison does not apply at all.
When the butler is enough
Three honest cases:
- You are between 40 and 50 and training oak. Pushing to 50 purely for the servant is not worth interrupting the grind. Oak larders keep up with a butler.
- You build occasionally rather than grinding. Furnishing a house, not training it. Trip time is irrelevant when you build four things and log out.
- You are doing Mahogany Homes. No servant, no decision.
When the demon butler is not optional
- Any mahogany method. Tables at 52, benches at 77. The plank appetite is too high for a twelve-second trip.
- Any attempt at published experience rates. Every headline rate for Construction assumes the demon butler. Running a butler and expecting the same number will disappoint you.
What the upgrade does not fix
The servant is one of three things that decide your rate, and swapping it will not rescue the other two.
House layout. If your build hotspot and your servant are far apart, you walk between every cycle. Choose a portal you can reach quickly and keep the room small. The POH setup guide covers this.
Your loop discipline. The largest single loss is standing still during the fetch instead of continuing to build from the planks in your inventory. No servant fixes that.
The full servant comparison covers all five servants, including the cook at 30, which is the first that can visit the sawmill.
Putting a number on it
The upgrade decision is easier once you see the delivery load your method actually creates.
Estimate the planks required for your target with your current level and goal. A 99 through gnome benches needs 82,566 mahogany planks, which is over 3,000 demon butler trips or roughly 4,100 butler trips. That difference, more than a thousand extra round trips, each five seconds longer, is the real cost of staying on the butler.
For a broader view of which method to run in the first place, see the 1-99 Construction training methods guide. For what each method costs, see the GP per XP ranking.
Sources for this butler guide
Levels, fees, capacities, trip times and sawmill access come from the OSRS Wiki servant comparison table and are fixed game mechanics. Per-item fee figures are calculated from those fixed values. This article contains no market-price figures beyond a single illustrative reference to mahogany plank prices on 25 August 2026.