AInternals/Tools/AI TCO Calculator

THE ECONOMICS OF INTELLIGENCE FREE TOOL

The full cost of your
AI workflow.

Go beyond the token bill. Model three years of technology,
people, and operational costs in one transparent view.

PLANNING HORIZON

3years

Three-year cost outlook

Illustrative assumptions. Real decisions need verified data. This is a cost model, not ROI, a vendor quote, or a savings guarantee. Default prices are unverified until you replace them or apply a Price Watch model.

CONNECTED TO PRICE WATCH

Choose your model pricing.

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Use the same published rates as our pricing feature. Matching happens in your browser; your assumptions are not sent to Price Watch or providers.

Provider & modelProcessing

My input/output tokens per attempt represent one billed model request. For multi-call tasks or mixed request sizes, I will use verified blended manual rates.

Loading shared Price Watch data…

Manual pricing is in use until you apply a model. Imported scenarios retain their saved rates and reference; applying a model replaces those rates.

USD rates only; no currency conversion. Rates are fetched snapshots, not a three-year price guarantee. Other API/tool charges and all operating assumptions remain yours to enter.

Your assumptions

Adjust the inputs. See the impact.

User Guide: all 33 fields

33 INPUTS

01General & successDefine the workload and its outcomes.+

CurrencyLABEL ONLYSelect display currency; no FX conversion

About this field

What it means: The currency used to label every monetary input and result.
Why it is included: Keeps all costs in one consistent unit so the estimate is readable.
What to enter: Choose the currency in which you have already expressed all costs. Linked Price Watch rates require USD. Convert every non-USD assumption separately before linking; the calculator never converts existing amounts.
Where to find it: Your budgeting currency and any currency conversions you have performed separately.
Illustrative example: Choose INR when all prices, salaries and expenses have been entered in INR.
What it influences: Changes monetary labels only; it does not change the numerical estimate or perform an exchange-rate conversion.
Common mistake: Do not change the label and assume USD prices have been converted into another currency.
When zero or off is appropriate: Choose a supported currency; this field cannot be disabled.

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Annual volume growth%Growth in attempted task volume

About this field

What it means: The expected yearly increase in attempted tasks after Year 1.
Why it is included: A growing workload can change future operating costs and the number of successful outcomes.
What to enter: Enter a yearly percentage between 0 and 100. Use one assumption for both later years.
Where to find it: Workload forecasts, adoption plans or historical demand trends.
Illustrative example: Enter 20 for an illustrative expectation of 20% annual workload growth.
What it influences: Affects later-year task volumes, usage-driven expenses and costs marked as scaling with volume.
Common mistake: This is growth in attempts, not an improvement in task quality or success rates.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 to keep annual attempted volume unchanged.

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Annual operating cost inflation%Annual increase in people, remediation and ongoing operating costs. Token price changes are set separately.

About this field

What it means: The expected yearly increase in people, rework and ongoing operating expenses.
Why it is included: Captures cost pressure beyond the amount of work performed.
What to enter: Enter a yearly percentage between 0 and 100 for the costs covered by this assumption.
Where to find it: Internal salary plans, vendor budgets and finance-approved operating assumptions.
Illustrative example: Enter 5 for an illustrative yearly operating-cost increase of 5%.
What it influences: Affects later-year labor, rework, monthly operating expenses and enabled human-only costs. It does not change token rates or other per-attempt tool charges.
Common mistake: Do not use this field for token-price changes; those have a separate input.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 to hold the covered unit costs steady before any workload scaling.

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Monthly attempted AI tasksAverage attempted workflow tasks per month in Year 1, including failures.

About this field

What it means: The average number of AI workflow tasks started each month in Year 1.
Why it is included: Establishes the workload served by the proposed solution.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative whole number of workflow attempts per month, including attempts that fail.
Where to find it: Workflow logs, business activity records or a measured pilot.
Illustrative example: Enter 10000 for an illustrative workload of ten thousand attempted tasks per month.
What it influences: Affects annual task volumes, usage costs, review, rework and an enabled human-only comparison.
Common mistake: Define a task consistently. An attempt is not necessarily one API call; one workflow may make several calls.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 for a no-workload scenario. Fixed and upfront expenses can still remain.

