Compare channels
Cold email
In-house SDR
Paid ads
Appointment-setting agency
LinkedIn outbound
Deal economics (optional)
How it works
Inputs
Each channel takes the two or three numbers that actually drive it: fixed cost, variable cost and meetings produced. Paid ads derive meetings from spend, cost per lead and conversion.
Normalise
Everything is expressed per month, then divided by meetings to give cost per booked meeting.
Extend
Optional close rate and deal size turn cost per meeting into cost per closed deal and pipeline-to-cost, so a channel with better-qualified meetings can win on the column that matters.
Rank
Channels are ordered by cost per meeting. The notes cover the cases where the cheapest number is not the right answer.
Why cost per meeting
Cost per lead is the number every channel reports because it is the number every channel looks good on. A lead is a form fill, a reply, a connection accepted — none of which is a conversation with a buyer. Meetings are the first unit that means the same thing across channels, and they are what a sales team actually consumes. Dividing spend by meetings held is the fairest comparison there is, and it is the one this calculator makes.
What the defaults say
At the numbers most teams actually run, cold email books a meeting for a tenth of what an SDR or a paid campaign does. That is not a trick of the inputs; it is why outbound email exists despite its reputation. The infrastructure is cheap, the marginal cost of another thousand sends is close to zero, and the reply rate on a well-built list is high enough that thirty meetings a month from a modest fleet is ordinary. The defaults are what I see across client fleets, not a best case.
Where the cheap number is wrong
Quality. Thirty cold-email meetings include a share of people who took the call to be polite. An SDR's twelve were qualified on the phone first. If the close rate on one channel is double another's, cost per closed deal reverses the ranking — which is why the deal-economics inputs exist. The other place the number misleads is scale: cold email is cheap per meeting up to the volume your domains can carry, and the cost of doubling is a fleet expansion, not a budget line.
Using it in the room
The comparison usually settles an argument between "hire another SDR" and "spend on outbound infrastructure". Put both in with honest numbers and the answer is rarely one or the other: the fleet books the meetings, the SDR works them. What this makes visible is the ratio — how many cold-email meetings one SDR's cost buys — and that ratio is what the budget conversation should be about.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per meeting?
Under $50 for cold email with in-house data and labour. $300–800 for an SDR or paid channel. Agencies typically quote $150–500 per meeting plus a retainer.
Why not compare cost per lead?
Because a lead means something different on every channel. A meeting held is the same unit everywhere and is what the sales team actually needs.
How is the SDR cost calculated?
Annual salary and benefits divided by twelve, plus monthly tools and data. It does not include management time or ramp, both of which make the real figure higher.
How are paid-ads meetings derived?
Spend divided by cost per lead gives leads; leads times the meeting conversion rate gives meetings. Adjust the conversion rate to your funnel.
Does cheaper always win?
No. Weight by close rate — the cost-per-deal column — and by how far each channel can scale. Cold email's cost holds until you run out of warmed capacity.
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