Budget & forecast

What they cost to run, in tokens and dollars

Every aiemployee is bought once, outright. Running one uses Claude: either the Claude plan your people already have, or tokens billed on the Claude API. Here is what that comes to, with worked examples and a calculator, so you can forecast before you buy.

Two ways to pay for the running

On a Claude plan

On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team there is no per-job bill: the work comes out of the plan's usage, and heavier employees use it faster. Enterprise bills usage by model and task. Claude's plans:

Pro · $20 a month ($17 billed yearly)
Max · $100 a month, 5x Pro usage, and $100 a month in Claude API credits
Ultra · $200 a month, 10x Pro usage, no 5-hour limit, and $200 a month in Claude API credits
Team, Standard seat · $25 a seat a month ($20 billed yearly), with $20 a seat in Claude API credits
Team, Premium seat · $125 a seat a month ($100 billed yearly), 5x a Standard seat, with $100 a seat in Claude API credits (a team's credits pool, up to $500 a month)
Enterprise · $20 a seat a month billed yearly, 20 seats at least, plus usage billed by model and task

Max, Ultra and Team now come with monthly Claude API credits, so work you run on the API can come out of those first.

On the Claude API

Billed by the token. The two models most work runs on:

Claude Sonnet 5.5 · $2 per million tokens in, $10 out
Claude Opus 5.5 · $4 per million tokens in, $20 out

The Batch API halves both prices for work that can wait. Re-read material (cached input) costs a twentieth of normal input on Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5.

Prices from claude.com/pricing and Claude's model pages, checked November 1, 2026. Anthropic sets and changes them; check before you budget.

Token use, in dollars

What a typical job costs on the API

Token use	On staff	Tokens a typical one-off job	Sonnet 5.5	Opus 5.5
Light	2,378	7,000–27,000	$0.03–$0.11	$0.06–$0.22
Moderate	1,418	9,000–37,000	$0.04–$0.15	$0.07–$0.30
Heavy	203	13,000–49,000	$0.05–$0.20	$0.10–$0.39
Very heavy	60	17,000–75,000	$0.07–$0.30	$0.14–$0.60

A rough guide, read off how each employee is set to work: its level, its Craft, Judgment and Command dials. A job is taken as three parts reading to one part writing, with no caching or batch discount, so these lean high. Big files, batches and long conversations use more.

Cost scope

Worked examples

Six businesses, each with a goal, the employees that help reach it, what they cost to buy and what they cost to run.

A solo owner closes the books

The goal: Books closed by the 5th, every month.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with big files (bank exports, ledgers))
1 × Bookkeeper	Specialist · L2	12 a month each	55,200

Bought once: $144
Tokens a month: about 397,440–1,192,320
On the Claude API, a month: $1.59–$4.77 with Sonnet 5.5 · $3.18–$9.54 with Opus 5.5
Year one, on Sonnet 5.5: about $176, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

A small marketing team ships more

The goal: Twice the campaigns, the same three people.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with everyday files)
1 × Copywriter	Associate · L1	40 a month each	19,500
1 × Social Media Manager	Specialist · L2	40 a month each	28,350
1 × Email Marketer	Manager · L5	20 a month each	37,350

Bought once: $843
Tokens a month: about 1,596,600–4,789,800
On the Claude API, a month: $6.39–$19.16 with Sonnet 5.5 · $12.77–$38.32 with Opus 5.5
Year one, on Sonnet 5.5: about $971, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

A help desk answers faster

The goal: Every customer answered the same day.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with real files and batches)
2 × Customer Support Rep	Operator · L3	60 a month each	25,000

Bought once: $466
Tokens a month: about 1,800,000–5,400,000
On the Claude API, a month: $7.20–$21.60 with Sonnet 5.5 · $14.40–$43.20 with Opus 5.5
Year one, on Sonnet 5.5: about $610, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

A store launch

The goal: A new Shopify store live in a month.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with real files and batches)
1 × Shopify Theme Developer	Director · L6	20 a project each	59,000
1 × Product Listing Writer	Workflow Lead · L4	30 a project each	34,000
1 × Copywriter	Specialist · L2	15 a project each	36,800

Bought once: $2,118
Tokens for the project: about 1,651,200–4,953,600
On the Claude API, for the project: $6.60–$19.81 with Sonnet 5.5 · $13.21–$39.63 with Opus 5.5
Total for the project, on Sonnet 5.5: about $2,129, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