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First-pass completion rate%Share of attempts successful before remediation

About this field

What it means: The share of attempted tasks completed successfully before remediation.
Why it is included: Distinguishes reliable initial outcomes from tasks needing extra work.
What to enter: Enter a measured percentage between 0 and 100 using a consistent quality standard.
Where to find it: Evaluation results, quality checks and production task outcomes.
Illustrative example: Enter 90 if 90 out of every 100 attempted tasks meet the required standard initially.
What it influences: Affects first-pass outcomes, initial failures, rework expense and successful-task costs.
Common mistake: Do not count a task as first-pass successful if it required remediation to meet the standard.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no tasks succeed initially; 100 means no initial failures.

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Failed-task recovery rate%Share of initial failures recovered. Rework costs still cover every initial failure.

About this field

What it means: The share of initially failed tasks that become successful after remediation.
Why it is included: Accounts for useful outcomes recovered from initial failures.
What to enter: Enter a percentage between 0 and 100 of initially failed tasks, not of all attempts.
Where to find it: Remediation logs and post-rework quality checks.
Illustrative example: Enter 80 if 80 out of every 100 initially failed tasks are eventually recovered.
What it influences: Changes recovered successes, unresolved failures and successful-task costs. It does not automatically reduce the rework budget.
Common mistake: Rework is charged on all initial failures, even those that remain unresolved. Recovery is not a cost-saving switch.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no initial failures are recovered; 100 means all are recovered.

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02Model & pricingUsage, rates and the pricing reference.+

Input tokens per attemptAverage input tokens billed

About this field

What it means: The average billed input tokens used by one attempted workflow task.
Why it is included: Captures the input-side model usage associated with your workload.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative whole-number average covering the calls within a task.
Where to find it: Provider usage logs and traces from representative workflows.
Illustrative example: Enter 2000 for an illustrative average of two thousand billed input tokens per attempt.
What it influences: Affects model input expense and the overall cost estimate.
Common mistake: Do not measure just the user prompt if system messages, context or other calls are billed as part of the task. Avoid duplicating remediation usage included in rework. When linking Price Watch, this value must represent one billed request in a consistent tier. For multi-call workflows or mixed request sizes, use verified blended manual rates.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if this scenario has no billed input-token usage.

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Output tokens per attemptAverage output tokens billed

About this field

What it means: The average billed output tokens generated for one attempted workflow task.
Why it is included: Captures the output-side model usage, which may have a different rate from input usage.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative whole-number average across representative tasks.
Where to find it: Provider usage reports and workflow traces.
Illustrative example: Enter 500 for an illustrative average of five hundred output tokens per attempt.
What it influences: Affects model output expense and the overall cost estimate.
Common mistake: Use billed usage for the chosen model and tier, not only the visible text length. Keep remediation usage consistent with rework scope. Linked Price Watch matching checks this count against the selected model output and context limits.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no output tokens are billed.

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Input price per 1M tokensIllustrative and unverified. Enter the applicable provider rate in your scenario currency.

About this field

What it means: The price of one million billed input tokens for the selected pricing assumptions.
Why it is included: Turns input usage into an estimated model expense.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative rate in the same currency as every other monetary input. Alternatively, apply a model from Price Watch to populate and link the matching rate.
Where to find it: Your provider's official pricing, contract or invoice, including the applicable tier.
Illustrative example: Enter 2 for an illustrative rate of 2 currency units per million input tokens. This is not a verified quote.
What it influences: Affects input-model cost. The annual token-price assumption can change this rate in later years. For Moonshot models with required cache writes, the linked effective input rate includes those charges and is labeled accordingly.
Common mistake: Check billing tier, context bands and discounts. A single average rate may not represent every provider pricing rule. Linked rates are read-only until you switch to manual pricing.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 only if input usage is free for the scenario; record the reason in the pricing reference.

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Output price per 1M tokensIllustrative and unverified. Enter the applicable provider rate in your scenario currency.

