Free tool

AI Automation ROI Calculator

This calculator estimates what a repetitive task costs your team each year, and how much of that cost automating it would give back. Five quick questions, about a minute: it returns hours saved per year, money saved, payback period, first-year ROI and three-year net benefit. Free, no sign-up, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Industry
Task
Team
Cost
Automation
Result

What industry are you in?

We use this to suggest tasks worth looking at — not to change your numbers.

Healthcare Retail & E-commerce Real Estate Financial Services Hospitality & Travel Education Professional Services Logistics & Manufacturing Something else

Which task would you automate?

Pick a suggestion or describe your own. It only labels your result.

The task (optional)

Who does it today, and for how long?

Rough numbers are fine — you can change them on the result screen.

People doing it

Hours per week each

Working weeks per year

What does an hour of their time cost?

Use the fully loaded cost — pay plus taxes, benefits, software and overhead — not just salary.

Currency

Fully loaded hourly cost

How much could be automated, and at what cost?

Your estimates. Leave the costs as they are if you don’t know yet.

Share of the task that’s automatable — 50%

Rule-based, repetitive steps automate well; judgement calls and exceptions usually stay with your team.

One-off setup cost

Running cost per month

Estimated result

Based on your numbers

Fill in your numbers on the left to see what this task is costing you.

Net benefit over 3 years —

Hours saved / year—

Money saved / year—

Payback period—

First-year ROI—

An estimate from the figures you entered — not a quote. What is actually automatable depends on your systems, data quality and integrations.

Get this scoped properly

Transparency

How this is calculated

There is no hidden model behind this tool — four lines of arithmetic, run on your inputs. Closed by default so the page stays scannable; open it if you want to check the numbers.

Show the calculation

Annual hours on the task = people × hours per week × working weeks per year
Hours saved = annual hours × the automation share you set
Gross annual saving = hours saved × fully loaded hourly cost
Net year-one saving = gross saving − (running cost × 12) − one-off implementation cost
First-year ROI = net year-one saving ÷ one-off implementation cost × 100

Payback period is the one-off implementation cost divided by the monthly net saving. The three-year figure repeats the annual net saving for years two and three, when the one-off cost no longer applies. No inflation, discount rate or salary growth is applied.

A worked example

Three people spending 8 hours a week each on the same task, over 48 working weeks, at a fully loaded cost of $30/hour, with half the task automated:

Figures below are the calculator's default values, shown so the arithmetic can be checked by hand.
Step	Working	Result
Annual hours on the task	3 people × 8 hrs × 48 weeks	1,152 hrs
Hours saved	1,152 hrs × 50%	576 hrs
Gross annual saving	576 hrs × $30/hr	$17,280
Less running cost	$200/month × 12	−$2,400
Less one-off implementation	charged in year one only	−$3,000
Net saving, year one	payback in 2 months	$11,880
First-year ROI	$11,880 ÷ $3,000	396%
Net benefit over 3 years	$14,880 × 3 − $3,000	$41,640

In this example the task pays for itself in about 2 months, then keeps returning $14,880 a year from then on — $41,640 net across three years once the one-off setup cost is paid off.

FAQ

Questions about this calculator

What does this AI automation ROI calculator measure?

It converts the time your team currently spends on a repetitive task into an annual cost, then shows what proportion of that cost you would recover if part of the task were automated. It reports hours saved per year, money saved per year, payback period on your implementation cost, and net benefit over three years.

How is the ROI calculated?

Annual hours spent = people x hours per week x working weeks per year. Hours saved = annual hours x the automation percentage you set. Money saved = hours saved x your fully loaded hourly cost, minus any ongoing running cost. Payback period = one-off implementation cost divided by monthly net saving. First-year ROI = net year-one saving divided by the one-off implementation cost.

What automation percentage should I use?

That figure is your estimate, not ours, which is why the calculator leaves it editable and defaults to 50%. A realistic starting point is the share of the task that is rule-based, repetitive and works from structured data. Steps requiring judgement, negotiation or exception handling usually stay with your team.

What should I enter as the hourly cost?

Use a fully loaded cost, not just salary: gross pay plus employer taxes, benefits, software licences and overhead. This is usually noticeably higher than the headline wage, and using the headline wage alone will understate the saving.

Is the result a quote?

No. It is an estimate produced entirely from the numbers you enter, intended to help you decide whether a project is worth scoping. Actual implementation cost and achievable automation depend on your systems, data quality and integration requirements, which need a proper scoping conversation.

Next step

Think the numbers stack up? Let's check them together.

A calculator can tell you whether something is worth looking at. Working out what is genuinely automatable in your setup takes a look at your systems and data. That conversation is free.

Talk to our team See AI development services