Quick answer (TLDR): In FFXIV (Dawntrail, Patch 7.51), spend gil in this priority order: (1) glamour and dyes for instant value, (2) overmelding materia if you do high-end content, (3) a house or apartment as the long game, then (4) collector mounts/minions and (5) quality-of-life like extra retainers. Skip nothing-burgers like leveling-gear you'll replace in two levels. Free Trial players are capped at 300,000 gil — prioritize glamour and a vendor mount. The single biggest gil sink in the game is housing, where plots run from ~1.5 million to 50+ million gil. Prices below cite universalis.app — always check your own World, since Market Board values swing hard between servers.
You followed every guide, ground out the methods, and now your wallet is fat. So — what do you actually spend gil on in FFXIV? Unlike most MMOs, gil isn't a power currency: you can't buy raid gear or stat boosts with it. That makes "what to buy" a genuine decision, not an auto-pilot, and it's where a lot of players freeze up or blow millions on the wrong thing.
This guide ranks the best things to buy with your gil in Final Fantasy XIV (Dawntrail, Patch 7.51) by real-world value of the gil — what actually improves your account versus what's a vanity trap. If you're still building your stack first, our how to make gil fast guide and best gil-per-hour methods ranked cover the earning side; this is the spending side.
What Should You Spend Gil On First in FFXIV?
Here's the ranked verdict, then the detail. Spend in this order:
- Glamour, dyes & fashion accessories — cheapest path to "my character looks the way I want." Highest enjoyment-per-gil.
- Overmelding materia — only if you do Savage, Ultimate, or top-end crafting/gathering; otherwise skip.
- Housing (apartment → house) — the long game and the single largest gil sink in FFXIV.
- Collector mounts & minions — Market Board big-ticket items, pure flex.
- Quality-of-life — a second/third retainer, crafting materials, the occasional teleport.
The logic: gil's only job is to convert into things you'll use or enjoy. Glamour and QoL pay off every play session; housing pays off long-term; melding pays off only if you're actually pushing content. Everything else is optional flex.
How Much Gil Should You Spend on Glamour?
Glamour — FFXIV's transmog system — is the best gil-per-enjoyment buy in the game, and it's where most players should spend first. You're buying the way your character looks for hundreds of hours.
Where the gil goes:
- Market Board gear — crafted and dropped glamour pieces. Most cosmetic gear costs a few thousand to a few hundred thousand gil; a handful of iconic sets run into the millions.
- Dyes — general dyes are cheap, but pure-white (Snow White) and jet-black (Jet Black) dyes are perennial luxury buys, often hundreds of thousands of gil each on busy Worlds.
- Fashion accessories (parasols, glasses, wings) — some are vendor/event items, others flip on the Market Board for serious gil.
There's no "wrong" amount here — glamour is the endgame for a huge chunk of the playerbase. Just check universalis.app before buying any pricey piece; the same dye can be double the price one server over. If you flip as well as buy, our Market Board flipping guide shows how to fund your glamour habit off other players.
Should You Buy Overmelding Materia With Gil?
This is the one purchase that genuinely affects performance — and the one most players overspend on. Overmelding (forcing extra materia into gear past the guaranteed slots) squeezes out the last few stat points for Savage raiding, Ultimate, or high-end crafting/gathering.
The catch: it's expensive and it's per-patch. Buying a full set of overmeld materia off the Market Board can run 8–12 million gil every gear cycle, because everyone re-melds when new gear drops and demand spikes. The honest verdict:
- Doing Savage/Ultimate or pushing crafting/gathering? Yes — overmelding is a real, worth-it gil sink. Budget for it each tier.
- Doing normal-mode content, MSQ, or casual play? No. Crafted or tomestone gear without overmelds clears everything you'll touch. This is the #1 way casual players light gil on fire.
⚠️ FFXIV is a "no pay-for-power" MMO by design — gil buys cosmetics, convenience and crafting inputs, not raid clears. If a method promises to "buy your way to BiS," it's selling you materia you don't need.
Is Housing Worth the Gil?
Housing is the single largest gil sink in FFXIV, and for most players it's the eventual home for the bulk of their wealth — but it's a long game, not a first purchase.
The tiers, per the official Lodestone housing guide:
| Property | Typical gil cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment | ~500,000 gil | No lottery, always available — the easy entry point |
| Small plot | ~1.5M – 3.75M gil | Personal or FC house, lottery |
| Medium plot | ~8M – 20M gil | Lottery, contested on populated Worlds |
| Large plot | ~30M – 50M+ gil | Rare, prestige tier |
On top of the plot itself, furnishings are their own bottomless sink — a fully decorated house easily costs as much again in furniture, with rare designer items running into the millions on the Market Board. Two money-savers worth knowing: apartments need no lottery (buy one today for ~500k), and Preferred Worlds sell plots at roughly half price to encourage transfers.
Verdict: grab an apartment early for the workshop/storage perks, then chase a plot once your gil can absorb the hit without gutting your day-to-day spending.
Are Market Board Mounts and Minions Worth It?