About this field

What it means: The price of one million billed output tokens for the selected pricing assumptions.
Why it is included: Keeps output pricing distinct from input pricing.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative rate in your selected scenario currency. Applying a Price Watch model fills the matching published output rate automatically.
Where to find it: Official provider pricing, a contract or an invoice for the relevant model and tier.
Illustrative example: Enter 10 for an illustrative rate of 10 currency units per million output tokens. This is not a verified quote.
What it influences: Affects output-model cost and later-year token expense.
Common mistake: Do not use the input-token price here unless the provider actually charges the same rate. Linked rates are read-only until you switch to manual pricing.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 only when output tokens carry no charge in the scenario.

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Other API/tools cost per attemptOther variable API and tool charges

About this field

What it means: Other usage-based API or tool charges associated with one attempted task.
Why it is included: Includes workflow services beyond the model's input and output token bill.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative amount per attempt in your scenario currency.
Where to find it: Invoices for search, retrieval, document processing, external tools or other metered services.
Illustrative example: Enter 0.01 for an illustrative additional tool expense of one hundredth of a currency unit per attempt.
What it influences: Affects recurring usage costs as attempted volume changes. Token-price changes and operating inflation do not alter this entered unit rate.
Common mistake: Keep monthly subscriptions in software and licenses. Do not repeat token charges or remediation expenses already included elsewhere.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if there are no additional per-attempt tool charges.

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Annual token price change%Optional yearly change in input/output token prices; 0% default; -20% is an illustrative scenario, not a forecast

About this field

What it means: The yearly change in input and output token prices after Year 1.
Why it is included: Lets you explore token-price uncertainty separately from general operating inflation.
What to enter: Enter a percentage greater than negative 100. Negative values represent price decreases; positive values represent increases.
Where to find it: A documented scenario assumption, contract schedule or pricing sensitivity analysis.
Illustrative example: Enter -20 for an illustrative annual token-price decline of 20%. This is a scenario, not a forecast.
What it influences: Affects later-year input and output token expense only. It does not change other tools, workload or staffing costs.
Common mistake: Do not apply provider price expectations to every workflow expense, or treat an illustrative decline as guaranteed. Even with linked Price Watch prices, this remains your future scenario assumption; a current snapshot is not a three-year forecast.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 to hold token prices steady across all three years.

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Pricing referenceAdd the provider, model, pricing link and date you checked the rates.

About this field

What it means: A note identifying the provider, model, pricing basis and date checked.
Why it is included: Makes the assumptions understandable when you revisit or share a scenario.
What to enter: Enter a short reference with the official pricing link, model, billing tier and verification date, using at most 2000 characters. Applying Price Watch records the model, billing scope, rates, fetch time and official source automatically.
Where to find it: Official pricing pages, your contract and the records used to verify the entered rates.
Illustrative example: Example: provider and model name; standard tier; official pricing URL; checked on your chosen date.
What it influences: Adds context to saved scenarios. It does not verify prices, fetch live rates or change numerical results. Exported scenarios retain these rates and the reference; imports do not silently replace them with newer prices.
Common mistake: Do not label prices verified unless you actually checked the relevant source. Avoid placing private credentials or account details in this note.
When zero or off is appropriate: Leave a clear illustrative or unverified note when rates have not been checked; the field can also be left empty.

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03Operating & scalingPeople and systems behind every task.+

Cloud infrastructure per monthBase monthly cost at Year 1 volume

About this field

What it means: The monthly infrastructure expense supporting the workflow at Year 1 workload.
Why it is included: Accounts for hosting, compute, storage and supporting infrastructure beyond the API bill.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative monthly amount attributable to this workflow.
Where to find it: Cloud invoices, infrastructure budgets or an agreed share of shared services.
Illustrative example: Enter 500 for an illustrative monthly infrastructure budget of 500 currency units.
What it influences: Affects recurring operating costs. Inflation applies in later years; the adjacent scaling choice determines whether volume growth also applies.
Common mistake: Do not include a provider's token bill twice. Allocate shared infrastructure consistently rather than assigning the whole company bill.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no separate infrastructure expense applies.

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Cloud scales with volume?YES / NOChoose whether this expense grows with task volume as well as inflation.

