What a laser rangefinder module actually costs: 59 published prices
Every laser rangefinder supplier answers a price question with a form. We published the unit price for
all 59 modules in our catalogue instead — $70 to $5,000, on the model page, before anyone asks for
an email address.
This post is the engineering reading of that price list: what the money buys, where the discontinuities
are, and how to compare a quote that arrives with a much lower number than the one you budgeted.
Nothing below is a quotation. These are catalogue values, captured from the datasheet each model ships
with, and they are the same numbers a buyer can check on any model page.
1. The price bands, and what changes as you climb
| Band | Representative models | What you are buying |
|---|---|---|
| Under $100 | ER100 $70 · LR1000E2 / LR1000E4 $80 · LRF10VB $80 · LR1200E2 / E4 $90 · LRF1200A1 $90 · LRF22VB $90 · SPD1200N3 $94.5 | Short-range DToF, 1 km UART modules, first integration |
| $100 – $200 | LR1000D23 $110 · LR2000E2 / E4 $120 · LR1200D23 $130 · LR1500D23 $140 · LRF50VB $140 · LRF50H $160 · LRF3000A1 $200 · SPD1200ZG $200 | 1–2 km ranging, 50 m industrial sensing, 3 km long range |
| $200 – $400 | ER400 $230 · LRF100H $230 · LRF200H $250 · LRF300H $280 · LRF0105C / 0305C / 0306C / 0310C $300 · LRF600H $350 · LRF1500H $400 | 200–600 m industrial, entry into 1535 nm |
| $800 and up | LRF0609C / 0610C $800 · LRF0815C / 0818C $900 · ER800 $1,050 · LRF0816C $1,200 · LRF1017C $1,300 · ER2000 $1,500 · ER8000 $3,000 · LRF1525C $3,000 · LRF1830C $3,500 · ER10000 $5,000 | Multi-kilometre eye-safe ranging, 1.54 µm sources |
Two things are visible in that table that a per-unit quote never shows you.
The 905 nm line is not uniformly cheaper. A 3 km 905 nm module sits at $200; the cheapest long-range
1535 nm module starts at $300. The cheap end of the spectrum is short range, not short wavelength.
The step function is at the detector, not at the range. Between $300 and $900 you are no longer
paying for metres. You are paying for indium gallium arsenide instead of silicon, and for an
erbium-doped source instead of a diode stack.
2. Why 1535 nm costs 4× for the same aperture
At 905 nm the light focuses on the retina. That caps the energy you may emit per pulse, and the cap
caps your range: hundreds of metres to about three kilometres in a small aperture.
At 1535 nm the water in the cornea and lens absorbs the light before it reaches the retina. The permitted
energy is far higher, so the same aperture reaches 8, 12, 18 km — and the returns that come with it:
- an InGaAs detector instead of silicon,
- a 1.54 µm source,
- a thermal path that is no longer optional at high pulse energy.
That is the whole $300 → $900+ jump. There is no version of this where the longer-range module is cheap.
The comparison I would actually put in a design review:
| Question | 905 nm | 1535 nm / 1.54 µm |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | From $80 | From $300 |
| Range in a small aperture | Hundreds of m to ~3 km | Kilometres to 18 km |
| Detector | Silicon | InGaAs |
| Eye-safety budget | Tight | Far larger |
| Visible to a silicon camera at night | Faintly | Effectively no |
If your requirement is under a few hundred metres, 905 nm is not the budget option — it is the correct
option. People over-specify wavelength for the same reason they over-specify range: the datasheet's
largest number is the easiest thing to compare and the least informative.
3. The two numbers per model that decide the outcome
Every module publishes two range figures: one at 90 % target reflectivity, one at 10 %. The gap
is often 3×.
A warehouse floor is not a white wall. Neither is wet asphalt, dark rubber, black shrink-wrap, or a
person in a dark jacket. On those surfaces the module behaves like the second number, and the first
number was never a lie — it just described a laboratory target.
The second trap is the minimum range. It is stated, and it is frequently ignored:
- 0.05 m floor on the H and VB series (useful for landing, close obstacle guard, precision docking),
- 3 m on SPD1200N3,
- tens of metres on some long-range models.
Two suppliers can both quote "1,200 m" while one cannot measure anything closer than 15 m.
4. Four checks before you compare two quotes
- The condition behind the range figure. Target size, reflectance, visibility, and whether the number is a maximum or a repeatable value.
- The interface. UART-TTL, RS232, RS485, I²C — and the frame format with its checksum, not just "serial output".
- The minimum range. See above.
- What is in the box. Bare module, module with cable, module with housing, module with an acceptance report. This is where two quotes 30 % apart usually differ.
5. What volume changes
Published prices are single-unit values. Volume pricing is quoted per order and depends on the model,
the test coverage and the delivery schedule. Concretely:
- Unit price changes with volume.
- Acceptance documentation changes with volume, and for an integrator it is usually worth more than a few percent off the unit price — a batch that ships with a test record against the datasheet's own conditions removes a qualification step from your project.
- Mechanical and firmware variants (connector, cable length, mounting, baud rate, output frame) are engineering changes, not discounts, and they cost lead time.
- The specification does not change. A module specified against a 2.3 × 2.3 m target at 30 % reflectance is specified to that at any quantity.
6. Why publish this at all
Because a hidden price is a decision made for you. If the number is public, an engineer can tell in
thirty seconds whether a supplier is in the budget or three times over it, and spend the meeting on the
questions that actually decide the design: minimum range, beam divergence, thermal path, protocol.
All 59 model pages carry their own price, the measuring condition behind the range, and the interface:
- Catalogue and model selector: https://erdilrf.com/models/
- Price bands in one page: https://erdilrf.com/laser-rangefinder-module-wholesale/
- The 1535 nm / 1.54 µm line: https://erdilrf.com/1535nm-laser-rangefinder-module/
- Open drivers (Python, Arduino, ROS 2) and the verified UART protocol: https://github.com/erdilrf
If a quotation you received is materially below the figures above for the same specification, the
useful question is not who is cheaper. It is what condition that number was measured under.
Prices are captured catalogue values, not quotations, and can be revised as the catalogue changes.
A written quotation governs an order. Where two source documents conflict on a value — for example on
LRF1200A1, LRF3000A1, LRF50VB or LRF1500H — the model page states the conflict instead of choosing one,
and the current datasheet governs the order.
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