Pure flex — and that's fine. A chunk of FFXIV's coolest mounts and minions are Market Board only, crafted or drop-sourced, and they're a clean way to dump a big stack of gil into something visible. Prices range from a few hundred thousand gil for common crafted mounts to tens of millions for rare ones.
The decision: buy these last, with surplus gil, after glamour/housing/QoL are handled. They don't do anything — they just look great and signal you've "made it." Always price-check universalis.app and your World's history before paying; mount prices are some of the most manipulated listings on the board.
What Can You Buy With Gil From Vendors?
Not everything good is on the Market Board. The most reliable gil-to-reward buys are fixed-price vendor mounts from the Allied Society (formerly Beast Tribe) quartermasters — no lottery, no flipping, just a flat price once you've hit the rank:
- Cavalry Drake (Amalj'aa, Southern Thanalan) — 120,000 gil at Trusted rank
- Laurel Goobbue (Sylphs, East Shroud) — 120,000 gil at Rank 4
- Direwolf (Ixal, North Shroud) — 120,000 gil at Allied reputation
- Cloud Mallow (Moogles, Heavensward) — 200,000 gil at Sworn rank
At ~120k each, these are some of the best guaranteed mount-per-gil deals in the game — no RNG, no Market Board gambling. Great early targets for newer players sitting on a few hundred thousand gil.
What Should You NOT Waste Gil On?
The decisions that save gil matter as much as the ones that spend it:
- Leveling gear you'll replace in 2 levels. Below max level, gear churns constantly. Buy crafted "scaling" sets only at big milestones, or run dungeon drops. Don't kit out a level-43 job from the Market Board.
- Overmelds you don't need (see above). The casual gil-killer.
- Overpriced Market Board panic-buys. If a glamour or mount spiked because of a content drop, wait a week — prices normalize. Check the price history on universalis.app, not just the cheapest current listing.
- Teleport spam without a thought. Teleport fees are small individually but the most common silent gil-drain in the game; set a home Aetheryte and use return/sprint where you can.
What Should Free Trial Players Spend Gil On?
Free Trial accounts are hard-capped at a maximum of 300,000 gil (the standard account cap is 999,999,999 gil per character and per retainer) — and, crucially, trial players can't touch most of the buys above. Per Square Enix's official Free Trial Terms, Free Trial players "cannot access the in-game market board," can't trade with other players, and can't hire retainers. That puts Market Board glamour, MB mounts, overmeld materia and housing entirely off the table. Your gil can only flow to NPC vendors. So:
- A vendor mount if you've unlocked one (~120k) — permanent value, fixed price, the single best free-trial gil buy.
- NPC-vendor dyes and gear — general dyes and basic glamour sold by city dye/gear vendors, no Market Board required.
- Crafting/gathering materials from NPC vendors (or your own gathering) to level a hand/land job, if that's your thing.
Don't bother saving toward housing or Market Board mounts on a trial — you can't access the board and can't hold enough gil anyway. (Plenty of trial players just stockpile to the 300k cap and sit there; converting it into a vendor mount or vendor glamour is the better move.)
How Much Gil Do You Actually Need?
A rough budget by goal, to size your earning:
| Goal | Ballpark gil |
|---|---|
| Vendor mount + starter glamour | ~250,000 gil |
| Apartment + light decorating | ~1–2 million gil |
| Full overmeld set (per patch, Savage/Ultimate) | 8–12 million gil |
| Small house + furnishings | ~5–10 million gil |
| Large plot + full designer interior | 50M+ gil |
If those numbers make your current balance look thin, that's the earning side talking — our beginner gil guide and gil-per-hour methods ranked are the fastest way to close the gap, and if you'd rather skip the grind entirely:
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best thing to spend gil on in FFXIV? For most players, glamour (cosmetic gear and dyes) is the best first spend — it's affordable and improves every play session. Long-term, housing absorbs the most gil. Overmelding materia is only worth it if you do Savage, Ultimate, or high-end crafting/gathering.
What is the gil cap in FFXIV? A standard character can hold up to 999,999,999 gil, and each retainer can hold the same. Free Trial accounts are capped much lower, at 300,000 gil, per Square Enix's official Free Trial Terms.
Can you buy power or better gear with gil in FFXIV? No. FFXIV is designed so gil buys cosmetics, housing, crafting materials and convenience — not raid clears or stat advantages. The only performance-adjacent gil purchase is overmelding materia, and that's a small optimization for high-end content, not a shortcut to BiS.
How much does a house cost in FFXIV? Apartments cost around 500,000 gil. Plots run roughly 1.5–3.75 million gil (small), 8–20 million (medium), and 30–50 million+ (large), before furnishings — which can cost as much again. Preferred Worlds sell plots at about half price.
What should free trial players do with gil? Free Trial accounts can't use the Market Board, can't trade, and can't hire retainers, so spend gil only at NPC vendors: a fixed-price Allied Society mount (~120,000 gil), NPC-vendor dyes and basic glamour, and crafting materials. With the 300,000 gil cap, don't save toward housing or Market Board items — you can't access them.
Where can I check FFXIV item prices before spending gil? Use universalis.app, a community price tracker, and always check your own World and the recent price history rather than just the cheapest current listing — Market Board prices vary widely between servers and spike around content drops.