About this field

What it means: Whether infrastructure expense rises with task volume in addition to inflation.
Why it is included: Distinguishes a workload-dependent infrastructure budget from a stable one.
What to enter: Choose Yes if the infrastructure budget is expected to grow with demand; otherwise choose No.
Where to find it: Capacity plans, cloud usage trends and engineering estimates.
Illustrative example: Choose Yes for a service where hosting resources grow with traffic; No for adequate fixed capacity over the modeled range.
What it influences: Changes later-year infrastructure expense. It does not affect Year 1 infrastructure cost.
Common mistake: Scaling here assumes a smooth relationship with demand; stepped capacity purchases or volume discounts are not modeled separately.
When zero or off is appropriate: No removes workload scaling for this expense, but operating inflation still applies.

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Monitoring & security per monthBase monthly cost

About this field

What it means: The ongoing monthly cost of observing and protecting the workflow.
Why it is included: Includes the operational visibility and security needed to run the service.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative monthly monitoring and security amount.
Where to find it: Observability invoices, security-tool costs and operating budgets.
Illustrative example: Enter 200 for an illustrative recurring budget of 200 currency units per month.
What it influences: Adds ongoing monitoring and security expense, with later-year inflation and optional demand scaling.
Common mistake: Keep initial security assessments and setup in one-time security and compliance; avoid duplicating general software licenses.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no separate recurring monitoring or security expense applies.

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Monitoring scales with volume?YES / NOChoose whether this expense grows with task volume as well as inflation.

About this field

What it means: Whether recurring monitoring and security expense grows with attempted volume.
Why it is included: Allows usage-priced logging or security services to respond to workload growth.
What to enter: Choose Yes for demand-sensitive costs, or No for a stable subscription or budget.
Where to find it: Vendor billing terms and expected log, trace or event volumes.
Illustrative example: Choose Yes for monitoring billed by growing event volume; No for a fixed plan with adequate capacity.
What it influences: Changes later-year monitoring expense in addition to operating inflation.
Common mistake: Do not select Yes simply because the service is important; base the choice on how its cost changes with demand.
When zero or off is appropriate: No keeps workload growth out of this expense; inflation still applies.

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Software & licenses per monthBase monthly cost

About this field

What it means: The monthly cost of software subscriptions and licenses used by the workflow.
Why it is included: Captures recurring software expenses outside separately entered API and infrastructure costs.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative monthly amount attributable to the workflow.
Where to find it: License inventories, subscription invoices and procurement records.
Illustrative example: Enter 300 for an illustrative software budget of 300 currency units per month.
What it influences: Adds recurring license expense with inflation and optional workload scaling.
Common mistake: Exclude subscriptions already included in monitoring, infrastructure or another expense category.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if there are no separate software or license expenses.

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Licenses scale with volume?YES / NOChoose whether this expense grows with task volume as well as inflation.

About this field

What it means: Whether the software and license budget increases as workload grows.
Why it is included: Reflects additional seats, usage bands or licenses needed with increased demand.
What to enter: Choose Yes when the total budget is expected to grow with workload; otherwise choose No.
Where to find it: Contract terms, seat plans and procurement forecasts.
Illustrative example: Choose No for an unchanged fixed subscription; Yes if workload growth requires a proportionately larger license budget.
What it influences: Changes later-year software expense; Year 1 remains the entered base amount.
Common mistake: License bands and seat counts can change in steps. This simple choice does not model individual contract tiers.
When zero or off is appropriate: No disables volume scaling only; operating inflation still applies.

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Human review minutes per attemptAverage review time across all attempts, including tasks with no review.

About this field

What it means: The average human review time allocated to every attempted workflow task.
Why it is included: Makes the people cost of checking AI work visible.
What to enter: Enter nonnegative average minutes across all attempts, including tasks receiving no review.
Where to find it: Time studies, sampled review queues and pilot observations.
Illustrative example: If half the tasks need two minutes of routine review, enter 1 minute averaged across all attempts.
What it influences: Affects human-review operating expense and total ownership cost.
Common mistake: Keep incremental remediation time in rework if already budgeted there. Do not enter the time for reviewed tasks alone when only some tasks are reviewed.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if the workflow has no routine human review.

