Pricing
Fees, stated. Scope, written. No hourly surprises.
Most counselling firms hide their prices and let third-party forums guess. These are ours, in full. The US is paid a year at a time; every other country is a single fee. After the free review you get the same numbers in a written plan with your child's name on it. Weighing whether to spend this at all? Start with how much a family should spend on counselling.
United States
An annual fee, by grade
Grade 10
The base
₹2,00,000for the year
- Written profile diagnosis and a roadmap to the end of Grade 12, delivered in the first 30 days
- Two pillars chosen with the student, and an activity plan built around them
- Subject and test strategy: AP, IB or A-level choices, and when to sit the SAT or ACT
- Awards and competitions mentorship: two a year, chosen with the student, included
- Research and summer-program calendar for the year
- Fortnightly sessions with Vansh, and a parent check-in every term
Grade 11
The build
₹3,00,000for the year
- Weekly sessions through the year that decides the profile
- Awards and competitions mentorship: two a year, chosen with the student, included
- Summer-program applications, deadlines managed by us
- Research, project and internship direction, with the student doing the work
- SAT or ACT sittings planned around the school calendar
- First college list, and personal-statement brainstorming before the summer
- Parent check-in every term and a shared progress document
Grade 12
The applications
₹5,00,000for the year
- Awards and competitions mentorship: two a year, chosen with the student, included
- Balanced college list of up to 12 universities across reach, target and likely
- Personal statement and every supplement: brainstorm, structure, line edit. We never write a sentence for the student
- Activity list and honours section written to admissions standards
- Early and regular rounds, recommendation strategy and teacher briefing notes
- Portal review before every submission, then interview preparation
- Financial-aid and scholarship forms, and help with the final decision
- Weekly sessions, twice weekly around deadlines
Everywhere else
One fee per country
- United Kingdom
- ₹2,50,000
- Course choice and a five-choice UCAS list, including Oxford or Cambridge where it fits. Super-curricular reading and activity plan for the chosen subject. Admissions test preparation plan (TMUA, ESAT, LNAT, UCAT and others).
- Singapore
- ₹1,50,000
- University and course list across NUS, NTU, SMU and SUTD. Essays and short-answer responses: brainstorm, structure, line edit. Scholarship applications where the student qualifies.
- Hong Kong
- ₹1,50,000
- University and programme list across HKU, HKUST, CUHK and others. Personal statements and essays: brainstorm, structure, line edit. Scholarship applications where the student qualifies.
- Australia
- ₹50,000
- University and course list, with entry requirements checked against the student's board. Applications to the shortlisted universities. Scholarship applications where the student qualifies.
Worked example: a Grade 11 student applying to the US and the UK pays ₹3,00,000 + ₹5,00,000 + ₹1,87,500 = ₹9,87,500 over two years. Canada and India are quoted after the review.
What the fee buys
Where the money goes
- Senior time, not junior time
- Every diagnosis, pillar decision, essay edit and college-list call is done by one senior counsellor. Nothing is handed to an associate or a current undergraduate. This is the single largest cost in the fee.
- Duration, not sessions
- A student who starts in Grade 10 works with the same counsellor for three years. You are buying a relationship that spans subject choices and a deposit decision, not a block of hours that expires.
- The team, stated
- Vansh leads every engagement. Competitions, research and projects are mentored by the team that has run Projectling, our activity and competition consultancy, since 2021. Ask any firm, including us, who will read the drafts in October, and get the answer in writing.
- Work done on your behalf
- Competition registrations, research mentor sourcing, journal submission, test bookings, portal checks and aid forms. The calendar is ours to run; missing a deadline is our failure.
- Access between sessions
- Drafts read and returned within two working days in application season. Parents get a written note each term and a call when a decision matters.
- What it does not buy
- Application, test, competition and journal fees, summer programme tuition, or any promise about an outcome a university controls.