A nonprofit raises more

The goal: More grants out the door, every donor thanked.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with real files and batches)
1 × Development Director	Director · L6	10 a month each	61,600
1 × Grant Writer	Specialist · L2	12 a month each	36,800
1 × Donor Relations Writer	Associate · L1	30 a month each	26,200
1 × Impact Report Writer	Associate · L1	8 a month each	26,000

Bought once: $1,919
Tokens a month: about 1,230,960–3,692,880
On the Claude API, a month: $4.92–$14.77 with Sonnet 5.5 · $9.85–$29.54 with Opus 5.5
Year one, on Sonnet 5.5: about $2,017, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

A finance department runs leaner

The goal: A close, a forecast and board numbers every month.

Who	Level	Work	Tokens a job (with real files and batches)
1 × Financial Analyst	Director · L6	30 a month each	59,000
2 × Bookkeeper	Manager · L5	40 a month each	47,800
3 × Bookkeeper	Specialist · L2	50 a month each	36,800
3 × Financial Analyst	Specialist · L2	30 a month each	36,200

Bought once: $3,681
Tokens a month: about 8,623,200–25,869,600
On the Claude API, a month: $34.49–$103 with Sonnet 5.5 · $68.99–$207 with Opus 5.5
Year one, on Sonnet 5.5: about $4,371, including buying them
On Pro, Max, Ultra or Team: no per-job bill; the work comes out of the plan your people already have. Heavy use may call for Max, Ultra or Team Premium seats.

Your forecast

The forecast calculator

Add the employees you have in mind, how much work each takes on, and how big the files are. It works out the tokens, the monthly and yearly API cost, and the one-time price of buying them.

Turn on JavaScript to use the calculator.

Budget for a hire, or for an aiemployee

What the same kind of work costs, side by side

An aiemployee doesn't replace the person. It drafts the work in Claude, and someone at your company checks it. Use the two budgets to see what adding the capacity costs before you budget for a new seat.

The job	Median pay	Budget for a hire, with benefits	The aiemployee for it (Operator, L3)	Its first year
BookkeeperBookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks	$50,670	$73,971	Méabh Kenny, AE-2398$233 once + $0.98 a month	$245
Payroll Prep ClerkPayroll and timekeeping clerks	$58,260	$85,051	Jun Endmark, AE-0180$233 once + $0.96 a month	$245
Customer Support RepCustomer service representatives	$44,770	$65,358	Nils Parley, AE-0245$233 once + $0.97 a month	$245
Executive AssistantExecutive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	$76,590	$111,810	Eduardo Domínguez, AE-2999$233 once + $0.96 a month	$245
Care Coordination SchedulerMedical secretaries and administrative assistants	$45,930	$67,051	Dov Whitepine, AE-0400$233 once + $0.98 a month	$245
Medical Coding PrepMedical records specialists	$51,140	$74,657	Warrick Fernshade, AE-0395$233 once + $0.98 a month	$245
Claims AssistantInsurance claims and policy processing clerks	$49,230	$71,869	Zuri Finishwell, AE-3776$233 once + $1.00 a month	$245
Contract SummarizerParalegals and legal assistants	$62,890	$91,810	Fiachra McCarthy, AE-3399$233 once + $0.94 a month	$244
Technical WriterTechnical writers	$90,390	$131,956	Zofia Openhand, AE-0202$233 once + $0.96 a month	$245
Compliance Checklist KeeperCompliance officers	$80,730	$117,854	Rogelio Ávila, AE-3020$233 once + $0.96 a month	$245
Project ManagerProject management specialists	$102,320	$149,372	Diana Díaz, AE-3004$233 once + $0.95 a month	$244
Market & Competitive ResearcherMarket research analysts	$78,760	$114,978	Zodwa Mhlongo, AE-2818$233 once + $0.98 a month	$245
RecruiterHuman resources specialists	$75,940	$110,861	Róisín Foley, AE-2424$233 once + $0.96 a month	$245

The hire: the job's national median pay, then benefits added at the share employers paid for full-time private-industry workers (31.5% of the total). The aiemployee: the lightest Operator on staff for the job, plus a year of 20 typical jobs a month on the Claude API (Sonnet 5.5); on a Claude plan the running is nothing extra. Pay varies by place and experience. Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025 median pay) · BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026. May 2025 pay (BLS, published May 2026) and June 2026 benefit costs (BLS, published September 2026).