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Fully loaded reviewer hourly costLabor cost including overhead

About this field

What it means: The fully loaded hourly cost of the people reviewing AI work.
Why it is included: Values review time using more than the base salary alone.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative hourly amount in your scenario currency, including applicable employer overhead.
Where to find it: Finance-approved labor rates, staffing budgets or contractor rates.
Illustrative example: Enter 30 for an illustrative fully loaded review rate of 30 currency units per hour.
What it influences: Affects review expense; the operating inflation assumption also affects later-year review costs.
Common mistake: Do not enter annual salary or add the same employer overhead again in another cost category.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 only when reviewer time is deliberately assigned no cost in this scenario.

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Rework cost per initially failed taskCost incurred per failed attempt; recovery controlled separately

About this field

What it means: The incremental cost of handling one initially failed task, whether recovered or not.
Why it is included: Captures remediation effort that the normal task budget does not cover.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative amount per initial failure, covering the agreed scope of extra processing and human effort.
Where to find it: Remediation logs, retry usage, support records and observed task-level costs.
Illustrative example: Enter 1.5 for an illustrative average remediation expense of 1.5 currency units per initially failed task.
What it influences: Affects recurring rework expense. Initial failure levels matter; recovery alone does not remove the charge.
Common mistake: Do not charge only unresolved failures. Avoid counting extra tokens or review here if those same costs are already included in routine usage or review.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 only if initial failures require no incremental remediation expense in the scenario.

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Support & maintenance per monthBase monthly operating support

About this field

What it means: The recurring monthly cost of keeping the workflow running and maintained.
Why it is included: Includes operational support, maintenance and incident handling outside other categories.
What to enter: Enter an average nonnegative monthly amount attributable to the workflow.
Where to find it: Support contracts, maintenance budgets and allocated engineering time.
Illustrative example: Enter 1000 for an illustrative support budget of one thousand currency units per month.
What it influences: Adds ongoing support expense, with inflation and optional workload scaling.
Common mistake: Separate routine maintenance from initial implementation. Do not include routine review or per-failure remediation again.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no separate ongoing support expense is expected.

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Support scales with volume?YES / NOChoose whether this expense grows with task volume as well as inflation.

About this field

What it means: Whether the support and maintenance budget grows with attempted task volume.
Why it is included: Reflects a support burden that may increase as adoption expands.
What to enter: Choose Yes for a demand-dependent budget, or No for a stable recurring amount.
Where to find it: Support workload trends, service agreements and staffing plans.
Illustrative example: Choose Yes if a growing workload needs proportionately more support; No if the existing service agreement covers the modeled demand.
What it influences: Changes later-year support expense in addition to operating inflation.
Common mistake: This is a simple workload-scaling assumption, not a detailed staffing or incident forecast.
When zero or off is appropriate: No removes workload scaling for support; inflation still applies.

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Rework cost is assumed to cover extra AI usage, review and other remediation; avoid double counting.

04Upfront & financialSetup costs and financial assumptions.+

One-time implementationOne-time expense paid at the start of the project.

About this field

What it means: The one-time cost of designing, integrating and launching the workflow.
Why it is included: Recognizes the initial investment before routine operations begin.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative project-start amount in the selected currency.
Where to find it: Implementation plans, vendor proposals and allocated delivery effort.
Illustrative example: Enter 15000 for an illustrative initial implementation budget.
What it influences: Adds to initial investment and Year 1 total cost, not annual operating expense.
Common mistake: Do not repeat recurring maintenance, data preparation, training or compliance costs already entered in their own categories.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if implementation requires no additional investment in the scenario.

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One-time data preparationOne-time expense paid at the start of the project.

About this field

What it means: The one-time cost of preparing the data needed to launch the workflow.
Why it is included: Captures initial collection, cleaning, labeling, migration or organization of data.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative setup amount attributable to this workflow.
Where to find it: Data preparation plans, labeling quotes and project budgets.
Illustrative example: Enter 5000 for an illustrative initial data-preparation budget.
What it influences: Adds to upfront investment and Year 1 total cost.
Common mistake: Do not repeat work already included in implementation. Ongoing data expenses belong in an appropriate recurring category.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if the necessary data is ready and there is no additional setup cost.

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One-time training & changeInitial user training and change management, not ongoing support.

