Free tool

How much does that meeting
actually cost?

Add up the salaries in the room. Enter who's attending and for how long, and see the real cost of a meeting — for one session and across a whole year.

…

How it works

The math, in plain sight

1

Turn salary into an hourly rate

We divide each attendee's annual salary by about 2,080 working hours a year to get their cost per hour.

2

Multiply by the room and the clock

Hourly rate × number of attendees × the meeting's length gives the cost of a single session.

3

Project it across the year

Recurring meeting? We multiply by how often it runs, so you can see the annual bill it quietly adds up to.

Why it matters

Meetings are the most expensive thing you do all week

A recurring hour-long meeting is rarely "just an hour." Multiply it by every salary in the room and every week of the year, and a routine sync can quietly cost more than a new hire. Seeing the number is the fastest way to ask the only question that matters: was this meeting worth it?

Half of professionals call most meetings unproductive
The cost scales with the most expensive person in the room
Recurring meetings compound — small rooms, big annual bills

Spend less

Five ways to shrink the bill

  1. 1Shorten the default — make 30 minutes the norm, not 60.
  2. 2Trim the invite list to people who'll actually speak or decide.
  3. 3Require an agenda, or cancel the meeting.
  4. 4Replace status updates with a written note people read on their own time.
  5. 5Record and summarise it, so absentees catch up instead of attending.

Make your meetings worth the money

MeetingMemo records, transcribes and summarises every meeting on your Mac — so people who don't need to be there can catch up from the notes instead of attending. Shorter invite lists, lower cost.

Get MeetingMemo for Mac

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is the meeting cost calculated?
We convert each attendee's salary into an hourly rate (annual salary ÷ ~2,080 working hours per year), then multiply that rate by the number of attendees and the length of the meeting. For recurring meetings, we multiply the per-session cost by how many times it runs in a year.
Why 2,080 hours a year?
It's the standard full-time figure: 40 hours a week × 52 weeks. It's an approximation — real paid hours vary with holidays and time off — but it's the convention most cost-of-meeting estimates use, and it keeps the math simple and comparable.
Should I use base salary or fully-loaded cost?
This tool uses the salary you enter. In reality, an employee costs more than their salary once you add benefits, taxes, equipment and overhead — often 1.25–1.4× base. If you want the true cost, enter a fully-loaded figure (or just bump the salary up by about a third).
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser with plain JavaScript. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored or sent to us — there's no account and no tracking of your numbers.
Can I use it for any currency?
Yes. Pick your currency and the results are formatted accordingly. The math is identical — it's just multiplication — so it works for any country or pay scale.
How does MeetingMemo help reduce meeting costs?
MeetingMemo records, transcribes and summarises meetings on your Mac into clean notes with action items. That means fewer people need to attend live — they can read the summary instead — and meetings can be shorter because nobody's taking notes by hand.