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Costing path · Custom workflow

Custom workflow

For a use case built on model APIs and services. Retries are billed, people's time is counted once, and the result is divided by the outcomes someone actually accepts.

Dashboard

Illustrative customer support workflowForecast

Edit the inputs

  • Monthly TCO

    $5,740.00

    All costs, build amortised

  • Cost per accepted support outcome

    $0.64

    Every input 20% better, or 20% worse, at once. A stress range, not a forecast.

  • Accepted a month

    9,000

    90% of 10,000 requests

  • Payback

    No baseline

    Enter today's cost per outcome in Baseline below

    First-month outlay: $17,240.00

The workflow being costedModel callService callSelect a step for its details
100%

2 steps · 10,000 requests a month

Workflow steps. Select a step to see its cost; the same steps are listed in text below the drawing.Requests submitted each monthREQUESTS INRequests10,000 a monthMODEL CALL1% of TCODraft answerexample-model$40.00 a monthSERVICE CALL2% of TCOService cost$0.01 per call$100.00 a monthAccepted outcomes each month: each is one accepted support outcomeOUTCOMEAccepted9,000 a month

Also in monthly TCO, outside the steps:People time $4,500.0078%Running costs $600.0010%Amortised build $500.009%

Steps as text
  1. Draft answer: $40.00 a month, reached by 100% of requests
  2. Service cost: $100.00 a month, reached by 100% of requests
  3. Ends as an accepted accepted support outcome: 9,000 a month.

What the figures say

  • In short

    Each accepted support outcome costs $0.64, all in. 9,000 of 10,000 requests a month (90%) end as accepted outcomes.

    Monthly TCO $5,740.00 ÷ 9,000 accepted outcomes.

  • Largest cost

    People time is 78% of monthly TCO, $4,500.00 a month. Model and service calls are a small part of the total, so a cheaper model would barely move it.

    Largest single line: Human review, $3,000.00 a month.

  • Strongest lever

    Moving “Human review: incidence” 20% lower would cut cost per accepted support outcome by $0.07 (10%), to $0.57.

    Each input moved 20% on its own with the rest held. Volume and amortisation periods are left out because they change the figure, not the spend.

  • Plan for the downside

    If every input moved 20% the wrong way at once, cost per accepted support outcome would reach $1.31, 105% above base. That is a stress case, not a forecast, but budget headroom for part of it.

    Low $0.32, base $0.64, high $1.31 per accepted support outcome.

Written by fixed rules from the figures on this page. Nothing here is generated by AI.

Where the money goes, monthly$5,740.00 monthly TCO, build amortised
  • Model calls$40.00 1%
  • Service calls$100.00 2%
  • People time$4,500.00 78%
  • Running costs$600.00 10%
  • Amortised build$500.00 9%
Monthly TCO by kind of cost
PartValueShare
Model calls$40.001%
Service calls$100.002%
People time$4,500.0078%
Running costs$600.0010%
Amortised build$500.009%
What happens to requests, monthly10,000 submitted; accepted means an accepted accepted support outcome
  • Accepted9,000 90%
  • Completed, not accepted1,000 10%
  • Failed after retries0 0%
Requests a month by what happens to them
PartValueShare
Accepted9,00090%
Completed, not accepted1,00010%
Failed after retries00%
Declined and failed requests still cost money and are in the TCO. Accepted is the unit every cost is divided by.
Cost by step, monthlyModel and service calls, retries included, with each step's share of TCO
Monthly cost by workflow step
ItemMonthly cost and share of TCO
Service cost$100.00 2%
Draft answer$40.00 1%
No retry spend: every step succeeds first time or has no retries allowed.
What moves cost per accepted support outcomeEach input on its own, 20% lower and 20% higher, the rest held. Largest swing first.
  • Input 20% lower
  • Input 20% higher
  • Base $0.64
Cost per accepted support outcome with each input moved 20%
InputInput 20% lowerInput 20% higher
Acceptance given completion$0.80$0.57
Human review: incidence$0.57$0.70
Human review: minutes per event$0.57$0.70
Human review: hourly rate$0.57$0.70
Incremental rework: incidence$0.60$0.67
Incremental rework: minutes per event$0.60$0.67
Incremental rework: hourly rate$0.60$0.67
Volume and amortisation periods are left out because they spread cost rather than change it; the volume chart shows volume.
Cost per accepted support outcome as volume changesFrom a quarter of today's requests to four times
Line chart of cost per accepted support outcome at 8 monthly volumes. Figures are in the table that follows.$0.00$0.50$1.002.5k5k7.5k10k15k20k30k40k2,500 requests a month: $1.00 per accepted support outcome5,000 requests a month: $0.76 per accepted support outcome7,500 requests a month: $0.68 per accepted support outcome10,000 requests a month: $0.64 per accepted support outcomeToday $0.6415,000 requests a month: $0.60 per accepted support outcome20,000 requests a month: $0.58 per accepted support outcome30,000 requests a month: $0.56 per accepted support outcome40,000 requests a month: $0.55 per accepted support outcome
Cost per accepted support outcome by monthly requests
Requests a monthCost per accepted support outcome
2,500$1.00
5,000$0.76
7,500$0.68
10,000$0.64
15,000$0.60
20,000$0.58
30,000$0.56
40,000$0.55
At half today's volume, each accepted support outcome would cost $0.76; at double, $0.58. Running costs and amortised build, 19% of TCO today, are spread over more or fewer outcomes.
Jump to results

