OSRS High Alch Profit Guide — which items actually profit
High Alchemy turns an item into coins on the spot. Done right it's steady gold while you do something else; done wrong you lose money on every cast. Here's the honest math.
The formula
Profit per alch = High Alchemy value − what you paid for the item − the nature rune cost. Crucially, there's no Grand Exchange tax — you're alching the item for coins, not selling it on the GE. So unlike flipping, the alch math is just those three numbers.
What you need
- Level 55 Magic for the High Level Alchemy spell.
- Nature runes (one per cast) — their price is part of your cost, so it matters.
- It's an active method: you can cast roughly 1,200 times an hour, so think in profit-per-hour, not just profit-per-item.
Finding profitable items
You want items whose High Alch value comfortably beats their buy price plus the nature rune. These shift constantly with prices, and many items alch at a loss — which is why a live board beats a static list.
Watch the nature rune price and buy limits, and remember the 1,200/hr ceiling when comparing alching to flipping or other methods (is flipping worth it). Not affiliated with Jagex; not financial advice.
The full profit-per-hour model
High Alchemy is one of the few money-makers where the arithmetic is completely closed-form, so you can settle any argument about it with a calculator:
profit/hr = (alch_value − item_cost − nature_rune_cost) × 1,200
The 1,200 comes from the game's own timings. Per the OSRS Wiki, High Level Alchemy recasts every 5 ticks — 3.0 seconds — which works out to roughly 1,200 casts an hour if you never miss a beat. The alch value itself is fixed per item at 60% of its base value, so it never moves; the only moving parts are what you pay for the item and what you pay for the nature rune.
Why the nature rune is the whole game
Because the nature rune cost is subtracted from every single cast, it scales with your volume exactly as the margin does. A swing of 30 gp in the nature rune price moves your hourly profit by 36,000 gp at full speed — enough to flip a marginal item from worth-alching to worth-avoiding on its own. Check the rune price before a long session, not after.
This is also why alch lists go stale so fast. An item that profited 40 gp a cast last week may profit nothing today purely because nature runes rose, without its own price changing at all.
No GE tax — but know why
Alching is exempt from the 2% Grand Exchange tax for a structural reason: you are not selling on the Grand Exchange. The spell converts the item to coins directly, and the tax only applies to completed GE sell offers. You still buy the item on the GE, and buying has never been taxed. So the alch calculation really is just those three numbers — which makes it one of the few places where the naive margin is the true margin.
That is a genuine edge over flipping at the low end: a 30 gp alch profit is 30 gp, whereas a 30 gp flip margin on a 1,500 gp item is entirely consumed by tax.
The XP that comes with it
Each cast grants 65 Magic experience, so a full hour of alching is about 78,000 Magic XP alongside the gold. This changes the comparison completely. Even an item that alchs at a small loss can be rational if you were going to train Magic anyway — you are effectively buying XP at a known price per point. Work out the loss per cast, multiply by 1,200, and compare that hourly cost against other Magic training methods before dismissing it.
Practical constraints
- Level 55 Magic is required, and nature runes must be in your inventory or a rune pouch.
- Buy limits apply to the item you are alching. A great alch you can only buy 100 of per 4 hours is a 100-cast opportunity, not an hourly income.
- It is fully active. Unlike flipping, alching earns nothing while you are away, so compare it on attention cost as well as gp.
- Stackable items alch one at a time, so stacks give no speed advantage.
Alching versus flipping the same item
Both routes start by buying an item on the Grand Exchange, so it is worth knowing which exit is better. The decisive difference is the tax: alching pays no GE tax, flipping pays 2% on the sale. That gives alching a structural edge on cheap items, where 2% of the sale price can exceed the entire spread.
Flipping wins on everything else. It needs no Magic level and no nature runes, it costs you no attention while offers sit, and its ceiling is the buy limit rather than your casting speed. Alching is capped at roughly 1,200 items an hour of continuous clicking, whereas a basket of flips works in parallel while you are logged out.
The sensible reading: alch when you want Magic XP and the item happens to profit, or when the item is cheap enough that tax would eat a flip. Flip when you want gold with minimal attention.
FAQ — frequently asked questions
What magic level do you need for High Alchemy?
Level 55 Magic. Each cast also consumes one nature rune and five fire runes, and grants 65 Magic experience.
How many items can you high alch per hour?
About 1,200. The spell recasts every 5 game ticks, which is 3.0 seconds, giving roughly 1,200 casts and around 78,000 Magic XP in an uninterrupted hour.
Is there GE tax on high alching?
No. The 2% tax applies only to completed Grand Exchange sell offers, and alching converts the item to coins directly rather than selling it. Buying the item on the GE is untaxed as well.
Why is my high alch profit different from a guide I read?
Almost always the nature rune price. It is subtracted from every cast, so a change in the rune price shifts your profit per hour even when the item's own price has not moved.
Is high alching worth it if the item loses money?
Sometimes, if you want the Magic XP. At roughly 78,000 XP an hour, a small loss per cast is a known price per experience point — compare that against what other Magic training methods cost you.
Start flipping free — live board ↗ How the numbers work
Related guides
- Is Flipping Worth It in OSRS? Honest Expectations
- Merching vs Flipping vs Other OSRS Money-Making
- OSRS Grand Exchange Tax, Explained (2% cap & exemptions)