Serious Applicants Only

What Do Tattoo Apprenticeships Cost?

Read this first: Our Tattoo Artist Training Program is Life Changing. Download the Tattoo Apprenticeship comparison chart if you’re serious about Becoming a Tattoo Artist, right now.

  • Ink Different side by side with other tattoo training programs
  • Job offer, locations, training plan, materials and licensing compared
  • What full apprenticeships, trade school and college really cost

If you’re focused and driven to succeed, we want to meet you.

Get the comparison chart

Loading the form… If it doesn’t appear, download the chart here.

Watch!

Our Apprentices share their experience2 min 43 sec

Action

How to become a Tattoo Artist with Ink Different, in three steps2 min 19 sec

Apply Now

Find a Tattoo Apprenticeship Near You

  • 60+partner studios
  • 56cities
  • 26states, plus DC and Puerto Rico

Our Location State with a location, click to filter

56 cities

What Our Apprentices Say About Their Tattoo Apprenticeship

  • “Seeing the testimony online and how this place was actually guaranteeing a place to get a job, I was like, ‘This is perfect. I don’t care how long it takes.’”

    Brandon MendezNew Haven, CT · Tattoo Artist

  • “You get trained by real Tattoo Artists… It is the most dreamy setup I think I could’ve found. It’s been amazing.”

    Megan HostetlerDallas, TX · Apprentice, Phase 1

  • “Comparing a college to Ink Different, I would say Ink Different’s definitely the better choice. College, I feel like you’re just sitting in a room with a whole bunch of people and reading a book… But this is very hands-on.”

    Shamain HardyNew Haven, CT · Tattoo Artist

  • “I definitely will say that the payoff in terms of skills is a lot quicker than traditional college.”

    Ana CabreraNew Haven, CT · Apprentice, Phase 3

  • “Way more one-on-one than college.”

    Joseph KendallRhode Island · Apprentice, Phase 2

  • “I’m around artists for a change who actually have feedback for me.”

    RubyPhiladelphia, PA · Shop Manager and Lead Trainer

  • “I would have never thought I would be tattooing, ’cause I thought my art wasn’t good enough, but I’m happy I found Ink Different.”

    Jasmine ColonTampa, FL · Apprentice

  • “Everyone told me I’d have to hang around shops for years just hoping for an apprenticeship. Then I found Ink Different, and the way everything was broken down just seemed like the right way things should be done.”

    Alex McLeanSt. Louis, MO · Apprentice, Phase 1

  • “This was a structured system and I could see, okay, these are the steps, this is what’s expected with me… I can put faith in this.”

    Kevin RymanPhiladelphia, PA · Tattoo Artist

  • “If I can draw something really, really cool for a client that’s going to be on their body for their entire lives, and they’re going to go to the beach and show it off… to me, that means the world.”

    David JohnstonDenver, CO · Apprentice, Phase 2

  • “Looking back, I’m so happy I did it, because it was worth it.”

    AzaleaLos Angeles, CA · Tattoo Artist

  • “When you finally start doing it and you actually take the leap, it becomes just so worth it. It’s the thing that I look forward to.”

    Ashley PietkiewicsNew Haven, CT · Apprentice, Phase 2

  • “Out of everybody, they chose me and gave me that opportunity to make a mark of that moment in their life. And I’m very honored that they chose me.”

    RinaPhiladelphia, PA · Tattoo Artist

  • “If tattooing is what you like and you constantly think about it, then just give it a shot. I don’t regret it.”

    Edward CuffNew Haven, CT · Apprentice, Phase 2

  • “With tattooing… it’s that calling for me. I just feel so connected to it. It’s down to a soul level.”

    Stephen SalasekPhoenix, AZ · Apprentice

  • “One thing that I particularly like about this program is that it’s pretty personal… I can ask more questions… and really feel like I’ve gotten the answers that I was looking for.”

    Solana BlantzSan Diego, CA · Apprentice, Phase 2

  • “Casper, he’s my mentor. It’s been really awesome.”

    Chantel TompkinsBroward County, FL · Apprentice
A Tattoo Artist tattooing a client's arm in the studio, gloves on and the machine bagged

What a Tattoo Apprenticeship with Ink Different Is

A Tattoo Apprenticeship with Ink Different is 18 to 24 months of one-to-one training with a Mentor who tattoos for a living. You start in live virtual sessions, then finish on real skin in one of 60+ working studios across the US, with licensing prep for your state and the business skills to get booked.

Most people find two bad options first: a short ticket that hands you a certificate, or a shop that says come back in a year. This is neither. It is the old way of learning the craft, from somebody who does it every day, open to people who don’t already know a studio owner.

