AI SDR vs hiring an SDR: cost per meeting
To compare an SDR with an AI SDR, divide what each costs in a month by the meetings it books. Ragworks AI SDR plans cost $99 to $2,999 a month on a 3-month commitment. Enter what your SDR costs and the meetings they book to see how many meetings each plan must book to match your SDR's cost per meeting.
By Kishore Kannan, Co-Founder & CEO. Last updated .
Compare it to a person, not to software
Most outreach tools sell you a sender. You still write the messages, chase the replies and update the CRM. So the useful question is not which tool is cheapest. It is what a person would cost to do all of it, and what each option costs for every meeting it books.
An AI SDR does the repetitive work of the role: it finds and researches leads, writes and sends the messages, follows up and replies within your rules. So it belongs in the same comparison as the person, and the number to hold both to is the cost of a meeting.
What goes into your SDR's cost
Enter the full monthly cost of the person, not their pay alone. Spread one-off costs, such as hiring, over the months you expect them to stay.
- Pay. Base salary, plus commission or bonus.
- Employer costs. Payroll taxes and benefits.
- Tools. The CRM seat, data subscriptions, a sending tool, a phone line or dialer, and the equipment.
- Hiring. A recruiter's fee, or the time you spend finding and interviewing them.
- Management. The share of a manager's time spent training, coaching and checking their work.
- Ramp-up. A new hire books fewer meetings at first. Use a typical month, not their best one.
Work out your cost per meeting
The boxes start empty on purpose: a typical SDR cost or meeting rate would be someone else's number, not yours.
The full cost from the list above, not pay alone.
Count the kind of meeting you will count for the AI SDR, such as a first call held with a buyer who fits.
From a campaign you have run. Leave it empty to see only the break-even.
3-month commitment.
Enter what your SDR costs and the meetings they book to see how many meetings each plan must book to match your SDR.
| Plan | Price a month | Leads a month (about) | Meetings a month to match your SDR | Equal to one meeting for every |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $99 | 160 | — | — |
| Starter | $249 | 540 | — | — |
| Explorer | $749 | 2,700 | — | — |
| Scale | $1,499 | 5,400 | — | — |
| Pro | $2,999 | 10,800 | — | — |
Leads a month are an estimate: about 5 credits a lead, scoring and research included, after the credits your connected accounts use. What you get depends on how you spend your credits.
You pay the plan's price whether or not you use every credit: unused plan credits do not carry over.
How the calculator works
- Your SDR. Cost per meeting is what they cost in a month divided by the meetings they book in it.
- A Ragworks plan. A plan costs the same every month, so its cost per meeting falls as it books more. The fourth column is the plan's price divided by your SDR's cost per meeting, rounded up to a whole meeting: the least the plan must book to cost no more per meeting.
- In leads. The fifth column divides the plan's leads a month by those meetings, so you can see how many leads each meeting may take and still match your SDR.
- At your rate. If you enter a meeting rate, one more column divides each plan's price by the meetings that rate gives on its leads.
What the numbers leave out
- The person who takes the meeting. Someone still runs the call and follows up after it, whoever booked it, so it is in neither cost.
- Your time. Someone decides what you sell and who to target, sets the rules and reads the replies that matter. That time is not in a plan's price.
- Credits beyond the plan. A top-up covers a busy month. Looking up emails and phone numbers, and researching a lead more deeply, use more credits, so a plan can cover fewer leads than the table says.
- Quality. Cost per meeting treats every meeting alike. Count only the meetings you would have wanted.
How an SDR and an AI SDR differ
Cost is one measure. The two also differ in who does the work and in what each is good at.
| Compared on | Hiring an SDR | AI SDR |
|---|---|---|
| Finds and researches leads | The rep | The software |
| Writes the messages | The rep | The software, from research on each lead |
| Sends and follows up | The rep, by hand and with tools | The software, across channels, on a schedule you set |
| Handles replies | The rep | The software replies within your rules and hands interested leads to you |
| What it costs | A salary and commission, whatever the volume | A plan or credits: the cost grows with the leads you reach |
| Good at | Judgement, calls and negotiation on complex deals | Steady volume with consistent research and follow-up |
| Still needs you for | Training, management and tooling | What you sell, who to target, the rules and the conversations that matter |
Common questions about AI SDR cost
What is cost per meeting?
Cost per meeting is what a seller costs you in a month divided by the meetings they book in that month. It works for a person and for an AI SDR, as long as you count the same kind of meeting for both, such as a first call held with a buyer who fits.
How much does an SDR cost?
It depends on pay, commission, tools, location and seniority, and published figures differ by source, so this page quotes none. Add pay, employer costs, tools, hiring, management time and the months before a new hire is up to speed, and enter your own total in the calculator.
How much does a Ragworks AI SDR cost?
Ragworks AI SDR plans run from $99 a month for about 160 leads to $2,999 a month for about 10,800 leads on the Quarterly term (3-month commitment, billed monthly), and $149 to $3,999 with no commitment. Each plan is a monthly pool of credits, and a lead costs about 5 credits, scoring and research included.
How many meetings does an AI SDR book?
It depends on who you contact, what you offer and what you write, so this page quotes no rate. Run a small campaign, count the meetings it books, and enter that as meetings per 100 leads in the calculator to see each plan's cost per meeting.
Can an AI SDR replace a human SDR?
It can take over the repetitive part of the job: finding leads, researching them, sending first messages and follow-ups, and sorting replies. A person is still better placed to run calls, handle a complex deal and build a relationship, and someone has to decide what you sell and who to target. Compare the cost of the work each does, not the headcount.
When is hiring an SDR the better choice?
When your sales depend on judgement, calls and negotiation more than on steady volume, or when one person can cover the volume you need. When the work is mostly steady volume with consistent research and follow-up, compare the cost per meeting of each option with your own numbers, as the calculator does.
Sources
Prices and lead counts match the Ragworks docs. The plan cards in the app are the source of truth for what you pay today.
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