Quick Answer — Offset Prices Vary by 300x Depending on Project Type
Carbon offsets are not a single product with one market price — the cost per ton of CO2 depends heavily on the project type generating the credit. Renewable energy credits (funding wind, solar, or other clean power projects) are the cheapest and most common, typically pricing around $1-5 per ton of CO2 in the voluntary carbon market, reflecting both their abundance and questions about additionality (whether the project would have happened anyway).
Reforestation and afforestation credits (planting or restoring forests that sequester carbon over decades) typically average around $22 per ton, with a range of roughly $7-24 depending on verification standard, permanence guarantees, and co-benefits like biodiversity. Direct air capture (DAC) — mechanically pulling CO2 straight out of the atmosphere — is the most expensive and most permanent option, commonly priced above $500 per ton, sometimes reaching $1,000+, because the technology is still energy-intensive and early-stage.
This calculator applies representative per-ton prices from each category to your estimated annual footprint so you can see the real cost spread before choosing an offset type.