About this field

What it means: The one-time investment in user training and organizational adoption.
Why it is included: Recognizes that introducing the workflow can require more than technical deployment.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative project-start budget for training and change activities.
Where to find it: Training plans, enablement budgets and change-management estimates.
Illustrative example: Enter 3000 for an illustrative launch training and adoption budget.
What it influences: Adds to upfront investment and Year 1 total cost.
Common mistake: This means people training and change management. Do not interpret it automatically as model-training compute or duplicate ongoing support.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no additional training or adoption investment is needed.

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One-time security & complianceOne-time expense paid at the start of the project.

About this field

What it means: The one-time expense of security and compliance preparation for launch.
Why it is included: Accounts for initial assessments, controls and approval work.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative upfront amount attributable to the proposed workflow.
Where to find it: Security reviews, audit estimates, compliance plans and vendor proposals.
Illustrative example: Enter 2000 for an illustrative initial security and compliance budget.
What it influences: Adds to upfront investment and Year 1 total cost.
Common mistake: Keep ongoing security subscriptions in monitoring and security. This field does not automatically cover all future regulatory impacts.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 if no additional initial security or compliance work is required.

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Operating contingency rate%Applied to recurring operating costs

About this field

What it means: The reserve added to recurring operating expenses for uncertainty.
Why it is included: Provides an explicit allowance for operating costs that differ from the base assumptions.
What to enter: Enter a percentage between 0 and 100 based on the uncertainty you want to explore.
Where to find it: Finance policies, project risk assessments and operating experience.
Illustrative example: Enter 10 for an illustrative operating contingency of 10%.
What it influences: Raises the operating-cost allowance. It does not add a reserve to one-time setup expenses.
Common mistake: Do not use this as a guarantee that every omitted cost is covered, or repeat a reserve already built into each expense.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 to show the operating estimate without an additional contingency allowance.

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Annual discount rate%Operating costs discounted at each year-end

About this field

What it means: The annual rate used to express future operating expenses in today's terms.
Why it is included: Helps compare costs occurring at different times on a consistent present-value basis.
What to enter: Enter a percentage between 0 and 100 appropriate to your scenario.
Where to find it: Your organization's finance team or approved investment-appraisal assumptions.
Illustrative example: Enter 10 for an illustrative annual discount rate of 10%; this is not a recommended rate.
What it influences: Changes present-value results, not undiscounted totals, usage or initial setup expenses.
Common mistake: Do not confuse this with operating inflation or a provider discount. Upfront spending is paid at the start and is not discounted.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 when you want no reduction of future expenses for timing.

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05Human-only comparisonOptional costs for equivalent manual work.+

Human-only minutes per taskLeave at 0 to keep the human-only comparison off. Enter measured manual time to enable it.

About this field

What it means: The time needed for a person to complete an equivalent task without the AI workflow.
Why it is included: Enables an optional comparison against a genuinely comparable human-only approach.
What to enter: Enter nonnegative average minutes per equivalent task. Leave at 0 to keep the comparison off.
Where to find it: Measured manual workflows and comparable quality checks.
Illustrative example: Enter 10 for an illustrative manual task taking ten minutes, after checking equivalent scope and quality.
What it influences: Enables human-only costs and cost-advantage results. It never changes the AI workflow's own cost estimate.
Common mistake: A faster manual task is not comparable if the quality, scope or outcome differs. The comparison uses the same attempted workload.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 to disable the complete human-only comparison, even if other manual cost fields contain values.

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Human-only hourly costOptional baseline fully loaded cost

About this field

What it means: The fully loaded hourly labor cost for the human-only alternative.
Why it is included: Values the manual work independently of the AI-reviewer role.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative hourly amount in the same currency as the AI scenario.
Where to find it: Finance-approved staffing rates or relevant contractor agreements.
Illustrative example: Enter 30 for an illustrative manual labor rate of 30 currency units per hour.
What it influences: Affects human-only costs and cost advantages only when the comparison is enabled. It does not change AI costs.
Common mistake: Do not assume the manual worker and AI reviewer have the same rate unless that matches the workflow.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 only if manual labor is deliberately assigned no cost. This field has no effect while manual minutes remain 0.

