How Much Does 500 Grafts Hair Transplant Cost and Cover?
A 500 graft hair transplant costs £2,499 at My Hair UK. It is our smallest procedure and the starting point of our price list. Those 500 grafts cover about 12.5cm2 at the hairline, a circle the width of a table tennis ball, which in practice means a pair of temple points, one receding corner or a small touch-up rather than a change across the whole front. It suits a narrow and quite specific set of cases, and the most useful thing this page can tell you is whether yours is one of them.
Last reviewed on 25 August 2026. We review our treatment guides every six months to keep them accurate.
How Much Does a 500 Graft Hair Transplant Cost?
500 grafts costs £2,499 at My Hair UK. That is a fixed price agreed before surgery, and it does not move on the day.
£2,499 is also our minimum price for a hair transplant, whatever the graft number, which is why it is the figure behind the "from £2,499" you will see across this site.
UK clinics widely quote £3,000 to £3,500 for 500 grafts.
The price covers your consultation, the procedure under local anaesthetic, all post-operative medication, your aftercare kit, and in-person follow-up appointments. There is no consultation fee, and nothing is added on the day.
The one exception is PRP injections, which are a separate treatment rather than part of a transplant, so they are not included and they are not standard. Some patients choose to add a session on the day or later on, and it is charged separately if they do.
If you are weighing this against going abroad, our UK vs Turkey cost comparison sets out what the difference actually covers. If you would like to know what your own number would be, send a few photographs and we will come back with a graft range and the price attached to it.
Why £2,499 Is Our Minimum Price
£2,499 is the least a hair transplant costs with us, whatever the number of grafts. It is a minimum price rather than a rate, so a procedure of 300 grafts and one of 500 both come to the same figure.
That is because a surgery day has some fixed costs that do not fall away when the procedure is small.
The surgical team is booked for the day, the anaesthetic and the medical supplies are used either way, only a limited number of patients can be treated in a day, and the aftercare and follow-up appointments that come afterwards are the same. What you are booking is the day, not the graft.
Above the minimum the price does rise with the number of grafts, and it rises gently. 1000 grafts is £2,899, which is £400 more rather than twice as much, because the extra grafts join a surgical day that is already being paid for.
Some specialist procedures like eyebrow transplants use small graft numbers and cost more rather than less, because the planning and the placement they need is greater rather than smaller. Those are quoted separately.
How Much Does 500 Grafts Cover?
500 grafts covers about 12.5cm2 at the hairline, or about 20cm2 on the crown. The difference is density: a hairline needs around 40 grafts per square centimetre to look natural because it is seen straight on, while a crown can look full at 25 because the hair lies flatter and catches less light.
12.5cm2 is a circle about 4cm across, which is the width of a table-tennis ball. Split between two temples, as it usually is, each side works out the size of a coin. Spread instead across a full hairline of about 25cm, the same 500 grafts would add only half a centimetre of depth, which is why they are almost never used that way.
Your own number is worked out per square centimetre from your hair thickness, the colour contrast against your scalp and the density you want, so treat these as a guide rather than a quote. We can usually estimate to within a few hundred grafts from photographs, and confirm it at a free consultation with the surgeon who would carry out your procedure.
500 Grafts Coverage by Area
Area | Grafts per cm² | 500 grafts covers | What that looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
Hairline and temples | 40 | 12.5 cm² | A circle the width of a table tennis ball |
Hairline and mid-scalp | 30 | 16.7 cm² | A small defined patch, not a full hairline |
Crown only | 25 | 20 cm² | A thin spot about 5cm across |
Is 500 Grafts Enough to Make a Difference?
It depends entirely on how well defined the job is, and it is worth being straight about both answers.
500 grafts is enough when the target is small and specific. Rebuilding two temple points, closing one receding corner, softening a hairline that sits too hard or too high in one section, or adding density to an area treated in a previous procedure are all jobs that 500 grafts can finish properly.
500 grafts is not enough when loss is spread across the front or thinning diffusely. At that scale the grafts have to be shared across too much ground, and the result reads as no change rather than a subtle one. If your hairline has moved back across its whole width, the honest number is usually 1000 or 1500 rather than 500.