On their own
Single services
| Service | From (INR) | From (USD) | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay brainstorming and editing | ₹75,000 | $900 | Personal statement plus up to eight supplements. We never write a sentence for you. |
| Awards and competitions sprint | ₹75,000 | $900 | Two a year are included in every plan. This is one competition or award, selection to submission, for families without a plan or wanting more. |
| Research mentorship | ₹90,000 | $1,100 | Topic to publishable paper in 10 to 14 weeks, with journal selection and submission. |
| SAT or ACT teachers | Quoted on request | Diagnostic, 40 hours of one-to-one tutoring, weekly full-length tests, two official sittings planned. | |
| AP teachers and school classes | Quoted on request | AP, Olympiad, IB, A-level, IGCSE, CBSE, ICSE and ISC subjects, one to one, with tutors we have vetted ourselves. | |
| Interview preparation | ₹25,000 | $300 | Three mock interviews with written feedback, built on the three-tier question framework. |
| Profile review and strategy call | Free | A written review of the student's academics and activities, then a 30-minute call. No obligation, and we will tell you if you do not need us. | |
Context
Where this sits in the market
| Type | Typical price | What you get | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study-abroad agents | Free to ₹50,000 | Applications to partner universities that pay them commission | Advice bends toward whoever pays the commission |
| Mass-market platforms | ₹90,000 to ₹4,00,000 per country | Student mentors, editing, portals; sometimes ghostwriting | Ghostwritten essays and research; mentors are undergraduates |
| Indian premium firms | ₹4,00,000 to ₹6,00,000 a year | Counsellor teams, profile projects, essays | Large caseloads; results claimed without denominators |
| International premium firms | $25,000 to $75,000+ | Former admissions officers, big teams, events | Price; the senior name rarely does the work |
| Plinth | ₹2,00,000 to ₹5,00,000 a year (US); ₹50,000 to ₹2,50,000 once elsewhere | Founder-led, Projectling mentor team since 2021, written method, seven destinations | Two competitions a year included; we say no to unrealistic lists |
Market figures are from public price pages and third-party reports as of September 2026 and will drift. How to evaluate any counsellor, including us.
Questions
About pricing
How much does Plinth Education cost?
US counselling is ₹2,00,000 in Grade 10, ₹3,00,000 in Grade 11 and ₹5,00,000 in Grade 12, billed a year at a time: ₹10,00,000 in all for a student who starts in Grade 10, and ₹5,00,000 for one who starts in Grade 12. One-time fees: United Kingdom ₹2,50,000, Singapore ₹1,50,000, Hong Kong ₹1,50,000 and Australia ₹50,000. Every additional country on a plan is 25% off, and no GST is added. Each fee is paid in two halves, when the work starts and three months later. Every plan includes two awards or competitions a year, mentored from selection to submission, work sold on its own from ₹75,000 each. Add-ons such as SAT teaching or research mentorship are quoted in writing only if a family asks. The first profile review and 30-minute call are free.
Why do you publish the whole fee upfront?
Because the number that matters is what a family has paid by the day the last application goes in. Many packages start low and add essays per college, competitions per project and interview preparation late in the year. Ours includes the application work, essays included, and two awards or competitions a year, which are sold on their own from ₹75,000 each. Add-ons exist only for work a family asks for, scoped and quoted in writing first.
Why does the US cost more in Grade 12 than in Grade 10?
Because that is where the hours go. Grade 10 is diagnosis, pillar choice and a fortnightly rhythm. Grade 12 is a college list, a personal statement, every supplement for up to 12 universities, early and regular rounds, interviews and aid forms, with sessions twice a week around deadlines. The fee follows the work.
Do we pay for all three years up front?
No. The US fee is billed a year at a time. A family that starts in Grade 10 and stops after a year owes nothing more. A family that starts in Grade 12 pays only the Grade 12 fee.
How does a second country work?
The country with the highest fee on your plan is the main one, and every other country is 25% off. US Grade 11 ₹3,00,000, US Grade 12 ₹5,00,000, UK ₹1,87,500 after 25% off: ₹9,87,500 for a student joining in Grade 11.
Is there GST on top?
No. The figure on this page is the figure you pay.
How does this compare with other counsellors in India?
Mass-market platforms sell single-country packages from roughly ₹90,000 to ₹4,00,000 with student mentors and, in some cases, ghostwritten essays. Premium international firms start around $25,000 to $30,000. Plinth sits between: one senior counsellor per student, and a written method.
Can we pay in instalments?
Yes. Each fee is paid in two halves: the first when that year's work starts, the second three months later. We also accept USD and AED for families outside India.
What about Canada and India?
We advise on both. The fee depends on the list and is quoted in writing after the free review.
Is there a refund policy?
If we conclude after the diagnosis month that we cannot help materially, we say so and refund the remainder. We do not refund on admission outcomes, because no counsellor controls those and anyone who implies otherwise is selling something else.
Do you offer a free consultation?
The profile review and the first 30-minute call are free and written up. You leave with a document whether or not you engage us.
What is not included?
University application fees, test registration fees, competition entry fees, journal publication fees and summer-program tuition are paid by the family directly. We tell you what to expect for each before you commit to it.
The review is free and it is written.
You will know what we would do, what it would cost, and whether you need us at all.