Fully Loaded In-House Costs
Base salary is just the start. Add benefits (15-30% of salary), payroll taxes (7.65%), tools (CRM, dialer, data - $500-1,500/month), management time (an SDR manager typically handles 6-8 reps), office space or remote infrastructure, training and onboarding, and turnover costs (average SDR tenure is 18-24 months).
A $50,000 base salary SDR often costs $8,000-$12,000/month fully loaded. The cost per meeting depends on productivity, which varies widely based on market, ICP, and individual performance. Most organizations underestimate these costs when comparing to outsourced alternatives because they do not account for the full stack of expenses.
Outsourced Models
Outsourced SDR providers offer different pricing models. Per-seat models charge a fixed monthly fee per dedicated rep - typically $2,000-$5,000/month. Pay-per-appointment models charge only for booked meetings - typically $150-$500 per qualified appointment depending on ICP difficulty.
VA Horizon uses pay-per-appointment pricing. You pay only for results, not for activity. This aligns incentives and shifts risk from buyer to provider. The model works especially well for companies testing new markets or ICPs.
Control vs Flexibility
In-house SDRs offer control. You set the process, scripts, and cadences. You build institutional knowledge that stays when individuals leave. You create a career path from SDR to AE that improves retention and culture.
Outsourced teams offer flexibility. Scale up for a launch, scale down for a slow quarter. Access specialized expertise in industries or channels you do not have in-house. Avoid the management overhead of building and running an SDR team.
The Hybrid Model
Many companies use a hybrid approach: in-house SDRs for strategic accounts and complex sales motions, outsourced teams for volume outbound and market testing. The in-house team focuses on high-value activities; the outsourced team handles scale.
This model requires clear rules about account ownership, lead routing, and coordination. Without them, the two teams create friction rather than leverage.
Decision Framework
Consider outsourcing when: you need to ramp quickly, your sales motion is proven and repeatable, management bandwidth is limited, or you want to test a market before committing headcount.
Consider in-house when: your sales motion requires deep product knowledge, you are building a career path from SDR to AE, institutional knowledge is a competitive advantage, or you have management capacity to build and run the team. The choice is not permanent - many organizations start outsourced and bring capabilities in-house as they scale, or vice versa.
Sources
The external data in this article draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.