ROI calculator: AI employee vs. human hire.
This calculator prices the human side of a desk. With the default inputs, a loaded $35 an hour and 70% of a 40-hour week, that is 28 hours, or $4,243 a month, against an example fee of $149. Move the sliders to use your own numbers.
The human side is a model, and its sources sit on the cost comparison page. The Unistaff side is an example fee; the real one is agreed after the free 30-day pilot.
Start from a scenario
Three worked examples. Each card is a set of inputs for the calculator below, and each figure on it is the same model running on those inputs.
Compare the cost of one role
Model: 40 hours a week on this desk.
Includes salary, benefits, taxes, tools, and management load.
Human hours — model
- Hours replaced / week28h
- Effective hourly rate$35
- Monthly equivalent$4,243
Unistaff cost — example fee
- Platform fee / employee$149/mo
- Count1
- Total monthly cost$149
Modelled monthly difference: $4,094
Over twelve months: $49,133 · Modelled human cost is 28.5× the Unistaff fee
Take the numbers with you
Email this calculation to yourself
Your inputs, the modelled difference and how it was calculated — one email. Our team gets the same summary, so a reply comes from someone who has your numbers.
In this emailSales / SDR1 AI employee$4,094/mo
About the fee
$149 a month is an example input. The AI inbound sales manager starts with a free 30-day pilot; after it, one flat monthly fee per AI employee is agreed on the review, with messages and minutes unmetered. How pricing works →
Launch first, measure second
The role starts from a template and is set up with you by the Unistaff team. Run for a week, measure the KPI, then decide whether to expand.
Read the hourly rate honestly
The $35 default carries salary plus benefits, taxes, tools and management time. US private-industry employers paid $46.60 per hour worked in total compensation in March 2026, and $34.78 at the median wage percentile. Sources →
Frequently asked questions
The AI inbound sales manager starts with a free 30-day pilot, with no payment and no card. After the pilot the price is agreed on the review results, as one flat monthly fee per AI employee; messages and minutes stay unmetered. This calculator uses $149 a month as an example fee, and you can read it as a placeholder for the number you agree.
Hours × share × rate. The calculator takes the weekly hours on a desk, keeps the share you mark as routine, prices those hours at your loaded hourly cost, multiplies by 4.33 weeks a month, and subtracts an example fee of $149 per AI employee.
The defaults are $35 an hour loaded and 70% of hours routine. As a public reference point, US private-industry employers paid $46.60 per hour worked in total compensation in March 2026 — $34.78 at the median wage percentile — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost comparison page lists every source with links.
They come from the model on this page: your inputs on one side, an example fee on the other. Customer results stay off the page until we can publish them with permission.
Tasks with a clear input, decision rule, and output: lead qualification, ticket triage, interview scheduling, invoice reminders, order-status lookups. Anything with ambiguity or judgment stays with humans.
It replaces the repetitive share of a role, so the same human can manage a higher-value portfolio. Use it to avoid the next hire while keeping the people you have.