Skip to main content
VA Horizon
Book a Call
Free B2B Tool

What Does Your In-House SDR Really Cost Per Meeting? Run the Math.

Quick answer: fully-loaded salary divided by the meetings that salary actually produces, after ramp time eats into the first months. Set your numbers below and compare it, side by side, against VA Horizon's pay-per-meeting rate for your industry.

Run the Calculator Book a Call
Sourced defaults, no signup Runs entirely in your browser
$98K-173K
Fully-Loaded SDR, Per Year
5.7mo
Average Ramp Time
$700-1,250
Category Cost Per Meeting
$300
VA Horizon One-Time Setup
The Calculator

Base, OTE, and ramp time, added up honestly.

Set your SDR's comp and productivity on the left. The comparison on the right assumes VA Horizon books the same annual meeting volume, at your selected sector's published rate.

Your In-House SDR

Industry estimate, Bridge Group 2025 SDR Metrics and Compensation Report, via Martal Group. Adjust to your own comp plan.

Industry average, up from 4.3 months in 2020. Source: Salesso SDR ramp-up statistics.

Your own estimate, not a sourced industry figure. Adjust to match your team's targets.

Published range: $350 to $600 per meeting.

In-House SDR

Fully-loaded cost, per year$135,500
Ramp time5.7 months
Meetings produced, per year137
Cost per meeting$987
Monthly cost equivalent$11,292

VA Horizon, SaaS and Software

Published rate per meeting$350 to $600
Meetings matched, per year137
One-time setup$300
Cost per meeting, at midpoint$477
Total annual cost$65,494
Annual Difference At These Settings
VA Horizon saves $70,006 a year at these settings

Both estimates are based on the sliders above, not a guaranteed outcome. In-house does not include recruiting, training, tools, or turnover. Your exact VA Horizon rate is quoted on a call, not fixed at the midpoint shown here.

How The Math Works

Ramp time is the part most cost comparisons skip.

An SDR's salary starts on day one, but their output does not. This calculator assumes productivity climbs in a straight line from zero to full speed over the ramp months you set, so on average, the ramp period only counts as half its eventual output.

Effective productive months

12 months minus half your ramp months. A 5.7 month ramp leaves 9.15 effective full-productivity months in the year.

Meetings produced per year

Full-productivity meetings per month multiplied by the effective productive months, not by 12.

Cost per meeting

Fully-loaded annual comp divided by meetings produced per year. This is the number to compare against any vendor's per-meeting rate.

The VA Horizon side is simpler: the same annual meeting volume, priced at your sector's published rate midpoint, plus a one-time $300 setup fee that only appears once, not every year.

This model only covers direct comp. It does not include recruiting fees, a sales tool stack, management time, or the turnover the SDR category reports, all of which raise the real cost of an in-house hire above what this calculator shows.

Sources

Every default, traced to a source.

No number on this page is invented. Here is exactly where each default came from.

FAQ

In-house SDR cost, answered.

How is the fully-loaded SDR cost of $98,000 to $173,000 a year calculated?
It is an industry estimate covering base salary, OTE and commission, benefits, and overhead, cited from Bridge Group's 2025 SDR Metrics and Compensation Report via Martal Group. It is a wide published range, not a quote for your specific market, so the calculator defaults to the midpoint and lets you adjust it.
Why does ramp time matter so much in this calculator?
Because a new SDR is paid the same salary long before they book meetings at full speed. This calculator assumes productivity ramps up in a straight line from zero to full output over your ramp months, so the SDR's first months only count as half their eventual output when the cost per meeting is calculated. The 5.7 month default is the current industry average, up from 4.3 months in 2020.
Does this calculator include recruiting, training, tools, or turnover costs?
No. It only divides the fully-loaded annual comp figure you enter by the meetings that comp produces. Real in-house SDR costs typically run higher once you add recruiting fees, a tool stack, management time, and the turnover the category reports. Treat the output as a floor, not a ceiling.
Where does VA Horizon's per-meeting rate for my sector come from?
It is VA Horizon's own published pricing range for the sector you select, not a third-party estimate. Rates vary within the published range by qualification depth and volume, and your exact rate is quoted on a call. See how pricing works.
Is $700 to $1,250 the industry-standard cost per meeting for an in-house SDR?
It is a converging estimate from two named agencies, SalesHive and Belkins, describing what a fully-loaded in-house SDR typically costs per qualified meeting once ramp and turnover are factored in. This calculator's output at the default settings lands inside that published band, which is a reasonable sanity check, not a guarantee your own number will match.

Skip the hiring, the ramp, and the turnover.

Human + AI SDRs qualify every reply over SMS and book the meeting straight onto your calendar. Pay per booked, double-confirmed meeting, no retainers, and a no-show never costs you a meeting. Book a 15-minute call to see your exact rate.

Book a Call

More B2B tools

Keep running the numbers

Meeting ROI Calculator Pipeline Coverage Calculator No-Show Cost Calculator How B2B Pricing Works

Recommended next steps

Continue with the most relevant next step

MCA Submissions Pipeline Calculator | Funded Deals to Meetings MCA Cost Per Funded Deal Calculator B2B Industries How B2B Works