SDR Cost Calculator
Compare the cost of hiring an SDR in-house with an outsourced SDR and an AI SDR: monthly all-in, first-year total and cost per qualified meeting, from your own figures. Runs in your browser; your numbers stay on your device.
- Runs in your browser
- What you type stays on your device
- No sign-up
Updated 15 Oct 2026 · Free, no sign-up
Jump to the tool ↓How to use it
- Step 1: Enter the monthly cost of the options you are considering: your own hire, an agency, AI software, or all three.
- Step 2: Open "Adjust assumptions" to fine-tune the hidden costs and the meetings you expect from each.
- Step 3: Read the one-line answer and the side-by-side table, then copy or email yourself the summary.
How to use it
- Step 1: Enter the monthly cost of the options you are considering: your own hire, an agency, AI software, or all three.
- Step 2: Open "Adjust assumptions" to fine-tune the hidden costs and the meetings you expect from each.
- Step 3: Read the one-line answer and the side-by-side table, then copy or email yourself the summary.
Side by side
In the first year, every good meeting costs you about $860 with your own SDR, $417 with an outsourced SDR and $467 with AI software.
These are example figures, not a benchmark. Change the numbers to yours.
Your own SDR
- Monthly all-in
- $6,450
- First-year total
- $77,400
- Good meetings in year one
- 90
- Cost per good meeting
- $860
Outsourced SDR
- Monthly all-in
- $4,167
- First-year total
- $50,000
- Good meetings in year one
- 120
- Cost per good meeting
- $417
AI software
- Monthly all-in
- $2,800
- First-year total
- $33,600
- Good meetings in year one
- 72
- Cost per good meeting
- $467
How the sums work: your own hire books no meetings while ramping; the agency setup fee is spread over year one; the AI column includes the human hours that keep it running.
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Your numbers
Pre-filled with example figures, not a benchmark. Replace them with your own, and fill in only the options you are considering.
Adjust assumptions
The hidden costs behind each option, and the meetings you expect. All pre-filled with example figures.
What the cost of an SDR hides
The quoted number is never the whole number. An in-house SDR costs base salary plus commission, benefits, tools, data and the months of ramp before meetings arrive. An outsourced SDR adds a setup invoice to the retainer, and the quality of the meetings decides whether the retainer was cheap. AI SDR software looks cheapest on the subscription line, then adds data, domains, inboxes, deliverability work and the human hours that review what it sends.
The comparison that matters is cost per qualified meeting over the first year, with your own definition of qualified. That is the figure buyers argue about with providers, which is why this calculator asks for your numbers rather than publishing a benchmark.
All three options above share one assumption: that the job is to produce meetings in volume. If your revenue depends on a short list of named accounts, the unit of work is the account, not the meeting, and the comparison changes shape. That is the model described below.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
How much does it cost to hire an SDR?
Base salary is only the start. Add commission, benefits and employer costs, tools and data, a manager's time and the ramp months before meetings arrive. The calculator builds that total from your own market's figures rather than quoting one.
Is outsourcing an SDR cheaper than hiring in-house?
Often in year one, because setup is faster and there is no ramp salary, but it depends on meeting quality. Compare both on cost per qualified meeting over twelve months, with your own definition of qualified written down first.
Why does the AI SDR column include human hours?
Because the subscription is not the whole cost. Someone still reviews what the software sends, answers replies, and looks after domains and deliverability. Pricing those hours makes the three options comparable.
What is the alternative to all three?
For teams whose revenue sits in a short list of named accounts: a dedicated consultant who works only your key accounts, with a platform behind them and AI used for research, measured in accounts opened rather than meetings booked. That is the model Intandemly runs.
Is anything I type saved or sent?
Every figure stays in this browser. Intandemly receives nothing unless you choose to email yourself the result.
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Want this run on your key accounts?
Tell us which accounts you need to open. We will show you how we would work them.