Ceramic Tile vs Plank Flooring
Updated November 1, 2026
Ceramic tile and plank flooring can cover the same room and still be two purchases. Tile is a count of pieces, with the grout gap added to each side. Plank is the square feet printed on the carton. The Tile Calculator is the piece count. The Flooring Calculator is the square-foot count. Piece-count steps are on How Many Boxes of Tile Do I Need?. Carton coverage and waste are on Flooring Square Footage With Waste Allowance.
The same 10 by 12 foot room
One room, 10 feet by 12 feet, 10 percent waste. The tile is 12 by 12 inches with a 1/8 inch grout gap and 20 tiles in a box. The plank carton covers 20 square feet.
- Tile grid: 10 tiles by 12 tiles = 120 tiles. With waste: 132 tiles. 132 ÷ 20 = 6.6 boxes, so 7 boxes.
- Plank area: 10 × 12 = 120 square feet. With waste: 132 square feet. 132 ÷ 20 = 6.6 boxes, so 7 boxes.
Both examples land on 7 boxes. They are not the same 7. One box holds 20 tiles. The other covers 20 square feet. A 12 by 24 inch tile, or a carton that covers 24 square feet, moves only one of those orders. Open the calculator that matches the carton in your hand.
Which form to open
Open the tile calculator when you can read a tile size and a grout gap, and the carton states how many tiles are inside. The price on that form is dollars per box.
Open the flooring calculator when the carton states square feet of coverage, which is how most plank, laminate, and sheet goods are sold. The price on that form is dollars per square foot of the area with waste, not dollars per box. Typing a box price into the per-square-foot field prices the wrong unit.
An L-shaped room is two rectangles before either form. That split is How to Measure an L-Shaped Room for Flooring. Add the areas, then come back here for which calculator owns the product.
Blank prices are examples, not a ranking
Leave the tile price blank and the tool uses an illustrative $28 per box. Seven boxes is a mid of $196.00, with a low of $166.60 and a high of $235.20.
Leave the flooring price blank and the tool uses an illustrative $3.49 per square foot of the 132 square feet with waste. That mid is $460.68, with a low of $391.58 and a high of $552.82.
Do not pick a floor because $196 is less than $460.68. Those figures are example prices stored on two tools, in two units, and both ranges are marked Illustrative. Type the price from the product you will buy. The mid line then uses your price.
What each total leaves out
Grout and thinset are not inside the tile box price. Underlayment, reducer strips, and baseboard are not inside the plank square-foot price. Labor is outside both. The 7 boxes are the finish floor only, on the product the carton describes.
FAQ
Why do both examples say 7 boxes?
The tile example is 132 tiles at 20 tiles per box, which is 6.6 boxes and rounds up to 7. The plank example is 132 square feet with 10 percent waste, divided by a carton that covers 20 square feet, which is also 6.6 and also 7 boxes. Change the tile size or the carton coverage and one of those 7s moves. They are not the same 7 boxes.
Can I type plank coverage into tiles per box?
No. Tiles per box is a count of pieces. Square feet per box is coverage. Putting 20 square feet into the tile field treats it as 20 tiles. Use the flooring calculator when the carton is sold by square feet.
Are the blank-price totals a reason to pick tile or plank?
No. A blank tile run prices 7 boxes at the tool's illustrative $28 per box, mid $196.00. A blank flooring run prices 132 square feet at the tool's illustrative $3.49 per square foot, mid $460.68. Those are example prices stored on two tools, in two units. They are marked Illustrative. They are not a store comparison.
What does each price leave out?
The tile box price leaves out grout and thinset. The plank square-foot price leaves out underlayment, reducers, and baseboard. Labor is outside both. Add those from the product you are buying. The calculators do not look up a live price.
Use the calculator
The Tile Calculator counts tiles with the grout gap and rounds up to boxes. Its price is per box. Plank sold by the square feet printed on the carton belongs on the flooring calculator, where the price is per square foot of the area with waste. The result is a planning quantity, not a contractor bid or a store quote.
If a step here does not match the result you get, email [email protected] with the measurements you entered.