CI time-saved ROI calculator
Faster CI saves waiting time. Enter your team's numbers to see how many hours and how many dollars that is each month.
- Time saved a month
- 84.0 h
- 1,260 runs × 4.0 min
- Value a month
- $6,720
- Value a year
- $80,640
| Step | Maths | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Runs a month | 10 × 2 × 3 × 21 days | 1,260 |
| Minutes saved | 1,260 × 4 | 5,040 |
| Hours saved | minutes ÷ 60 | 84.0 |
| Dollar value | 84.0 h × $80 | $6,720 |
This is time, not cash. Part of it is only real if people would otherwise wait.
Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Enter the number of developers and how many pull requests each one opens a day.
- Enter how many CI runs each PR triggers and how many minutes a faster run would save.
- Enter a loaded hourly cost per developer. Read the hours and dollars per month and per year.
Frequently asked questions
How is the saving calculated?
Developers × PRs a day × runs per PR × 21 working days gives runs a month. Multiply by minutes saved, divide by 60 for hours, then multiply by the hourly cost.
Is every saved minute really saved?
No. Some people switch tasks while CI runs, so not all waiting is lost time. Use a lower hourly cost or fewer minutes if you want a cautious number.
What number should I use for minutes saved?
Measure it. Run the same job on both runners and compare the times in the checks list. Do not guess a speedup.
Does this include the runner bill?
No. This tool prices time only. Use the monthly CI budget planner or the Actions cost calculator for the runner bill.
Embed this calculator on your site
Free to embed on blogs and docs. Paste this HTML where you want it to appear:
<iframe src="https://compiler.dev/embed/ci-time-saved-roi-calculator" title="CI time-saved ROI calculator" width="100%" height="560" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Calculator by <a href="https://compiler.dev/tools/ci-time-saved-roi-calculator">compiler.dev</a></p>Related tools
- Cost of slow CI calculatorWork out what slow CI costs your team each year from engineers, waits per day, minutes per wait and hourly cost, plus the saving from faster builds.
- Monthly CI budget plannerPlan your monthly CI budget from team size, PRs a day, runs per PR and minutes per run. Compare GitHub and compiler.dev, with a cost per day.
- Cache hit savings estimatorEstimate the minutes and dollars a dependency or build cache saves each month. Enter runs, cold and warm build times and your cache hit rate.
- Test shard calculatorFind how many CI shards you need to hit a target time. Enter suite minutes, target minutes and setup time per shard. See wall time and cost.