Why does this matter for AI cost planning?

MIT NANDA reports 95% of GenAI pilots fail to show ROI — usually because no one priced the workload Force-multiplier on conservative inputs: a real ROI shows even when you halve the time savings Captures the four real value levers: time saved, cost displaced, revenue lift, risk avoided

ROI Quick Check - Hours Saved vs Token Cost

Beta aicost.ai cost engines are in beta. Estimates only. See Terms.

What this calculator does

Will your AI investment pay back? Hours saved × loaded labor cost vs monthly AI spend, with optional revenue / risk / cost-displaced add-ons.

Why use it

MIT NANDA reports 95% of GenAI pilots fail to show ROI — usually because no one priced the workload
Force-multiplier on conservative inputs: a real ROI shows even when you halve the time savings
Captures the four real value levers: time saved, cost displaced, revenue lift, risk avoided

New to this calculator? Start with the ⚡ Playground — a few sliders, instant ballpark. Then switch to the 🧮 Calculator for your exact number.

Two ways to use this: visualize in the Playground, then get your number in the Calculator.

▶Playground A quick, visual way to see which factors move your result the most. Open the playground → ▤Calculator Enter your real workload for a precise result you can apply to your own usage. Go to the calculator →

What’s the ROI on this AI spend?

Compares the value of time saved against your AI bill. Setup-cost multiplier fixed at default.

Net monthly ROI

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Change the input sliders below to see new estimates.

Hours saved / user·mo 8

Affected users 50

Value / hour 75

How we got this estimate

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💡ROI = value generated ÷ cost. Value = hours saved × users × hourly value; net ROI is in “Why this number”.

Try the full calculator below for your exact numbers ↓

🎮 Interactive Guide & Calculator Playground →

Start with hours saved

Honest input: affected users × hours/user/month. This single number drives most of the math.

Add loaded labor cost

$/hour fully loaded — salary + benefits + overhead. Not gross salary alone.

Subtract AI spend + setup

All-in monthly AI cost × setup multiplier for integration overhead.

Add optional levers

Cost displaced, revenue lift, risk avoided — leave at zero if you cannot honestly measure them.

👇 Now try the calculator below with your own AI workloads

🔗

Hours saved per user per month

Conservative: 2-4 hrs · Typical: 4-10 hrs · Aggressive: 15+ hrs

Number of affected users

Loaded hourly cost ($)

Salary ÷ 2080 + benefits + overhead. Knowledge work typically $50–$150.

Monthly AI spend ($)

Pricing freshness: Catalog:

✓ Curated · verified today ago

Strong, fast payback

+$6,000/mo

Payback: 0.4 months · Annual ROI: $72,000 (mid-point)

Payback in 0.4 months across both bounds. This kind of ROI typically means you've found a workflow with high time-savings leverage.

What you get back, monthly

Time saved $7,500

Total value $7,500

Less AI spend −$1,500

Labor savings

Hours saved per user / month

Affected users

Loaded hourly cost ($)

Other value sources (optional)

Monthly revenue lift ($)

New revenue directly attributable to AI

Monthly cost displaced ($)

Existing tools or contractors replaced

Risk avoided (optional)

Probability of incident (% per year)

Impact if incident occurs ($)

AI cost

Monthly AI spend ($)

Don't know? Use Agentic Workflow Cost or full TCO Wizard to estimate.

Setup cost multiplier

Setup ≈ this × first-month TCO. Default 1.5 (industry typical).

Results

Strong, fast payback

+$6,000/mo

Payback: 0.4 months · Annual ROI: $72,000 (mid-point)

Payback in 0.4 months across both bounds. This kind of ROI typically means you've found a workflow with high time-savings leverage.

What you get back, monthly

Time saved $7,500

Total value $7,500

Less AI spend −$1,500

Setup estimate

$2,250

Annual ROI (low)

$68,400

Annual ROI (high)

$75,600

Want sensitivity analysis? Run the full TCO + ROI wizard for tornado-chart sensitivity across volume, growth, model pricing, HITL rates, and compliance intensity. See methodology →

🎯 Use your ROI Quick Check results to…

🎯 Decide go / no-go — See net ROI and payback before you commit budget to an AI project.
📈 Build the business case — Drop annualized ROI and payback into your finance deck with a defensible range.
🧪 De-risk the rollout — If only the best case is positive, phase the rollout and validate hours-saved before scaling.
🔌 Integrate with your AI agents — MCP available for agentic workflow integration. Plug AICost.ai into your agents to surface real-time cost intelligence.

Open full calculator on aicost.ai →

ROI Quick Check Calculator

Will your AI investment pay back?

Results

Labor savings

Other value sources (optional)

Risk avoided (optional)

AI cost

Results