The Pokémon GO candy calculator above adds up the real cost of powering a Pokémon from where it is now to where you want it. It works from the published per-level cost table rather than an average, so the answer is exact for the levels you pick, and it applies the Lucky, Shadow and Purified modifiers that change what you pay.
Arb Digital builds free game tools that cite where their numbers come from and say which version of the game they implement. That matters for a live-service game more than for almost anything else: a cost table that was right two years ago can be quietly wrong today, and a calculator that does not say which era it models is not checkable.
What This Pokémon GO Candy Calculator Does
Pick a current level and a target level in half steps, because a single power-up moves a Pokémon by 0.5. The tool sums the Stardust and Candy cost of every individual power-up between the two, rather than multiplying by an average, and reports the totals separately for Candy and Candy XL because the game switches from one to the other at level 40.
Three extra inputs make it usable in practice. The Pokémon type applies the Lucky, Shadow or Purified modifier. An optional evolution Candy figure lets you add the cost of evolving as well as powering up. And entering the Stardust and Candy you already hold turns the result into a shortfall, with an estimate of how many catches would cover the missing Candy.
How to Use It
- Set the current level of the Pokémon. The game shows this on the arc above it, and third-party appraisals give it precisely.
- Set your target level.
- Choose Normal, Lucky, Shadow or Purified so the right modifier is applied.
- If you are also evolving, pick the Candy figure the game shows for that species.
- Enter the Stardust and Candy you already have to see what is still missing.
The Formula / How It's Calculated
There is no formula, only a table and a sum. Each half-level step has a fixed Stardust and Candy price, and the total is the sum of every step between your current and target level.
The costs rise in bands. Levels 1 to 2.5 cost 200 Stardust and 1 Candy per power-up; the price steps up every two levels through 400, 600, 800 and 1,000 by level 10.5. Levels 11 to 20.5 run from 1,300 to 2,500 Stardust at 2 Candy. Levels 21 to 30.5 run 3,000 to 5,000 Stardust at 3 to 4 Candy. Levels 31 to 39.5 run 6,000 to 10,000 Stardust while the Candy cost climbs steeply from 6 to 15. From level 40 onwards the Stardust runs 10,000 to 15,000 and Candy is replaced by Candy XL at 10 to 20 per step. Those values are set out level by level in Bulbapedia's Power Up article.
Two totals are worth memorising because they check any calculator, including this one. Taking a Pokémon from level 1 to level 40 costs 270,000 Stardust and 304 Candy. Taking it from 40 to 50 costs a further 250,000 Stardust and 296 Candy XL. The whole journey from 1 to 50 is therefore 520,000 Stardust, and it takes 98 separate power-ups.
The default on this page, level 20 to level 40, is 40 power-ups costing 225,000 Stardust and 248 Candy. Notice how lopsided that is: it is 40 of the 78 power-ups needed to get from 1 to 40, but 83% of the Stardust, because the last stretch is where the price per step is highest.
The modifiers are applied to the totals. A Lucky Pokémon costs half the Stardust and the same Candy. A Shadow costs 20% more of both. A Purified costs 10% less of both.
Which Game Version This Implements, and Why That Matters
This calculator implements the cost table in force since the level cap was raised to 50 and Candy XL was introduced, and it assumes the current level-50 structure with Candy XL required from level 40 upwards. It is not a historical model of earlier eras, when the cap was 40 and Candy XL did not exist.
Niantic changes these numbers. The cap has moved more than once, Candy XL was added as a whole new resource, and the Shadow and Purified multipliers have been adjusted since Shadow Pokémon were introduced. Niantic's own Help Center page on powering up Pokémon is the authoritative source for the current rules, including the constraint that you cannot power a Pokémon more than two levels above your own Trainer level.
If you find a discrepancy between this page and the game, trust the game. The confirmation screen in the app always shows the actual cost of the next power-up, and that is the number that will be charged.
Where the Cost Actually Sits
The single most useful thing this table shows is how back-loaded the curve is. Going from level 1 to level 30 costs 120,000 Stardust across 58 power-ups. Going from 30 to 40 costs 150,000 across only 20 — more Stardust for less than half as many steps, and the Candy cost per step over that stretch climbs from 4 to 15.
Past level 40 the shape changes again. Stardust keeps climbing but the real constraint becomes Candy XL, which is far scarcer than ordinary Candy: it drops at low rates from catches, comes from trades and from a small chance when transferring, and cannot simply be farmed by catching more of a common species. For most players Candy XL, not Stardust, is what stops a Pokémon reaching level 50.