Scenario

One accepted piece of work, such as "ticket resolved". Unit costs are per this unit.

The Lab works in USD for now.

Volume and acceptance

Share of technically completed requests a person accepts as done.

Model prices

Price per million tokens. Each model step uses one of these.

example-model

39 checked USD list prices, list of 14 Oct 2026. The figure, its terms and its source link are copied into this estimate; a later list update never changes it.

Source of this price: Illustrative. Invented regression fixture, not a provider quote.

Workflow steps

Steps run in order, once per request, plus retries when they fail; retries are billed. A route sends each request down one branch; parallel steps all run, and the request completes only if all of them do.

Draft answer

Service cost

People time

Review, escalation and rework the workflow adds. Count only time not already in the baseline.

Human review

Source of this time: Illustrative. Invented regression fixture, not a provider quote.

Incremental rework

Source of this time: Illustrative. Invented regression fixture, not a provider quote.

Running costs

Monthly costs that do not move with volume, such as platform share, monitoring or support.

Operations

Source of this cost: Illustrative. Invented regression fixture, not a provider quote.

One-off costs

Build, integration, enablement and similar one-offs. Spread over the months you expect to use the result; the whole amount is in the first-month outlay.

Integration build

Source of this cost: Illustrative. Invented regression fixture, not a provider quote.

Baseline

What one accepted support outcome costs today, done the current way, fully loaded. It must describe the same work as the accepted outcomes; cases the AI hands back to people are not accepted outcomes. Leave blank to see cost only.

For the cash view: the part of the baseline that leaves the budget, such as contractor, outsourcing or licence spend. Staff who stay on the payroll are not a cash saving. Leave blank if not known.

Result

Recalculates as you type

Monthly TCO

$5,740.00

Consumption, people, running costs and amortised build

Cost per accepted support outcome

$0.64

Monthly TCO ÷ accepted outcomes

First-month outlay

$17,240.00

Monthly run cost plus all one-off build cost. Shown beside TCO, never added to it. Cash only where these are new payments, not existing staff time.

Monthly run cost

$5,240.00

TCO less amortised build; used for payback

Volume

Requests submitted
10,000
Completed
10,000
Accepted outcomes
9,000
Cost per request submitted
$0.57

Monthly cost lines

Where the monthly cost goes
Cost lineMonthly
Draft answerModel$40.00
Service costService$100.00
Human reviewPeople$3,000.00
Incremental reworkPeople$1,500.00
OperationsRunning$600.00
Integration buildBuild, amortised$500.00

Low, base and highForecast

Low, base and high cases, cost per accepted support outcome and monthly TCO
CasePer accepted support outcomeMonthly TCO
Low$0.32$3,222.93
Base$0.64$5,740.00
High$1.31$9,423.60

Every input except volume moved 20% at once, all in the cheaper direction for the low case and all in the dearer direction for the high case. It shows how far the answer could plausibly stretch, not how likely any point is. Capped at 100%: Acceptance given completion.

ValueForecast

Enter the baseline cost of one accepted support outcome done today to see resource value, cash value and payback.

What would change the answer

Acceptance given completion matters most: a 20% move shifts cost per accepted support outcome by up to $0.16.

Cost per accepted support outcome with each input at 80% and 120% of its value, ranked by the largest move
InputAt 80%At 120%Largest move
Acceptance given completionCapped at 100%$0.80$0.57$0.16
Human review: incidence$0.57$0.70$0.07
Human review: minutes per event$0.57$0.70$0.07
Human review: hourly rate$0.57$0.70$0.07
Incremental rework: incidence$0.60$0.67$0.03
Incremental rework: minutes per event$0.60$0.67$0.03

Base: $0.64 per accepted support outcome. Showing the top 6 of 18 inputs. Volume moves only volume-driven cost.

Limits of this estimate

  • Planning estimate: constant token sizes; independent failures; failed calls fully billed; no measured quality proof.
  • Illustrative model prices.

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Open comparison

The JSON re-imports exactly and records the methodology version. It carries the baseline cost when one is entered. Files are made in your browser; nothing is uploaded.