Measure the beds.
Compare the soil bill.
Work out how much fill you need, then compare two bag sizes against a bulk quote—including delivery and minimum orders.
Bags or bulk?
Compares separate purchases of each option. No mixed bag/bulk optimization. Tax, discounts, weight, and vehicle capacity are excluded. Prices are entered by you; there are no live quotes or affiliate links.
How much soil fills a 4 × 8 raised bed?
At 12 inches of fill depth, a bed measuring 4 × 8 feet inside needs 32 cubic feet, or about 1.185 cubic yards (906 litres). At 6 inches deep it needs half as much. Measure the interior space rather than the outside of the frame.
From empty space to a shopping list
For each rectangular bed, volume = inside length × inside width × remaining fill depth. The planner adds the volumes for all beds, then multiplies by (1 + extra percentage ÷ 100). Metric dimensions are in centimetres: divide the product by 1,000 for litres.
For bags, divide the total target by the labeled bag volume and round up to a whole bag. For bulk, meet the minimum order and round up to a whole order increment. Bulk cost = ordered volume × price per quoted unit + delivery. Bag cost = bag count × bag price + its delivery or trip cost. Lowest entered total cost comes first; ties use less leftover.
Compare volume and delivered cost
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. One cubic foot is 28.316846592 litres; one cubic metre is 1,000 litres. A bag’s weight is not its volume, so use the package’s volume label. Bulk quote units and bag label units can differ from your measurement units.
Whole bags, order increments, minimum quantities, and delivery can make the lowest unit price a more expensive purchase. Leftover here means volume above your target, including any extra percentage you chose.
Check the material before ordering
This is a rectangular-volume and purchase-cost calculator. It does not choose a soil blend, specify growing depth, or model compaction, settling, drainage layers, tapered beds, or material already present. Check your measurements, material suitability, package volume, and supplier terms before buying. Different soil products are not interchangeable just because their volumes match.
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