Quick answer: Crafting is profitable when an item's sale price beats its ingredient cost plus the 5% tax. The trick is finding recipes with a real margin that also sell often — a huge margin on something nobody buys isn't gil. Rank recipes by profit × sales-per-day for your world and craft what's on top.
Crafting is the most consistent gil engine in Final Fantasy XIV — but only if you make the right things. This guide covers how to find recipes that actually pay, and how to keep them paying as the market shifts.
Every item a crafter makes has two prices: the cost of its ingredients and what it sells for on the market board. When the sale price is higher than the ingredient cost (after the 5% market tax), the difference is your profit. Because demand constantly renews — new players, new content, consumables that get used up — there's always something worth making.
You don't need all eight to profit, but each covers a different market, so knowing what each is for helps you pick which to level first. Broadly:
| Class | Sells into | Market character |
|---|---|---|
| Culinarian (CUL) | Food (raid consumables) | Highest, steadiest volume — burned through every week, all tier. |
| Alchemist (ALC) | Potions & tinctures, some tools | The other consumable engine; spikes with every raid tier. |
| Goldsmith (GSM) | Accessories, some housing | High value per item — rings/earrings/necklaces sell for a lot. |
| Weaver (WVR) | Caster/healer cloth gear, glamour | Broad glamour demand; strong at patch launch. |
| Leatherworker (LTW) | Melee/ranged leather gear, glamour | Similar to Weaver on the physical-DPS side. |
| Carpenter (CRP) | Crafter/gatherer tools, some furnishing | Tools re-sell every tier; furnishings ignore the patch cycle. |
| Blacksmith (BSM) | DoW weapons & tools | Weapon demand at launch; tools steady between. |
| Armorer (ARM) | Tank/plate gear, crafted parts | Narrower, but feeds other crafters via intermediate parts. |
A common gil-focused path: Culinarian and Alchemist first for constant consumable turnover, then Goldsmith for high-value accessories, then whichever gear/glamour class matches what's hot on your world. The exact winners shift, so let the live rankings — not this table — pick the specific recipes.
This is where most gil is won or lost. A recipe can look great one day and be unprofitable the next because someone flooded the board. Two numbers decide it:
Checking that by hand across hundreds of recipes is miserable. The Crafting tool prices every recipe's ingredients from live listings on your world and ranks recipes by margin — filter to your crafter and level, and start at the top.
The crafters who earn the most don't chase one hot recipe — they keep a rotating shelf of 30–40 different profitable items listed at all times. Each retainer lists 20 items, so a couple of selling retainers cover it. Why breadth beats depth:
A simple routine: sort the crafting tool by profit × velocity for each class you've leveled, keep the top handful from each listed, and restock whatever sold when you log in. The inventory crafter then tells you what you can make from the mats already on hand without a shopping trip.
High-quality items usually sell for a premium over normal quality, and for gear or consumables that premium can be large. If your crafter can reliably hit HQ, it's often worth the extra effort — but check the board: sometimes the HQ market is crowded while NQ moves faster. Compare both before you commit a big batch.
Higher crafting stats let you make more valuable items at HQ and tackle expert recipes and collectables. You don't need best-in-slot to start earning, but as you reinvest profit into melds and gear, more of the profitable recipe list opens up to you.
Crafting demand is not flat — it surges on a schedule:
Stocking mats before a patch and crafting into the launch-week demand is one of the most reliable plays in the game.
The market board rewards patience over panic. A few habits keep your crafting profitable:
Put this into practice with live market-board prices for your world:
See profitable recipes on your world → All gil-making methods →
XIV Profitability is a free, fan-made tool. Not affiliated with Square Enix. Prices via Universalis. FINAL FANTASY XIV © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.