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Meeting Cost Calculator

Find out the real cost of your meetings. Spoiler: it is probably more than you think.

This meeting costs
$300
6 people × $50/hr × 1 hr
Attendees6
250
Avg. Hourly Rate$50
$15$300
Duration1 hr
15 min4 hrs
Annual Impact
If this meeting happens weekly:
Annual Cost
$15,000
50 meetings/year
Annual Hours
300
person-hours consumed
Equivalent Salary
15k
Still adds up
What your team could do instead

In 1 hr with 6 people (360 person-minutes):

45
emails drafted
14
PRs reviewed
8
sprint tasks completed
6
docs written
24
Loom videos recorded
This meeting costs more than...
1
34 months of Slack Pro ($8.75/user/mo)
2
30 months of Notion ($10/mo)
3
60 months of Trello Premium ($5/mo)
4
15 months of ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo)
5
25 months of GitHub Pro ($12/mo)
Share this result
"Our 6-person, 1 hr meeting costs $300. That's $15,000/year if it happens weekly. Maybe an email would work?"

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is this calculator?

It calculates direct labor cost based on the inputs you provide. Real meeting costs also include preparation time, context-switching overhead, and the opportunity cost of delayed work -- so actual costs are likely even higher.

What hourly rate should I use?

Use the average fully-loaded cost (salary + benefits + overhead). A rough estimate is 1.3x to 1.5x base salary divided by ~2,000 hours/year. For a $100k salary, that is roughly $65-$75/hour.

How many meetings is too many?

Research from Microsoft and Atlassian suggests that the average employee spends 31 hours per month in unproductive meetings. If more than 50% of your calendar is meetings, it is worth auditing which ones actually need your presence.

What can replace meetings?

Async alternatives include Loom videos for status updates, Slack threads for discussions, shared docs for collaboration, and email for announcements. Reserve synchronous meetings for decisions that need real-time debate.

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