There is a strategic consequence that the arithmetic makes obvious. Because the cost of a level is fixed regardless of the Pokémon, powering up a poorly-appraised specimen costs exactly the same as powering up an excellent one. Checking a Pokémon's stats before spending 200,000 Stardust on it is the cheapest decision in the game, and it is the reason experienced players appraise first and power up second.
If you want to see how the same kind of stepped cost table behaves elsewhere, our D&D hit points calculator and D&D encounter difficulty calculator work from published tables in the same way, and the Rust decay calculator models another live-game system where the numbers change between updates.
Turning the Shortfall Into a Plan
The last grid box reports what you are still missing, and the note underneath converts a Candy shortfall into a number of catches at whatever rate you are actually earning.
Three Candy per catch is the base for catching a Pokémon in its own family, and that is what the field defaults to. It is not the whole picture: berries that increase Candy, bonuses for catching an evolved form, event multipliers and buddy walking all change the effective rate, which is exactly why the rate is an input rather than a constant. Set it to what you are genuinely averaging and the catch estimate becomes meaningful.
Stardust does not work that way at all. It comes from catches, hatches, raids, friendship gifts and daily bonuses at rates that vary hugely with how you play, so this page deliberately makes no attempt to convert a Stardust shortfall into a number of anything. It tells you the gap; how you close it depends on your own play pattern.
The genuinely useful discipline is to work out the total before starting rather than after. A Pokémon powered halfway to a target and then abandoned has consumed resources for nothing, and the sunk cost is a real one — the arithmetic above is worth doing first, in the same spirit as any expected value comparison.
Arb Digital designs and builds free interactive calculators that cite their sources, state which version they model, and earn links because players keep coming back to them. Browse what we have already published, or tell us what your audience keeps searching for.
Browse the Free Tools Hub Talk to Arb DigitalCommon Mistakes to Avoid
- Multiplying by an average cost per level. The table is stepped and steeply back-loaded, so an average is wrong at both ends. Sum the individual steps.
- Forgetting that Candy XL replaces Candy at level 40. Ordinary Candy will not take a Pokémon past 40, and Candy XL is far harder to accumulate.
- Powering up before appraising. A level costs the same whatever the Pokémon's stats. Check them first — it is the cheapest decision available to you.
- Ignoring the Trainer level cap. You cannot power a Pokémon more than two levels above your own, so a target may simply be unreachable today.
- Trusting any third-party table over the game. Values change between updates. The confirmation screen in the app is always the current truth.
Related Free Tools From Arb Digital
For other games built on published tables, see the D&D hit points calculator, the D&D encounter difficulty calculator and the Rust decay calculator. The Minecraft circle generator handles building geometry, the expected value calculator is the general tool for weighing an uncertain payoff, and the dice probability calculator covers tabletop odds. Everything else is on the free online tools hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
From level 1, 270,000 Stardust and 304 Candy across 78 power-ups. From level 20 it is 225,000 Stardust and 248 Candy across 40 power-ups, because the cost per step rises steeply towards the top of the range.
Going from 40 to 50 costs a further 250,000 Stardust and 296 Candy XL across 20 power-ups. The whole journey from level 1 to 50 is 520,000 Stardust and 98 power-ups.
It replaces ordinary Candy for power-ups from level 40 upwards. It is much scarcer than normal Candy, and for most players it is the binding constraint on reaching level 50 rather than Stardust.
A Lucky Pokémon costs half the Stardust and the same Candy. A Shadow costs 20% more of both. A Purified costs 10% less of both. These are community-documented behaviours rather than a published table, and Niantic has adjusted them before.
Half a level. That is why every level from 1 to 50 has two cost entries, and why reaching level 50 from level 1 takes 98 separate power-ups rather than 49.
Usually the Trainer level cap: a Pokémon cannot be powered more than two levels above your own Trainer level. Raise your own level and the option returns.
The cost table in force since the level cap was raised to 50 and Candy XL was introduced. Niantic changes these values between updates, so if the game disagrees with this page, the game is right.
Three is the base for catching a Pokémon in its own family, which is what the field defaults to. Berries, evolved-form bonuses, buddy walking and event multipliers all change it, so set the rate you are actually averaging.
Pokémon and Pokémon GO are trademarks of their respective owners, and this page is an unofficial fan calculator with no affiliation to Niantic or The Pokémon Company. Costs change between game updates — the confirmation screen in the app is always the authoritative figure.
