Free tool
What does this meeting actually cost?
Add the people, their pay, and the length. See the price per meeting and per year. Free, instant, nothing to sign up for.
This meeting costs
$288
Recurring, that is $15,000 a year.
$5 a minute while 5 people are in the room.
Live meeting timer
0:00$0.00
Meetings are expensive. The least you can do is keep every one. Record it with Almanack, get the summary and action items, then ask the meeting anything weeks later.
See how Almanack handles meetingsBased on salary over 2,080 working hours a year. An estimate, not payroll.
FAQ
Meeting costs, answered
How do you calculate the cost of a meeting?
Multiply each attendee's hourly rate by the meeting length, then add them up. Hourly rate is annual salary divided by about 2,080 working hours a year. For example, six people paid $120,000 in a one-hour meeting cost roughly $346.
How much does a recurring weekly meeting cost per year?
Multiply the cost of one meeting by 52. A weekly one-hour meeting with six people paid $120,000 costs about $346 each time, or roughly $18,000 a year.
Is this meeting cost calculator free?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no signup, and nothing you enter is sent anywhere or stored.
How should I work out an hourly rate?
Take the fully loaded annual cost, including benefits, tax and overhead, and divide by about 2,000 working hours.
Should I count preparation time?
Yes, if you want the real number. A meeting that needs an hour of prep from three people costs far more than the calendar block suggests.
What is a reasonable cost for a meeting?
There is no threshold. A costly meeting that produces a decision is fine. A cheap one that produces nothing and recurs weekly is the problem.
Does this include the cost of context switching?
No, and that means the figure is conservative. Interrupted focus time is a real cost the calculator does not attempt to price.
Is what I enter saved?
No. Everything stays in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.
Can I use it for client billing?
It is a planning tool rather than an invoicing one. Use it to see what a meeting costs, not to bill for one.
Why people use it
The number that changes behaviour
One sitting is easy to dismiss. The annual cost of a weekly hour with eight people is the figure that actually moves a decision.
Fully loaded, not just salary
Use total cost including benefits, tax and overhead, which is typically well above base pay and is what the meeting really consumes.
Recurring meetings, projected
Set the frequency and see the yearly total, because recurring meetings are where the cost quietly compounds.
Nothing leaves your browser
Salaries are sensitive. Everything you type stays on your device and is never sent anywhere or stored.
Built for the argument
Share the annual figure with the room. It reframes an agenda far more effectively than a policy does.
Then make the hour count
A meeting is only expensive if nothing survives it. Almanack turns the call into decisions and owed actions by itself.
A free meeting cost calculator. Enter how many people attend, roughly what they cost, how long the meeting runs and how often it recurs, and see what one sitting costs and what it costs across a year. The annual figure on a recurring meeting is usually the number that changes behaviour, and it makes the case to shorten or cancel one far better than an opinion does.
How it works
Three steps, no account
Set the room
Enter how many people are in the meeting and roughly what they cost, by salary or by hourly rate.
Set the length
Add the duration and how often it recurs. Weekly is where the number usually gets uncomfortable.
See the real total
You get the cost of one sitting and the cost across a year, which is the figure worth acting on.
Common uses
What people use it for
Auditing a recurring meeting
Run the annual number on the weekly hour that eight people attend. That is where the case for change is.
Making the argument to cancel one
A cost figure moves a conversation that an opinion does not.
Deciding who really needs to be there
Cutting the room from ten to five halves the number, which is often the easier win than cutting the meeting.
Pro tips
Get more out of it
- Use fully loaded cost, not base salary. Benefits, tax and overhead typically add a meaningful amount on top.
- Count the preparation and the context switch, not just the calendar block. A 30 minute meeting rarely costs 30 minutes.
- Run the annual number on your recurring meetings first. A weekly hour with eight people is the one that shocks people.
- A high cost is not automatically a problem. A high cost with no decision coming out of it is.
- If the meeting exists to share information, ask whether a written update would do the same job for a fraction of the number.
- Share the annual figure with the room. It changes how people run the agenda far more effectively than a policy does.
- Include the people who attend but never speak. They cost the same as everyone else.
- Compare against what the time would otherwise produce, not against zero.
- Run it on the meeting you are about to add before you add it.
- Recurring meetings deserve an expiry date. Most outlive the reason they were created.
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Open the toolThe app behind the tool
A meeting is only expensive if nothing survives it.
Almanack records what was said and hands back the decisions and the actions, so the hour you just costed actually produces something.
- Every meeting becomes a recap with decisions and owed actions pulled out, without anyone taking notes.
- Ask what was decided in a meeting last month and get an answer sourced to what was actually said.
- No bot joins the call. It records on your phone, in the room.
- The follow-ups become to-dos, which is the difference between a meeting and a cost.
Free to start. $96 a year or $14 a month when you want more.
Your meetings are expensive. Keep every one.
Record any meeting, get a clean summary with the next steps, then ask it anything weeks later. No bot joins the call.
$96 a year or $14 a month. Cancel anytime.