Every driveway gate is a one-off: an opening, a slope, a style, a drive or a swing. Put a form in front of that and most buyers either bounce or send you a vague email you have to chase. Here's what to ask for, how gate makers price this work today, where that pricing usually goes wrong online, and how to show a number without handing over your cost sheet.
A driveway gate quote depends on more variables than almost anything else you build. Collect these up front, in this order, and most of your back-and-forth disappears:
Ask for all eight before promising a number. Width alone gets a range at best; width plus style plus operation plus automation gets a real quote.
Most shops land on one of three methods, often blended:
| Method | How it works | Works best for |
|---|---|---|
| Per linear foot | A rate per foot of opening width, by style, that bakes in average steel and labor. | Standard styles where the per-foot material and welding time doesn't swing much. |
| Size/style table | A price grid: width bracket down one side, style across the top, a number in each cell. | Shops with a handful of standard widths and a short style list — fast to quote, easy to publish. |
| Base price + options | A base for the leaf at a reference width, then line-item adders for height, infill upgrade, finish, automation, and hardware. | Shops with real option spread (automation, access control, custom infill) where a flat per-foot rate under- or over-charges half the jobs. |
In practice, base + options scales best to a website, because it mirrors how you already build the job: frame and posts priced by size, everything else added as a line. A per-foot or table price is easier to publish but harder to keep accurate once a buyer asks for anything outside the standard list — which, on driveway gates, is most buyers.
You don't have to choose between "no price" and "exact invoice total." A few things work well for custom gates specifically:
Show "$X–$Y" for anything with real spread (ornamental infill, non-standard width), and an exact number for anything standardized (posts, hardware, a stock operator).
Automation and access control depend on power access and site layout. It's fair to price the gate itself and route automation to "confirmed on a quick call" — buyers accept that for anything that needs a site visit.
One number that includes the leaf, posts, and hardware for the options chosen. Show what's included as a list, not as separate cost lines a buyer can negotiate against.
The goal is to answer the question a buyer actually has — "roughly what will this cost me, and does this shop do what I need" — without publishing the numbers a competitor would use to undercut your standard jobs.
A 3D configurator built from your own price list does the collecting and the pricing for you: it asks for opening width and height, single or double, swing/slide/cantilever, style and infill, finish, posts, automation and hardware, in that order, and prices from your rules as each answer is picked — ranges where you want ranges, an exact total where you want one, and "confirmed on a call" for automation if that's how you price it. The buyer sees the gate update in 3D at their size and style, so a flat-top ranch gate and an arched ornamental double don't get confused on a form. Every submission arrives as a complete quote request with every option filled in — not a one-line email asking "how much for a driveway gate."
Two gate samples show the range this covers: an ornamental estate gate (finials, rings, scrolls and puppy pickets, priced per leaf) and a commercial cantilever and V-track slide gate (capacity, track type and operator as real options). A third, the ranch and driveway gate sample, shows a simpler standard-style flow. All three are fictional companies with illustrative prices — yours runs on your real price list and rules.
See the gate configurator Built from your price list, usually within one business day. Free working draft.