--- title: "In-House vs Outsourced SDR Calculator: Cost per Meeting" description: "Compare an in-house SDR team with an appointment setting agency: cost per meeting over 6, 12 and 24 months, break-even point and stress tests. Free, no sign-up." url: https://skipcall.io/en/tools/in-house-vs-outsourced-sdr-calculator language: en --- [Free tools](https://skipcall.io/en/tools) # In-house vs outsourced SDR calculator Salary, payroll taxes, hiring, ramp, turnover and management on one side. Agency fees, setup, commitment and meeting quality on the other. The cost per meeting of each, month by month, and the point where hiring wins. Compare like with like Your two options Starting values are editable assumptions unless marked as sourced. Starting point Currency Loads typical assumptions and the currency of that market. Everything stays editable. The need How many reps, and what one produces once ramped. Number of SDRs SDRs Full-time reps in-house, or dedicated SDRs at the agency on a retainer. Meetings held per SDR per month, once ramped per mo Qualified meetings that actually take place, not just booked. [Work out your output per SDR](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/cost-per-meeting) In-house What an SDR on your payroll really costs. Base salary $ / yr Variable pay at target $ / yr Paid in line with output: partly during ramp, fully once ramped. Payroll taxes and benefits Sourced default % United States: 33% is the BLS benefits-to-wages ratio for sales occupations (June 2026). France: 40% from the official Urssaf simulator for a €44,000 salary. Tools per SDR $ / mo Dialer and phone line, contact data, CRM seat, sequencing. Loaded cost of a manager $ / mo Manager time per SDR % 20% means one manager for five SDRs. Hiring, ramp and turnover The months you pay without the meetings. Cost per hire $ Job boards, recruiter fee, interview time. Paid again for every replacement. Time to hire the first SDR months Ramp to full productivity months From the decision to the first day. Output grows in a straight line until then. Yearly turnover % Seat empty after a departure months Share of SDRs who leave in a year. Agency How the agency bills, and what you actually get. How the agency bills A monthly fee per dedicated SDR, whatever the number of meetings. Retainer per dedicated SDR $ / mo Meetings billed per agency SDR per month, once ramped per mo Billed meetings that are useful % Held, and inside your target. Ask the agency what counts as a billable meeting. Agency launch and terms Setup, commitment, ramp and your time. Setup fee $ Minimum commitment months Launch before the first meetings months Agency ramp months Targeting, scripts, data, domains. Your manager’s time on the agency % Weekly reviews, feedback on meetings, list approvals. Results updated: in-house $1,280 per meeting, agency $966 per meeting. ## The verdict Over In-house $1,280 per meeting $235,174 for 184 meetings Agency Cheaper $966 per meeting $162,300 for 168 meetings Over 12 months, the agency costs 25% less per meeting than hiring. Break-even point: each SDR must hold 15.9 meetings a month once ramped for hiring to win over 12 months. You entered 12. Within 36 months, hiring never catches up with the agency on cost per meeting. Highest agency price worth paying Over 12 months, the agency is cheaper than hiring as long as its retainer stays below $8,195 per SDR per month. You entered $6,000. Use it to read a quote in seconds, or as your ceiling in a negotiation. ## Month by month Average cost per meeting since the start, or total spent. The lines cross at the break-even month. Months since the decision Hover or tap the chart to read any month. In-house Agency 12 months ## Cost per meeting, horizon by horizon Everything paid from month 1, divided by the useful meetings obtained. | Horizon | In-house | Agency | Cheaper | | - | - | - | - | | 6 monthsIn-house $99,513 for 56 meetings, agency $81,900 for 72. | $1,774 | $1,138 | Agency | | 12 monthsIn-house $235,174 for 184 meetings, agency $162,300 for 168. | $1,280 | $966 | Agency | | 24 monthsIn-house $506,420 for 439 meetings, agency $323,100 for 360. | $1,154 | $898 | Agency | | Cruising speed (month 36, turnover included) | $1,063 | $838 | Agency | ## Break-even point in meetings per month Output per SDR, once ramped, above which hiring is cheaper per meeting. Your SDRs · 12 Agency In-house - Over 6 months 18.7 per mo - Over 12 months 15.9 per mo - Over 24 months 15.4 per mo - At cruising speed 15.2 per mo Usually, the longer you keep the team, the lower the bar: hiring, ramp and empty seats get spread over more meetings. Need fewer than 15.9 meetings a month in total? Then even one SDR would sit partly idle and could not reach the bar over 12 months: buy meetings rather than a seat. ## What if your assumptions are wrong? Cost per meeting over 12 months when one assumption moves. - Your assumptions Agency In-house $1,280 Agency $966 - Your SDRs book 30% fewer meetings Agency In-house $1,828 Agency $966 - Your SDRs book 30% more meetings Even In-house $984 Agency $966 - Turnover doubles Agency In-house $1,412 Agency $966 - Hiring takes 1 month longer, ramp 3 months longer Agency In-house $1,634 Agency $966 - 20 points fewer useful agency meetings Even In-house $1,280 Agency $1,288 The answer flips in at least one scenario: check that assumption