AI Cost Calc

AI Automation ROI Calculator

Is that task worth automating? Enter how it's done manually today and what the automation would cost — get net savings, ROI and payback in seconds.

Estimates are for planning purposes only. Always verify current pricing on each provider's official pricing page.

How to use it

What this calculator actually measures

Automation ROI is the difference between the labor cost you stop paying and the new costs you start paying (AI tokens, platform, and the human review everyone forgets). This tool computes the monthly net, the return on operating cost, and — the number decision-makers care about — how many months until the build pays for itself.

How to estimate the AI cost per task

One automated task usually means one or a few LLM calls. Model your task's tokens in our AI API cost calculator — its "cost per 1,000 requests" output divided by 1,000 is your cost per task. Typical document or email tasks land between $0.01 and $0.10 on mini-tier models.

The two numbers people get wrong

When NOT to automate

If the task is rare, changes constantly, or the cost of a wrong result is high (legal, medical, irreversible actions), the review burden eats the savings. A negative result in this calculator is a useful answer — it stops you from spending $2,000 building something that saves $40/month.

Worked example

A team triages 500 support emails/month at 15 minutes each ($25/h). Automating 70% with AI ($0.05/task, $50/month platform, 1 minute of review each, $2,000 build): the automation replaces ~$2,188/month of labor, costs ~$213/month to run, and nets ~$1,974/month — payback in about a month, ~82 human hours freed. Those are the defaults loaded above: replace them with your task.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What's a good payback period for AI automation?

Under 3 months is excellent, 3–6 months is solid, and up to 12 can make sense for stable, high-volume processes. Beyond a year, requirements usually change faster than the automation pays off.

How do I estimate the AI cost per task?

Count the LLM calls one task makes and their tokens, then price them with the AI API cost calculator on this site — its cost per 1,000 requests divided by 1,000 is your per-task cost. Most document and email tasks cost $0.01–0.10 on mini-tier models.

Why include human review time?

Because it's the most common reason automations underdeliver: thousands of automated tasks reviewed 'just one minute each' is a real payroll line. Including it keeps the ROI honest — and if review eats the savings, better to know before building.

Does this include the cost of my own implementation time?

Yes — put your hours (at your hourly rate) or an agency quote into the one-time implementation field. That's what the payback period is measured against.