Daily Standup Cost Calculator
That quick 15-minute standup happens every single day. Across a year, it adds up to real money. See exactly what your team's daily standup or scrum meeting costs per day, week, month, and year.
Run the numbers on every meeting, not just standups
Use the full meeting cost calculator for one-off and recurring meetings, with a live ticker you can run during the call.
Open the Meeting Cost Calculator →How the standup cost is calculated
The math is straightforward: cost per standup = (length in hours) × team size × average hourly rate × loaded multiplier. We then project that across your meeting days to show weekly, monthly, and annual totals. The loaded multiplier accounts for benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead, so the figure reflects what the standup actually costs the business rather than just take-home pay.
Why a "quick" standup is more expensive than it feels
Fifteen minutes feels trivial. But a daily standup runs roughly 260 times a year, and you are paying every attendee for every one of those sessions. An eight-person team can easily spend the equivalent of a junior salary on standups alone — before counting the context-switching cost of stopping focused work to attend.
Making standups earn their cost
- Keep them to 15 minutes — use a visible timer.
- Focus on blockers and coordination, not status reports a tool could show.
- Only invite people who act on what's said; everyone else can read notes.
- Try async written standups two or three days a week and compare.
- Move any deep discussion to a smaller, optional follow-up.
For a deeper playbook, see our guide to reducing meeting costs and meeting optimization guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
A 15-minute standup with 8 people at a $70/hour loaded rate costs about $140 per day — roughly $700 a week and over $33,000 a year. Adjust the inputs above for your exact team.
They can be, when they are short, focused on blockers, and limited to the people who need them. They get expensive when they run long, turn into status theatre, or include passive listeners. Use the annual figure to judge whether the format is earning its keep.
Cap them at 15 minutes, literally stand up, move detail to a smaller follow-up, try async written updates a few days a week, and only invite people who act on the information.