Free calculator · no email required

How much time
could AI save you?

Pick one task you do regularly. Compare the time it takes now with the work you'd still do using AI, including checking and corrections.

No email required. You can start with an estimate.

Start with one task.

Optional. Your task and your numbers stay in this page and are never sent anywhere.
Are these estimates or measured times?
Who does this task?
For a weekly task, about 4 is a simple estimate.
Count human working time, not time the computer spends alone.
Include preparing the input, prompting, checking and corrections. It can be more than before.
Across the whole workflow, beyond the checking above. Enter 0 if none.

What is this time worth?

Optional. Add an hourly value to see the monthly and yearly value of this work. Leave it blank for a time-only estimate.

A label only. Amounts are not converted.
Use a reasonable value for this task. A billable rate only represents revenue if you can actually sell the recovered time. For a team, use one blended value.

This compares the numbers you enter. It doesn't predict how much AI will improve the task.

What the numbers
actually mean.

How do you estimate AI time savings?
Choose one recurring task. Enter how often you do it and the working time it takes. Compare that with the human time you would still spend using AI, including checking and correcting the output. Add any extra upkeep. The difference is your estimated monthly time saving.
Does saved time mean saved money?
Not necessarily. If you recover time but your costs stay the same, you have gained capacity. Whether that becomes cash savings or additional income depends on what you do with it.
What if I have not tried the task with AI yet?
Start with an estimate, then test it. The calculator does not know how well AI will perform your particular task. Replace the estimate with times from a few representative attempts when you have them.
What costs should I include?
Include extra software or service costs for the workflow, any setup fee, and the time you spend setting it up or learning it. Recurring checking belongs in the task time. Other ongoing upkeep is counted separately.
Can I use this for a team?
Yes. Enter repetitions per person and the number of people you actually expect to use the workflow. Upkeep and setup hours are totals for the whole team, not per person.
Why is my result negative?
Prompting, reviewing and maintaining a workflow can take more time than the original task. A negative result is useful information. It can help you choose a simpler approach or a different task.

The formulas

How it's calculated.

Show the formulas and worked example

Nothing here is hidden. These are the whole formulas, using the numbers you enter and nothing else. There is no assumed productivity uplift.

  • Hours without AI = people × repetitions × minutes without AI ÷ 60
  • Hours with AI = people × repetitions × minutes with AI ÷ 60 + upkeep
  • Hours recovered = hours without AI − hours with AI
  • Monthly capacity value = hours recovered × your hourly value
  • Setup investment = setup fee + setup hours × your hourly value
  • First-year cost = setup investment + 12 × monthly cost
  • First-year net value = 12 × monthly capacity value − first-year cost
  • Payback = setup investment ÷ (monthly capacity value − monthly cost)

Upkeep is already deducted from the hours, so it is never charged twice as a cost. Setup time is counted once, inside the setup investment. Return on investment is undefined when no cost is entered, and there is no payback when the monthly result is zero or negative. "First year" means 12 operating months after setup, not the rest of the calendar year.

A worked example

A client update prepared 20 times a month. It takes 30 minutes now and would take 20 minutes with AI, including checking, plus half an hour of upkeep a month. At €40 an hour, €30 a month in software and a €200 setup fee with 2 hours of your own setup time:

  • Without AI: 10.0 hours. With AI including upkeep: 7.2 hours.
  • Recovered: 2.8 hours a month, worth €113.33 of capacity.
  • After the €30 monthly cost: €83.33 a month.
  • Setup investment including your time: €280. First-year net value: €720.
  • Estimated payback: 3.4 months after setup.

This is an illustrative estimate, not a measured client result. Whether it is worth pursuing depends on the task, the quality of the output and how you want to work.

Who made this

Lucija Tomšić
Lucija Tomšić

Founder of brisk. I teach non-technical people how to use AI on their own work. I built this calculator because most AI savings claims skip the checking time, which is where the saving usually goes.

More about me →

Tasks worth trying first

If you are not sure which task to put through the calculator, these two walkthroughs use real ones:

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