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Human-only overhead per taskOptional baseline other direct cost per task

About this field

What it means: Other direct expenses incurred for each equivalent human-only task.
Why it is included: Includes manual-work costs beyond the fully loaded labor rate.
What to enter: Enter a nonnegative amount per task, excluding costs already in the hourly rate.
Where to find it: Manual-process budgets, consumables records and attributable service charges.
Illustrative example: Enter 0.5 for an illustrative additional manual-task expense of half a currency unit.
What it influences: Affects enabled human-only costs and comparison results, not the AI estimate.
Common mistake: Do not add employer overhead again if the hourly rate already includes it. Only include costs attributable to the comparable manual task.
When zero or off is appropriate: Enter 0 when there are no additional direct manual-task expenses.

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Human-only comparison is OFF by default; enabling it does not establish equivalent outcome quality.

◈ Your scenario stays with you.

Inputs stay in browser memory. Export a JSON file to keep your work. Refreshing resets the scenario.

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Live results

YOUR THREE-YEAR OUTLOOKUSD · label only, no FX

3-year total cost

$452,066.86

Undiscounted · includes upfront

Cost / successful task

$1.0561

Blended across all three years

Present value of AI costs

$374,495.04

Year-end discounting · 10% rate

Successful tasks

428,064

First-pass successes + recovered

Year 1 operating cost

$114,708.00

Recurring costs + contingency

Upfront investment

$25,000.00

One-time · paid at project start

Reading your results

Setup and ongoing costs. Upfront investment is included in Year 1 only. Operating costs cover running the workflow. Annual figures describe one year; cumulative figures include all years up to that point.

Present value. This expresses future operating expenses in today’s terms. It is separate from the undiscounted amount you expect to spend; a lower present value does not reduce the actual bill.

Successful outcomes. Successful-task costs reflect first-pass and recovered outcomes. Unresolved failures are excluded from successful-task counts.

Cost advantage. A positive advantage means modeled AI costs are lower than the comparable human-only alternative. A negative advantage means they are higher. Neither result establishes ROI or guarantees cash savings.

Where the operating cost goes

Eight cost components. Three years. Upfront investment excluded.

ANNUAL COST MIX

Year 1

$114,708.00

Year 2

$140,223.60

Year 3

$172,135.26

API & toolsInfrastructureMonitoringLicensesHuman reviewReworkSupportContingency

View cost breakdown

Annual operating cost components
Component	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
API & tools	$2,280.00	$2,736.00	$3,283.20
Infrastructure	$6,000.00	$7,560.00	$9,525.60
Monitoring	$2,400.00	$2,520.00	$2,646.00
Licenses	$3,600.00	$3,780.00	$3,969.00
Human review	$60,000.00	$75,600.00	$95,256.00
Rework	$18,000.00	$22,680.00	$28,576.80
Support	$12,000.00	$12,600.00	$13,230.00
Contingency	$10,428.00	$12,747.60	$15,648.66

Year by year

Compare annual totals, unit economics, and successful outcomes.

UNDISCOUNTED

Annual comparison in USD
Metric	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Total AI TCO	$139,708.00	$140,223.60	$172,135.26
Operating AI TCO	$114,708.00	$140,223.60	$172,135.26
Cost per successful task, including setup	$1.1880	$0.9936	$1.0165
Operating cost / successful task	$0.9754	$0.9936	$1.0165
Human-only baseline	n/a	n/a	n/a
Net cost advantage	n/a	n/a	n/a
Successful tasks	117,600	141,120	169,344

OPTIONAL HUMAN-ONLY COMPARISON

A fair comparison starts with equal outcomes.

Enter validated human-only minutes per task under Human-only comparison to enable this comparison.

OFF BY DEFAULT

3-year human-only baselinen/a

Net cost advantagen/a

Present-value cost advantagen/a

Your annual results

A detailed view of workload, operating costs, investment and unit economics.