first, ideally with a short test. ## Beyond cost What the numbers do not capture. Weigh each line for your situation. - Speed to first meetings Agency First meetings in month 3 in-house (full speed in month 6), month 2 with the agency (full speed in month 3). - Flexibility Depends Stopping the agency after month 1 still costs $74,900 (setup, 6 months of commitment and one month of your manager’s time). An employee costs notice and severance, and a new hire later. - Control of the pitch and quality In-house In-house, you hear every call, change the script in an hour and coach in real time. An agency rep works several clients and learns your offer secondhand. - Knowledge you keep In-house Objections, personas, call recordings and the playbook stay with you. With an agency, ask in writing for the call recordings and the data to come back to you. - Scaling up or down Agency An agency adds or removes capacity in weeks. In-house, every extra seat means another hiring and ramp cycle. - Turnover risk Agency On your assumptions, expect 1.5 departures in 24 months in-house. At an agency, a departure is their problem, though your account may change hands. - Brand and fit Depends Your SDRs speak as your company and grow into account executives. An agency is a neutral voice: fine for a test, riskier for a premium brand. **How the numbers are worked outTo check every figure by hand** - One ramped SDR per month: (base + variable) ÷ 12 = $6,667 × (1 + 33%) + tools $300 + manager time $2,800 = $11,967. - Ramp: in month τ, an SDR produces min(1, τ ÷ (3 + 1)) of their ramped output. Variable pay follows the same curve. - Turnover: 35% a year is a 3.5% chance of leaving each month. The seat stays empty, then a new SDR starts at zero and a new cost per hire is paid. Results are expected values, not one random draw. - Agency per month: 2 SDRs × $6,000 + your manager’s time $1,400. - Useful meetings = billed meetings × 80%. - Cost per meeting over a horizon = everything paid from month 1 ÷ useful meetings obtained over the same months. - Break-even point: the ramped output per SDR at which both costs per meeting are equal, found by search. ## Share or save The link reopens the calculator with your inputs. The summary is ready to paste into an email or a budget memo. **Whichever you choose, the dialer decides the output.** Skipcall is the outbound calling software used by in-house SDR teams and by prospecting agencies alike: power dialer, parallel dialer on up to four lines, call transcription and AI summaries, sequences, and sync with HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce and Attio. More conversations per hour raise the output per SDR, which is the number that moves the break-even point. [Create an account](https://app.skipcall.io/signup) [See the parallel dialer](https://skipcall.io/en/parallel-dialer) Your salaries and prices never leave your browser. The tool sends nothing and stores nothing. How to check ## In-house or outsourced: the short answer An agency is usually cheaper and faster over the first months: no hiring, no ramp, no empty seats, and meetings within a few weeks. An in-house team usually becomes cheaper per meeting later, once each SDR is ramped and the one-off costs are spread over enough meetings. The question is not “which is cheaper” but “from which month, and at what output per SDR”. That is what the calculator gives you: the cost per useful meeting of each option over 6, 12 and 24 months, the month the lines cross, and the output each SDR must reach for hiring to win. Change the assumption you are least sure of and see if the answer holds. ### Start with an agency When you need meetings this quarter Your message and target are not proven yet, the need is below one SDR’s output, or you want to test a market before hiring for it. ### Hire in-house When the motion is proven Your pitch converts, you need several SDRs for at least 18 months, and the knowledge you build on every call is worth keeping. ### Combine both When you are scaling The agency covers a new segment, country or peak while you hire. Many teams start outsourced and bring the proven playbook in-house. ## What an in-house SDR really costs The salary is the visible part. On the defaults of the calculator, it is a little over half of the monthly cost of a ramped SDR. The rest is easy to forget in a budget. - ### Payroll taxes and benefits In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts benefits for private-industry sales occupations at $8.86 an hour on top of $26.99 of wages (June 2026), about 33% on top of pay. Across all private industry, benefits are 30% of total compensation, about 43% on top of pay. Your health plan decides where you land. - ### Hiring, again and again Job boards, recruiter fees and interview hours are paid for the first hire and for every replacement. With yearly turnover above 30%, expect most seats to be refilled within two years. - ### Ramp and empty seats For the first months a new SDR costs nearly full price for a fraction of the meetings. Every departure adds an empty seat and a new ramp. This is where in-house loses most of its early months. - ### Tools A dialer and phone line, contact data, a CRM seat and a sequencing tool, for each rep. An agency usually brings its own. - ### Management Coaching, call reviews, pipeline meetings and hiring take a manager’s