Meeting Cost Calculator — Per-Hour, Annual Total
Quick answer: Add attendees by group (count + hourly rate), enter duration, and (optionally) recurrence per week. See per-meeting, weekly, and annual cost.
Calculate the true cost of any meeting based on attendee hourly rates and duration. Add multiple groups (e.g. 3 senior engineers + 2 product managers + 1 director) for a realistic total. Recurring meeting costs add up fast — often more than a junior engineer's annual salary.
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Last reviewed: April 2026Report an error
Attendee Groups (count × hourly rate)
Cost Per Meeting
$345
Each meeting costs $345 in attendee time. Weekly: $345. Annual: $17,250. That's 0.22 junior engineer salaries per year.
Per Meeting
$345
Weekly Cost
$345
Annual Cost
$17,250
⚠ This recurring meeting costs $17,250/year. Could that money produce more value as engineering hours, async writeups, or hiring an extra contractor?
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How to Use This Meeting Cost Calculator
- 1Add an attendee group: count of people + their hourly rate.
- 2Add as many groups as needed (each at a different rate).
- 3Enter the meeting duration in minutes.
- 4For recurring meetings, enter how many times per week.
- 5Read per-meeting, weekly, and annual cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Take the loaded annual cost (salary × 1.3 for benefits and overhead) divided by 2,080 working hours/year. So a $120k engineer is roughly $75/hour fully-loaded.
- Salary plus benefits, payroll tax, equipment, office space, software licenses, etc. Typically 1.25-1.4x base salary. Use loaded cost for honest meeting math.
- Math: a 1-hour weekly meeting with 6 senior engineers at $90/hr loaded = $540 per meeting × 50 weeks = $27,000/year. Now imagine 3 such meetings a week — that's an entire engineer's salary spent on meetings.
- No — but each recurring meeting should justify its cost. Apply the rule: if the meeting costs $1,000+ per occurrence, it should be producing decisions or deliverables that move work forward. If it's just a status update, replace it with async writeups.
- The hourly rate captures direct compensation. Opportunity cost (what those people could have shipped instead) is harder to quantify but easily 2-3x the direct cost for high-value work.
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