How do you calculate GP per XP in OSRS Construction?

Divide the total cost of the materials a build consumes by the experience that build gives. An oak larder costs eight oak planks and gives 480 experience, so eight times the plank price divided by 480 is your gold per experience for that method.

What is the cheapest Construction method per XP?

Mahogany Homes contracts are the cheapest, because the experience returned per plank is far higher than any furniture build. Among traditional builds, oak-based methods such as oak larders and oak doors are the cheapest per experience.

Why do gnome benches and mahogany tables cost the same per XP?

Because they are the same build economically. Both consume six mahogany planks and both give 840 experience. Gnome benches are faster only because the superior garden has two seating hotspots, allowing two builds per servant cycle.

Does the cheapest GP per XP method mean the cheapest 99?

Yes for gold, no for time. The cheapest method per experience is also the slowest, so a cheap 99 is a long one. Compare total gold and total hours together rather than optimising either in isolation.

Why does my calculator result differ from this article?

Because plank prices move. The figures here were calculated on 25 August 2026. The calculator uses whatever prices you enter, which is why it will give a different and more current answer than any static article.

Cheapest Construction XP in OSRS, Every Method Ranked

Gold per experience is material cost divided by experience gained, and in OSRS Construction it ranges from roughly 2 gp per XP on Mahogany Homes contracts to roughly 13 gp per XP on mahogany builds. That six-fold spread is the single largest lever on what a Construction goal costs you, larger than your level, your servant or your route.

This article ranks every practical method by that figure, shows the arithmetic behind each one, and explains why the ranking is not permanent.

The formula

gold per XP = total material cost per build ÷ experience per build

Both inputs are visible in game. The experience per build is a fixed mechanic listed in the creation menu for each hotspot. The material cost is whatever the Grand Exchange charges for those materials today.

Worked through an oak larder:

an oak larder consumes 8 oak planks and gives 480 experience
oak planks were 414 gp each on 25 August 2026
8 × 414 = 3,312 gp per build
3,312 ÷ 480 = 6.9 gp per experience

Every row in the table below is that same calculation with different numbers.

Every method ranked by cost per XP

Experience and material counts are fixed game mechanics. Costs use Grand Exchange insta-buy prices checked on 25 August 2026 and will change.

Rank	Method	Level	XP per build	Materials	Cost per build	GP per XP
1	Mahogany Homes: Novice	20	Varies	Oak planks, steel bar	Varies	~2.2 gp
2	Mahogany Homes: Beginner	1	Varies	Planks, steel bar	Varies	~2.5 gp
3	Mahogany Homes: Adept	50	Varies	Teak planks, steel bar	Varies	~2.8 gp
4	Crude wooden chairs	1	58	2 planks, nails	366 gp	6.3 gp
5	Wooden larders	9	228	8 planks, 8 nails	1,464 gp	6.4 gp
6	Mahogany Homes: Expert	70	Varies	Mahogany planks, steel bar	Varies	~6.5 gp
7	Oak chairs	19	120	2 oak planks	828 gp	6.9 gp
8	Oak dining tables	22	240	4 oak planks	1,656 gp	6.9 gp
9	Oak larders	33	480	8 oak planks	3,312 gp	6.9 gp
10	Oak doors	74	600	10 oak planks	4,140 gp	6.9 gp
11	Teak tables	38	360	4 teak planks	3,076 gp	8.5 gp
12	Teak garden benches	66	540	6 teak planks	4,614 gp	8.5 gp
13	Mahogany tables	52	840	6 mahogany planks	10,956 gp	13.0 gp
14	Gnome benches	77	840	6 mahogany planks	10,956 gp	13.0 gp

Mahogany Homes rows are marked as varying because contract size is not a fixed number. Each contract asks for a different amount of repair work, so the gold per experience is an average across many contracts rather than a mechanic you can read off a menu.

Three things the ranking tells you

Every oak build costs the same per experience. Oak chairs, oak dining tables, oak larders and oak doors all land on 6.9 gp per XP, because they all return exactly 60 experience per oak plank. The plank tier sets the price, and the build only decides how many clicks you spend.

The fastest method is the most expensive, and by a wide margin. Gnome benches cost roughly double an oak build per experience. That is the price of the speed, and it is the reason a fast 99 and a cheap 99 are different projects.

Gnome benches and mahogany tables are economically identical. Both are six mahogany planks for 840 experience. If gold is your constraint, switching at 77 changes nothing about your bill. It only shortens the calendar.

Cost per XP over a real goal

A rate only becomes meaningful when you multiply it by the experience you actually need. Level 77 to 99 is 11,558,850 experience, which is 88 per cent of a full 99.

Method for 77-99	Builds	Planks	Cost at 25 Aug 2026 prices
Gnome benches	13,761	82,566 mahogany	~150.8m gp
Teak garden benches	21,406	128,436 teak	~98.8m gp
Oak doors	19,265	192,650 oak	~79.8m gp

Same twenty-two levels, and the gap between the fastest and the cheapest is over 70 million gold. That is the decision this article exists to inform.

None of those totals is your total, because your starting level is not 77 and your plank prices are not these. Compare the GP cost of your Construction method with your own numbers before you buy anything.

Why the ranking moves

Two of the three inputs are stable and one is not.

Experience per build never moves unless Jagex changes the game. An oak larder has given 480 experience since 2006.

Material counts never move either. Eight oak planks is eight oak planks.

Prices move constantly. Plank prices respond to the log supply from woodcutters and to demand from everyone else training Construction. A Construction-adjacent update can move mahogany plank prices double digits inside a week while log prices lag behind.

That is why this article states the date on every price and why the calculator treats prices as inputs rather than constants. Change a plank price in the calculator and the gold column, the route totals and the cost-per-experience figures all recalculate together.

For today’s numbers, the GE price tracker pulls live prices from the Old School RuneScape Wiki real-time API.

Cheapest is not the same as best

Ranking by gold per experience answers one question well and a different question badly.

Mahogany Homes tops the table, and for an ironman account, where every plank is a woodcutting trip rather than a purchase, that ranking is decisive. For a main account with a deep bank, spending twice as much per experience to finish in a tenth of the time is a perfectly rational trade.

The useful comparison is total gold against total hours, not one in isolation. Set the same target in the calculator, switch methods, and read both columns.

Method breakdowns

Oak Larders guide, the cheapest practical method for levels 33 to 52
Mahogany Tables training guide, the workhorse from 52 to 77
Mahogany Homes guide, how the contract track works
Oak vs Teak vs Mahogany planks, why plank tier sets the whole cost
Best Construction training methods. The full 1-99 route

Methodology

Experience per build and material counts are taken from the OSRS Wiki creation menus for the chair, larder, table and door hotspots. Costs are calculated as material count multiplied by the Grand Exchange insta-buy price on 25 August 2026, divided by the experience the build returns.

Mahogany Homes figures are averages across contracts rather than fixed values, and are marked as such throughout. Experience per hour is deliberately absent from this article: cost per experience is a property of the method, while rate is a property of the player.

Grand Exchange prices in this article were checked on 25 August 2026. Prices move, so use the GE price tracker for today's figures and the Construction calculator to re-cost your own target.

GP per XP: Every OSRS Construction Method Ranked