time. The calculator counts the share of a manager each SDR uses: 20% by default, one manager for five SDRs. Adjust it to your real span. ## What appointment setting agencies charge There is no official price index for outsourced SDR work. These are the published figures we could check, with what each one really is. Agencies’ own pages are rare; most ranges come from vendors’ blogs. - From $750 per meeting, $1,500 setup Agency price page [Belkins, pay-per-appointment page](https://belkins.io/pay-per-appointment) Minimum package of 10 appointments, delivered within six months; no-shows do not use up an appointment. One agency’s own public terms, checked November 6, 2026. - $75 to $500 per meeting, $2,000 to $5,000 a month on retainer Agency blog [SalesBread, “Appointment Setting Services Cost” (September 2025)](https://salesbread.com/appointment-setting-services-cost/) Ranges published by an agency about the market, without a method; the article itself also quotes $100 to $500. Indicative only, checked November 6, 2026. - €150 to €500 per meeting held; outsourced SDR €3,000 to €8,000 a month, 6 months minimum Software vendor’s compilation [Derrick, French agency comparison (updated September 17, 2026)](https://derrick-app.com/fr/meilleures-agences/agence-de-prospection-b2b) Says it compiles public price grids of agencies serving France, and calls them benchmarks, not quotes. checked November 6, 2026. - $46.89 an hour of total compensation, 30.0% of it benefits Official statistic [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm) Private industry. For sales and related occupations: $26.99 of wages and $8.86 of benefits an hour. Used for the 33% default. Next release December 16, 2026. checked November 6, 2026. Treat the agency defaults of the calculator as placeholders. The only number that counts is the written quote you receive, converted into a cost per useful meeting: ask what is billed, what counts as a qualified meeting, and what happens to no-shows. ## How to compare the two fairly Most in-house vs agency comparisons are wrong because they compare a salary with a monthly fee. Compare the cost of a useful meeting, over the same period. 1. 1 ### Count only useful meetings A meeting that does not happen, or with someone outside your target, is not a result. Put your own held-and-qualified rate on the agency side, and use held meetings for your SDRs too. 2. 2 ### Load the salary fully Payroll taxes and benefits, tools, a share of a manager. Then add hiring and the months of ramp, which the cost per meeting calculator does not include. 3. 3 ### Pick the horizon you really commit to If you might stop in six months, look at six months. Hiring rarely pays back on a short horizon; an agency commitment can cost more than expected if you stop early. 4. 4 ### Stress the assumption you trust least Usually it is the output of a new SDR or the quality of agency meetings. The scenarios show whether the answer flips. 5. 5 ### Test before you decide Three months with an agency on a limited segment gives you a real cost per useful meeting and a proven script, both of which make a later hire safer. ## Three thresholds: the month, the output, the price The month The break-even month is when the average cost per meeting of the in-house team, counted since the decision, falls below the agency’s and stays there. Before it, you are paying for hiring and ramp; after it, every month in-house widens the gap. The output The break-even output is the number of meetings each SDR must hold per month, once ramped, for hiring to cost less per meeting over the chosen horizon. If your SDRs cannot realistically reach it, no amount of patience will make hiring cheaper: improve the output first, or outsource. The price The highest agency price worth paying turns the same comparison around: it is the price per meeting, or the retainer per SDR, at which the agency costs exactly as much per useful meeting as your in-house team over the chosen horizon. Put each quote you receive next to it: above it, hiring is cheaper on your assumptions; below it, the agency wins, and the gap tells you how much room you have to negotiate. The output per SDR is the lever that moves all three. More conversations per hour, a better list and tighter qualification raise it; that is where tooling earns its cost. ## Questions to ask an agency before signing - What exactly is billed: a booked meeting, a held meeting, or a meeting that matches written criteria? - What happens with no-shows and meetings outside the target: replaced, credited, or billed? - How many clients does the SDR on my account work for at the same time? - Who owns the call recordings, the contact data and the scripts at the end of the contract? - What is the minimum commitment, the notice period, and the setup fee? - Which caller ID will prospects see, and on whose behalf will the SDR introduce themselves? - Can I listen to calls and see the activity, not only the meetings? ## Common mistakes - ### Comparing a salary with a fee The agency fee includes their tools, management and turnover. The salary does not. Load the salary before you compare. - ### Forgetting the ramp Counting a new SDR at full output from day one makes hiring look cheaper than it is over the first year. - ### Counting booked meetings, not held ones Per-meeting pricing rewards volume. If