Herblore calculator
Every potion ranked by what an experience point actually costs right now.
Herblore is bought rather than earned. There is no slow free method, so the only question worth asking is which potion gives the most experience per GP at today's prices — and that answer changes constantly as herb and secondary prices move.
The table below prices every common method against the live market, including what the finished potion sells for. A potion that costs 2,000 GP to make and sells for 1,600 has a real cost of 400, not 2,000.
Herblore levels
1 to 99
Must be higher than current
Methods
21 methods| Method | Level | XP each | XP/hr | Actions | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean harralander | 20 | 6 | 12.6K | 2,068,958 | 1034h |
| Clean ranarr weed | 25 | 8 | 15K | 1,737,925 | 869h |
| Clean toadflax | 30 | 8 | 16K | 1,629,304 | 815h |
| Prayer potion | 38 | 88 | 153K | 148,965 | 85h |
| Clean irit leaf | 40 | 9 | 17.6K | 1,481,186 | 741h |
| Super attack | 45 | 100 | 175K | 130,345 | 74h |
| Clean avantoe | 48 | 10 | 20K | 1,303,444 | 652h |
| Clean kwuarm | 54 | 11 | 22.6K | 1,153,490 | 577h |
| Super strength | 55 | 125 | 219K | 104,276 | 60h |
| Clean snapdragon | 59 | 12 | 23.6K | 1,104,613 | 552h |
| Super restore | 63 | 143 | 249K | 91,470 | 52h |
| Clean cadantine | 65 | 13 | 25K | 1,042,755 | 521h |
| Super defence | 66 | 150 | 263K | 86,897 | 50h |
| Clean lantadyme | 67 | 13 | 26.2K | 994,995 | 497h |
| Antifire potion | 69 | 158 | 276K | 82,759 | 47h |
| Clean dwarf weed | 70 | 14 | 27.6K | 944,524 | 472h |
| Ranging potion | 72 | 163 | 284K | 80,212 | 46h |
| Clean torstol | 75 | 15 | 30K | 868,963 | 434h |
| Magic potion | 76 | 173 | 302K | 75,562 | 43h |
| Saradomin brew | 81 | 180 | 315K | 72,414 | 41h |
| Super combat potionUses four-dose component potions, not unfinished ones. | 90 | 150 | 263K | 86,897 | 50h |
Actions and hours assume you use one method the whole way, which almost nobody does. Rates are for steady play with the usual setup; treat them as a planning figure rather than a promise. Methods above your current level are dimmed.
How this is calculated
Experience per action and the level each method unlocks at are game data. Everything else is arithmetic on the experience table:
experience needed = xp at target level − xp at current level
actions = experience needed ÷ experience per action
hours = experience needed ÷ (experience per action × actions per hour)Actions per hour is the one estimate in there. It assumes steady play with the setup people normally use for the method, and it is the number to be sceptical of — a rate quoted for someone with perfect banking is not the rate you will hit on a first attempt.
What this does not account for
- Cost. This site no longer reads live Grand Exchange prices, so nothing here is ranked by what it costs. For most skills the cheapest method and the fastest are different, and this tool only answers the second.
- Failure rates. Where a method can fail or burn, every attempt is counted as a success. The notes flag the methods where that matters most.
- Switching methods. The actions and hours columns assume you use one method for the whole range, which almost nobody does. Read them as a per-method comparison rather than a plan.
About training Herblore
- Making unfinished potions gives no experience at all. They are a money-making method rather than a training one — see our processing methods for that.
- Cleaning grimy herbs gives experience and often turns a small profit, which makes it the only genuinely cheap Herblore training in the game.
- Buy limits apply to herbs and secondaries. The cheapest method per experience point is not always the one you can buy enough of.
Worth knowing
Recipes, levels and experience values are game data. If you spot one that is wrong, please tell us — accuracy is the only thing that makes a calculator worth using.
Actions per hour assume steady play with the usual setup. Your first hour at a new method will be slower than the figure here.