Three numbers dominate every agent investment: the one-time build cost, the monthly OpenAI credit cost, and the human hours you get back. Adjust the sliders below and the calculator gives you a live Year-1 estimate plus payback timeline. Model based on 40+ shipped SMB agent builds.
Credit cost estimated at ~$0.15 per average invocation based on typical SMB agent shapes in 2026. Actual cost varies by agent complexity and token usage. Hours-saved estimate depends on your workflow — I’ll size this precisely on the scoping call.
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$1,000 per agent at the Starter tier. 3 agents = $3,000. Retainer tiers reduce the per-agent cost if you’re shipping 5+ per month.
Workspace Agents run on credit-based pricing starting May 6, 2026. The calculator estimates $0.15 per average invocation — this is a midpoint across the 40+ agents I’ve sized. Low-complexity agents (classification, routing) run cheaper; high-complexity agents (multi-connector drafting with large context) run higher. During build I set per-agent caps to prevent surprises.
The calculator assumes you know the ballpark hours/week the workflow eats today. If you don’t, I’ll estimate it on the intro call based on the workflow shape. Typical ranges: Lead Outreach returns 30–45 min/day per rep; Support Triage 4–8 hrs/week per agent; Weekly Metrics Reporter 1.5 hrs/week of leadership time.
The point of the ROI math isn’t to build a business case — it’s to force the question “is this workflow worth automating?” If the calculator shows 40-week payback at your numbers, the answer is probably no, and there’s a better first agent to pick. If it shows 4-week payback, the answer is obviously yes and you should ship.
The calculator gives you a ballpark. A 20-min scoping call gives you an exact number for the specific agent you’re considering — including per-agent credit cap, expected rollout timeline, and any stack-specific gotchas.