a quarter of the meetings never happen or miss the target, the real price is a third higher. - ### Ignoring your own time An agency still needs feedback, list approvals and weekly reviews. Without it, quality drifts. - ### Hiring one SDR for a half-SDR need A rep is not divisible. If you need eight meetings a month and a ramped SDR delivers twelve, you pay for capacity you will not use, unless the rep also handles other work. ## Go further Calculators and guides that pick up where this one stops. - [Cost per Meeting Calculator Your in-house cost per meeting from calls, connect rate and conversion. The productivity to enter here comes from there.](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/cost-per-meeting) - [Sales Rep Turnover Cost Calculator What one departure really costs: vacancy, hiring, ramp and lost pipeline.](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/sales-rep-turnover-cost-calculator) - [Sales Rep ROI Calculator When a new rep pays back their cost in revenue.](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/sales-rep-roi-calculator) - [Sales Team Size Calculator How many reps your target really needs.](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/sales-team-size-calculator) - [SDR Variable Pay Simulator Design the variable pay you enter here.](https://skipcall.io/en/tools/sdr-variable-pay-simulator) - [Should you hire an SDR? The four tests to pass before opening the role.](https://skipcall.io/en/blog/should-you-hire-an-sdr) - [SDR salary in the US Base, OTE and variable by seniority.](https://skipcall.io/en/blog/sdr-salary-us) - [Reduce SDR turnover The root causes of departures and the levers that work.](https://skipcall.io/en/blog/reduce-sdr-turnover) - [Reduce cost per meeting Five levers to lower the number this calculator compares.](https://skipcall.io/en/blog/reduce-cost-per-meeting-sdr) ## Your figures stay on your device The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type, salaries or agency quotes, is sent to Skipcall or anyone else, and nothing is stored. The share link is only built when you click “Copy link”. To check: once the page has loaded, turn off your connection and change a value. The results keep updating. ## A calendar full of meetings starts with a call. [Get started now](https://app.skipcall.io/signup) [Book a demo](https://skipcall.io/en/demo) **No commitment** · Number live in 2 minutes ## Frequently asked questions **Is it cheaper to outsource SDRs or hire in-house?** Over the first months, outsourcing is usually cheaper per meeting, because you skip hiring, ramp and empty seats. Over 12 to 24 months, an in-house team often wins if each ramped SDR holds enough meetings. The calculator gives that threshold for your own salaries and quotes. **How much does an outsourced SDR cost?** Published ranges run from about $2,000 to $5,000 a month on retainer and from under $100 to $750 or more per meeting on pay-per-appointment in the US, depending on the target and what counts as a meeting. These are vendor figures, not an official index: compare written quotes as a cost per useful meeting. **What is the fully loaded cost of an in-house SDR?** Salary and variable pay, plus payroll taxes and benefits (about 33% on top of pay for US sales occupations according to the BLS), plus tools, plus a share of a manager’s time. Hiring, ramp and turnover come on top over the year. The calculator shows the monthly cost of a ramped SDR in “How the numbers are worked out”. **How long until an in-house SDR team pays off compared with an agency?** It depends on time to hire, ramp, turnover and the agency price. The break-even month in the calculator is when the average in-house cost per meeting since the decision drops below the agency’s and stays there. With some assumptions it never happens within three years. **Pay per appointment or retainer: which is better?** Per meeting is safer for a small or uncertain need and aligns the agency on results, but it rewards volume over fit and costs more per meeting. A retainer is cheaper per meeting at volume and gives the agency room to work a hard market, but you carry the risk of a slow month. A hybrid shares both. **What is the most I should pay an appointment setting agency?** The price at which the agency’s cost per useful meeting equals your in-house cost per meeting over the same period. The calculator works it out for the billing model you pick (price per meeting, retainer per SDR, or the per-meeting part of a hybrid deal) under “Highest agency price worth paying”. Above it, hiring is cheaper on your assumptions; below it, the agency is. **What counts as a qualified meeting?** Whatever you write in the contract: a held meeting with a decision maker in your target, with a stated need or project. Agree on it before you start, and on what happens with no-shows. The useful share in the calculator is that definition, measured. **Can I combine an agency and an in-house team?** Yes, and many teams do: an agency opens a new segment or country while you hire, or absorbs peaks. Make sure the CRM, the call recordings and the scripts are shared, so the knowledge comes back in-house. **Is my data sent anywhere?** No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is stored. The share link carries your inputs in the address, and it is only created if you click “Copy link”.