What you get

  • A Mentor who tattoos for a living, with time booked for you rather than squeezed between clients
  • Real skin when you are ready for it, never before, supervised in a working studio
  • Licensing prep for the state you will actually work in
  • The business end: consults, pricing, booking and a portfolio you can show any studio
  • A Guaranteed Job Offer when you finish, with a community of 60+ studios behind you

What it isn’t

  • Not a weekend ticket. It runs 18 to 24 months because that is what the craft takes
  • Not sweeping floors for a year hoping somebody teaches you
  • Not a degree, and not priced like one

How Our Tattoo Apprenticeship Works

The apprenticeship runs in four stages over 18 to 24 months. The first two are one-to-one tattoo classes with your Mentor in live virtual sessions. The last two happen in a working studio near you, where you tattoo real clients under supervision and learn to run the business side.

Some outfits sell 360 hours and call it done. That is a legal minimum in a handful of states, not a craft.

  1. Live virtual sessions

    Foundations

    • Bloodborne pathogens
    • Sterilization and station set-up
    • Machine and needle theory
    • How skin actually behaves

  2. Live virtual, one to one

    The craft

    • Linework
    • Shading
    • Color theory
    • Design, placement and stencils

  3. In the studio

    Real skin

    • Supervised procedures
    • Building a client history
    • Working to your Mentor’s standard

  4. Before you finish

    The business

    • Consults and pricing
    • Portfolio and booking
    • Studio operations
    • Licensing exam prep

Tattoo School vs. Apprenticeship: How the Options Compare

Tattoo schools and short courses teach theory to groups over weeks or a few months, and rarely include real skin. A traditional shop apprenticeship depends on a shop having time for you. An Ink Different apprenticeship is 18 to 24 months, one to one with a Mentor, finishing on real skin in a working studio, with a Guaranteed Job Offer when you finish.

Cost is off this table on purpose. An Advisor walks you through it on the first call.

Ink Different apprenticeship compared with tattoo school and an unstructured shop apprenticeship
Ink Different ApprenticeshipTattoo school or short courseUnstructured shop apprenticeship
Length18 to 24 monthsWeeks to a few monthsUndefined
Mentor timeBooked one to one, every stageOne instructor, many peopleWhenever the shop is quiet
Real skinSupervised, once you’re readyRarely includedDepends who is in that day
Licensing prepBuilt in, for your stateSometimesNo
Business trainingConsults, pricing, booking, portfolioRarelyNo
When you finishA Guaranteed Job Offer at one of 60+ studiosA certificate, then your own job searchOnly if that shop has a chair

Download the full cost comparison

A Tattoo Apprenticeship: The AI-Proof College Alternative

No state asks Tattoo Artists for a degree, and no studio hires from a diploma. They hire from a portfolio. A Tattoo Apprenticeship with Ink Different takes 18 to 24 months instead of four years, is spent one to one with a working Mentor instead of in lecture halls, and finishes with real skin and a portfolio instead of a transcript.

The average federal student loan balance is now close to $40,000 per borrower (Federal Student Aid data, 2025). An Advisor walks you through what a Tattoo Apprenticeship costs on the first call.

A four-year degree

Time
Four years, often longer
Who teaches you
Professors, often in large lectures
Where you learn
Lecture halls, general education first
What you finish with
A degree, and for most borrowers a loan balance
Then
A job search, with no offer promised

A Tattoo Apprenticeship

Time
18 to 24 months
Who teaches you
A Mentor who tattoos for a living, one to one
Where you learn
Live virtual sessions, then a working studio
What you finish with
A portfolio of real work and licensing prep for your state
Then
A Guaranteed Job Offer at one of 60+ studios

An AI-Proof Career: Why Tattooing Stays Human

AI is reshaping office work fast: the IMF estimates that about 60% of jobs in advanced economies are exposed to it. Tattooing is protected by three things software can’t do: work by hand on living skin, sit with a person through the experience, and design a one-of-a-kind piece with them.

Source: International Monetary Fund, January 2024.

  • The body

    Skin isn’t a screen

    Skin stretches, moves and changes with age, hydration and muscle tone. A Tattoo Artist feels the resistance under the needle and adjusts to every breath. A machine working from a camera can’t feel any of that.

  • The person

    People want a person in the chair

    A tattoo often marks something: a milestone, a memorial, a way through something hard. Clients want someone beside them who reads the moment, knows when to pause, and earns their trust.

  • The design

    Hand-made is worth more, not less

    As AI makes digital images cheap, work made by a person is valued more. A custom tattoo is designed with the client and placed on their body. That collaboration is the product, and it can’t be generated.

