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Estimate the workflow before you automate it.
Turn frequency, handling time, tool cost and human review into a cautious planning estimate. No invented savings and no data leaves your browser.
THE ECONOMIC CHECK
Count the hidden work.
Automation cost is more than a subscription. Include building, testing, human review and maintenance. Use measured inputs whenever possible.
PLANNING ESTIMATEPreview updates as you type
Worth a controlled pilot
The estimate supports a small pilot. Validate the real handling time, error rate and human-review effort before expanding.
Setup-cost proxy: $280 · Indicative payback: 0.9 months.
This is a decision aid, not a financial forecast or guarantee. It assumes recovered time becomes useful capacity and excludes taxes, financing, downtime, error costs and opportunity cost. Validate the inputs against a measured baseline.
ROUTINESMITH OPERATING RULES
A positive estimate is permission to test—not permission to scale.
Measure first
Record a representative baseline before changing the process.
Price the review
Human checking and exception handling are real operating costs.
Pilot narrowly
Use synthetic or low-risk data and keep the workflow reversible.
Stop on evidence
Pause when errors, missed cases or maintenance exceed the agreed limit.
Automation ROI calculator FAQ
Is this a guaranteed return on investment?
No. It is a planning estimate based entirely on the assumptions you enter. Validate frequency, handling time, errors and review effort with a measured baseline and a small pilot.
What should I include in monthly cost?
Include subscriptions, usage charges, monitoring and the time a person spends checking exceptions, maintaining the workflow and recovering from failures.
Why include only part of the task as automatable?
A reliable workflow usually leaves judgement, sensitive decisions and uncertain cases with a person. Treating 100 percent of a process as automatable often hides review and exception work.
Does RoutineSmith receive my numbers?
No. The estimate runs in your browser. RoutineSmith records only anonymous events such as starting or completing the calculator, not the values you enter.
Why cautious estimates matter
Research on small-business AI adoption identifies skills, time, integration, maintenance cost and uncertainty about value as persistent barriers. A written baseline and a limited pilot make those assumptions visible before a larger commitment.
Run the control test with real observations.
Use the estimate as a planning baseline, then record representative messages, exceptions, reviewer effort and ownership gaps. The estimate is not proof of ROI.
Open the seven-day control testNeed to retrace a decision? Return to the pilot path.