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What is that manual task actually costing you?

Put in four numbers and this works out the annual cost of a repetitive task, what automating it would save, and how long the build takes to pay for itself. It runs entirely in your browser and it will happily tell you not to bother.

Runs in your browserNothing stored or sentRunning costs includedTells you when it's not worth itFree audit, no obligation

Your numbers

Think of one specific task your team repeats. Nothing here leaves your browser.

hrs

Per person, not the team total.

/hr

Wage plus payroll taxes and benefits — usually 1.25–1.4× the raw wage.

%

70% is a realistic default. Exceptions and approvals still need a person, so 100% isn't on the table.

What this task costs you now

$12,480

a year in staff time

416

hours a year, across the team

$8,736

recovered a year at 70%

Under a month

to pay back the build

This one looks worth automating.

A Starter Automation build at $499 plus roughly $720 a year to run pays for itself in about under a month, and returns around $8,016 a year after that.

Roughly the tier this needs

Starter Automation$499

One process, end to end.

Sized from your weekly hours, which is a rough proxy. The real scope comes out of the free audit — how many systems are involved and how messy the inputs are move it far more than volume does. Running cost above assumes about $60 a month in AI and platform usage, billed to your own accounts.

Get a free auditWhat automation really costs

These are estimates from the numbers you entered, not a quote. They assume the task is a steady weekly load and that the people doing it move onto other work rather than the headcount changing — which is what actually happens in almost every build we ship.

How the maths works

What this is doing behind the boxes

No black box — here's the whole calculation, so you can argue with it.

annual hours   = hours/week × people × 52
annual cost    = annual hours × loaded hourly cost
hours saved    = annual hours × % automation removes
gross saving   = hours saved × loaded hourly cost
net ongoing    = gross saving − annual running cost
payback months = build fee ÷ (net ongoing ÷ 12)

The running cost is the line most ROI calculators leave out, and it's the one that makes the difference between a number you can take to a finance team and a number you can't. Every automation has an ongoing model and platform cost; ignoring it would flatter the payback by exactly the amount you'd later feel misled about.

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Thirty free minutes mapping where your hours actually go, and a ranked list of what's worth automating — including the honest answer if nothing is.

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FAQ

Questions about the numbers

How do I work out a loaded hourly cost?+
Take the annual salary, add payroll taxes, benefits and paid time off, then divide by about 2,000 working hours. As a shortcut, loaded cost is usually 1.25–1.4× the raw wage. A $50,000 salary works out around $31–$35 an hour loaded.
Why does it default to removing 70% rather than 100%?+
Because 100% is almost never true and a calculator that assumes it is lying to you. Exceptions, approvals and the odd case the system can't judge still need a person. Well-scoped automations typically remove 60–85% of a task's time; 70% is an honest middle.
What are the running costs it subtracts?+
AI model usage and any automation platform subscription, which scale with volume. We estimate $60–$250 a month depending on tier. These are billed to your own provider accounts with no markup from us, so you can see exactly what you're paying for.
Does saving hours actually save money?+
Only if those hours go somewhere useful. In practice most clients redeploy people onto work they were too buried to do rather than reducing headcount — so the return shows up as capacity and faster turnaround rather than a smaller payroll line. If your plan genuinely depends on cutting a role, say so on the call and we'll be straight about whether the numbers support it.
How accurate is the tier it suggests?+
It's a rough proxy from weekly hours. What actually drives scope is how many systems are involved, whether your inputs are structured or messy, and how much judgement each step needs — a low-volume process across six systems costs more than a high-volume one across two. The free audit produces the real number.
What if the calculator says it isn't worth it?+
Then it probably isn't, and we'd tell you the same thing on a call. Try the task that's genuinely eating the most time instead. The businesses that get the most out of automation start with their worst process, not their most interesting one.

Next steps

AI Automation$499Workflow Automation$999AI Agents$899
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A free 30-minute audit maps where your hours actually go, and comes back with a ranked list — including the honest answer if nothing on it is worth automating yet.

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