Only Serious Candidates should apply

How to Apply for a Tattoo Apprenticeship

Our 18 to 24 Month Tattoo Apprenticeship is for Guaranteed Job Offer Candidates only. You apply with your artwork, not your money, and there’s no deposit to talk to an Advisor.

  1. 01

    Send your artwork

    A few pieces you drew yourself. They don’t need to be good; they need to be yours. It takes two minutes.

  2. 02

    Talk to an Advisor

    Your questions, the full cost, the plan and the studio nearest you.

  3. 03

    Start in live virtual sessions

    One to one with your Mentor, building the foundations.

  4. 04

    Finish on skin

    Supervised work in your local studio, then a Guaranteed Job Offer.

Apply Now Get the cost comparison

Information That You Need for Your Journey

Not everyone arrives the same way. There is more than one way to become a Tattoo Artist. These pages answer the questions that come with each route in, from how it works for veterans to explaining it to your parents.

How to Get a Tattoo License in Your State

Every state licenses Tattoo Artists differently. Some ask only for a bloodborne pathogens certificate; others require a set number of supervised hours and a written exam. Our state guides explain what yours asks for, and licensing prep for your state is built into the apprenticeship.

Our mission

To ensure excellence in the craft and community of tattooing.

Ink Different · Helping Tattoo Shop Owners Build Their Teams Since 2011

Tattoo Apprenticeship Questions, Answered

Taken from what people actually search for, not what we wish they asked.

More questions

How long is a Tattoo Apprenticeship?

Ours runs 18 to 24 months. You start in live virtual sessions, one to one with your Mentor, then finish your work on real skin in one of our partner studios. Anything advertised as a few weeks is a course, not an apprenticeship.

How do you become a Tattoo Artist?

Three things have to happen. You learn the craft under somebody who tattoos for a living, you build a portfolio of real work, and you meet your state’s licensing requirements. An apprenticeship is the one route that covers all three at once.

Do you need to go to tattoo school to become a Tattoo Artist?

No. States license Tattoo Artists directly and none of them ask for a degree. What they do ask for is training, bloodborne pathogens certification and, in most states, supervised hours. That is exactly what an apprenticeship gives you.

Do you offer tattoo classes?

Yes, as part of the apprenticeship rather than as stand-alone courses. Your first tattoo classes are one to one with your Mentor in live virtual sessions: bloodborne pathogens, sterilization and station set-up, machine and needle theory, then linework, shading, color theory and design. After that you become a Tattoo Artist the way the trade always has, by tattooing real clients under supervision in a partner studio near you.

Is a Tattoo Apprenticeship better than tattoo school?

For most people, yes, because tattooing is learned on skin under supervision, and most tattoo schools and short courses rarely include that. A school teaches theory to a group over weeks; an apprenticeship pairs you with one Mentor for 18 to 24 months and finishes in a working studio. The comparison above sets them side by side.

How much does a Tattoo Apprenticeship cost?

We don’t publish a figure, because it moves with your location and your payment plan. An Advisor gives you the full number on the first call, with no deposit to have that conversation.

How do you get a tattoo license?

It depends entirely on your state. Requirements run from a bloodborne pathogens certificate through to a set number of supervised hours and a written exam. Licensing prep for the state you will actually work in is built into the apprenticeship.

Can you learn to tattoo from home?

No. Tattooing is learned on real skin, in a working studio, under a Mentor’s supervision. With Ink Different, the groundwork (theory, machine set-up, sterilization, design and stencil work) is taught one to one in live virtual sessions, then you finish in one of our 60+ studios once your Mentor says you’re ready.

Do I need experience to apply?

No professional experience. We ask to see artwork you have already drawn yourself. It doesn’t need to be good; it needs to be yours.

Do you get a job offer after a Tattoo Apprenticeship?

With Ink Different, yes. Our 18 to 24 Month Tattoo Apprenticeship is for Guaranteed Job Offer Candidates: complete it and you receive a job offer at one of our 60+ studios nationwide, with help getting licensed in your state.

Is there a Tattoo Apprenticeship near me?

Probably. We work with 60+ studios in 26 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, and you start in live virtual sessions wherever you live. Find your city in the list above to see the studio closest to you; if you were searching for a tattoo school near me, that list is the quickest way to compare us with what is local.

Am I too old to start tattooing?

No. Most of our Apprentices arrive from another job entirely. Career change myths, debunked.

How much do Tattoo Artists make?

Earnings vary widely by city, style and how busy your books are. See the highest-paying cities for Tattoo Artists.