THREE-YEAR OUTLOOK

Annual results in USD
Metric	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Attempted tasks	120,000	144,000	172,800
First-pass successes	108,000	129,600	155,520
Recovered tasks	9,600	11,520	13,824
Total successful tasks	117,600	141,120	169,344
Unresolved failures	2,400	2,880	3,456
Input API cost	$480.00	$576.00	$691.20
Output API cost	$600.00	$720.00	$864.00
Other API & tools	$1,200.00	$1,440.00	$1,728.00
Cloud infrastructure	$6,000.00	$7,560.00	$9,525.60
Monitoring & security	$2,400.00	$2,520.00	$2,646.00
Software & licenses	$3,600.00	$3,780.00	$3,969.00
Human review	$60,000.00	$75,600.00	$95,256.00
Failed-task rework	$18,000.00	$22,680.00	$28,576.80
Support & maintenance	$12,000.00	$12,600.00	$13,230.00
Recurring subtotal	$104,280.00	$127,476.00	$156,486.60
Operating contingency	$10,428.00	$12,747.60	$15,648.66
Annual operating TCO	$114,708.00	$140,223.60	$172,135.26
One-time implementation	$15,000.00	$0.00	$0.00
One-time data preparation	$5,000.00	$0.00	$0.00
One-time training	$3,000.00	$0.00	$0.00
One-time compliance	$2,000.00	$0.00	$0.00
One-time subtotal	$25,000.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total annual TCO	$139,708.00	$140,223.60	$172,135.26
Cumulative TCO	$139,708.00	$279,931.60	$452,066.86
Cost / attempted task	$1.1642	$0.9738	$0.9962
Cost per successful task, including setup	$1.1880	$0.9936	$1.0165
Operating cost / successful task	$0.9754	$0.9936	$1.0165
Human-only baseline cost	n/a	n/a	n/a
Net cost advantage vs human-only	n/a	n/a	n/a
Present value of annual operating costs	$104,280.00	$115,887.27	$129,327.77
Cumulative present-value cost, including setup	$129,280.00	$245,167.27	$374,495.04
Present value of human-only costs	n/a	n/a	n/a
Annual present-value cost advantage	n/a	n/a	n/a

Year 1, broken down

Ten cost lines. Shares of $114,708.00 operating TCO.

UPFRONT EXCLUDED

Year 1 operating cost amounts and shares
Cost component	Amount	Share
Model input	$480.00	0.42%
Model output	$600.00	0.52%
Other tools	$1,200.00	1.05%
Infrastructure	$6,000.00	5.23%
Monitoring	$2,400.00	2.09%
Licenses	$3,600.00	3.14%
Human review	$60,000.00	52.31%
Rework	$18,000.00	15.69%
Support	$12,000.00	10.46%
Contingency	$10,428.00	9.09%
Total operating cost	$114,708.00	100.00%

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Educational scenario planning. Provider rates are fetched snapshots, not price guarantees. No currency conversion. Calculator 0.4.0 · Cost model 1.0 · All capabilities free.
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Scenario assumptions

Currency: USD

Annual volume growth: 20%

Annual operating cost inflation: 5%

Monthly attempted AI tasks: 10000

First-pass completion rate: 90%

Failed-task recovery rate: 80%

Input tokens per attempt: 2000

Output tokens per attempt: 500

Input price per 1M tokens: 2

Output price per 1M tokens: 10

Other API/tools cost per attempt: 0.01

Cloud infrastructure per month: 500

Cloud scales with volume?: Yes

Monitoring & security per month: 200

Monitoring scales with volume?: No

Software & licenses per month: 300

Licenses scale with volume?: No

Human review minutes per attempt: 1

Fully loaded reviewer hourly cost: 30

Rework cost per initially failed task: 1.5

Support & maintenance per month: 1000

Support scales with volume?: No

One-time implementation: 15000

One-time data preparation: 5000

One-time training & change: 3000

One-time security & compliance: 2000

Operating contingency rate: 10%

Annual discount rate: 10%

Human-only minutes per task: 0

Human-only hourly cost: 30

Human-only overhead per task: 0

Annual token price change: 0%

Pricing reference: Illustrative / not verified

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The full cost of yourAI workflow.

Choose your model pricing.

3-year total cost

Cost / successful task

Present value of AI costs

Successful tasks

Year 1 operating cost

Upfront investment

Reading your results

Where the operating cost goes

Year by year

A fair comparison starts with equal outcomes.

Your annual results

Year 1, broken down

A guide to every input.

Understand the economics.

What this tool estimates

Build your scenario

Planning period

Successful outcomes

Review and rework

Changing costs

Scaling with demand

Upfront and present value

Human-only comparison

Currency

What is excluded

Verify your pricing

Linked model pricing

Reading the results

Check before deciding

Save and share

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Scenario assumptions

The full cost of your
AI workflow.