There is a second question worth asking, which is whether your loss has settled. Transplanted hair is permanent, but the hair around it is not. If you are still actively losing, a small procedure can be overtaken within a few years, and the transplanted section is left sitting in front of hair that has since thinned.
Many people who enquire about 500 grafts turn out to need more, and we will tell you that at consultation rather than sell you a procedure that will disappoint you. The assessment is free and it is carried out by the surgeon who would do the work.
What 500 Grafts Restores
The most common use of 500 grafts is the temples. Recession usually starts at the corners, and rebuilding those two points restores the shape of the hairline without touching the rest of it. It is a small piece of work with a disproportionate effect, because the corners are what make a hairline read as receding.
It also suits a single receding corner where one side has gone further than the other, and refining a hairline that is already largely intact but sits too high or too sharp across a short section.
The other common use is finishing. Where a previous procedure has grown in well but one area came out lighter than the rest, 500 grafts is often the right amount to even it up.
What 500 grafts will not do is restore a crown. 20cm2 is a coin-sized area, and a crown that has opened up enough to notice is several times that. Our hairline and temples transplant page covers how the front edge is designed, and our crown hair transplant page covers what the crown actually takes.
Not sure whether 500 is your number? The area is measured at a free consultation with the surgeon who would carry out the procedure, so you get a figure based on your scalp rather than an average.
What 500 Grafts Looks Like
500 grafts is around 1,100 individual hairs, because a follicular unit graft carries one to four hairs and averages about 2.2.
The timeline is the same as any other size. Transplanted hairs shed within the first few weeks, new growth begins around three months, and the result settles between nine and twelve months. A small procedure does not grow in any faster than a large one.
What is different is the recovery. Less donor area is harvested and less recipient area is worked on, so there is less to heal and the treated area is easier to keep out of sight while it settles.
Other Graft Counts
1000 grafts, £2,899 - temple recession or a small crown patch
1500 grafts, £3,299 - an early receding hairline and temples
2000 grafts, £3,699 - midsized hairline and temple restoration
2500 grafts, £4,099 - comprehensive hairline plus mid-scalp
3000 grafts, £4,499 - extensive frontal and mid-scalp
3500 grafts, £4,899 - our maximum in a single session
4000 grafts, £7,398 - extensive loss, planned across two sessions
5000 grafts, £8,198 - the whole top of the scalp, across two sessions
6000 grafts, £8,998 - the whole scalp, our largest plan
For prices at every session size, cost per graft and what is included, see our UK hair transplant cost guide.
See more before and after results from our patients, or book a free consultation to talk through what your own case would need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much does a 500 graft hair transplant cost?
A: £2,499 at My Hair UK, which is our smallest procedure and the start of our price list. UK clinics widely quote £3,000 to £3,500 for the same number.
Q: Is 500 grafts enough to make a difference?
A: It is when the job is small and specific, such as rebuilding two temple points, closing one receding corner or evening up an area from a previous procedure. It is not enough where loss is spread across the whole front, because 500 grafts across a full hairline adds only about half a centimetre of depth.
Q: Does a smaller procedure cost less than £2,499?
A: No. £2,499 is our minimum price for a hair transplant whatever the graft number, because a surgery day costs the same to run whether the procedure is small or large. Above the minimum the price rises with the number of grafts, so 1000 grafts is £2,899.
Q: How much does 500 grafts cover?
A: About 12.5cm2 at the hairline at 40 grafts per square centimetre, or about 20cm2 on the crown at 25. That is a circle the width of a table tennis ball, usually split between the two temples.
Q: How many hairs is 500 grafts?
A: Around 1,100. Each graft is a follicular unit carrying one to four hairs, averaging about 2.2.
Q: Does the NHS pay for a hair transplant?
A: No. Hair transplants for pattern hair loss are considered cosmetic, so they are not funded by the NHS and are carried out privately.
Q: Will 500 grafts be enough if I am still losing hair?
A: Possibly not. Transplanted hair is permanent but the hair around it is not, so a small procedure can be overtaken if loss is still active. This is assessed at consultation before anything is planned.
Q: How long does it take to see the result?
A: Nine to twelve months, the same as any other size. Transplanted hairs shed in the first few weeks and new growth begins at around three months.