Cost per meeting calculator: what a held meeting really costs

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Enter a quote’s fees and your own assumptions. See the total over the term, the cost of each meeting that actually took place, and what a month with no meetings costs. Compare up to three quotes side by side.

Using the calculator

Each quote starts from your own figures or from a preset: ROI Maximizer's published terms, or the sourced figures for another firm. For your own figures, enter the monthly fee, the one-off setup and the per-meeting fee, and whether that fee is charged on booked or held meetings. Then set your assumptions: the months in the term, meetings booked a month and the no-show rate. For each quote the calculator shows the cost per held meeting, the total over the term, how many meetings were held, what a month with zero meetings costs and, where meetings are billed when booked, what was paid for no-shows. Add a second and a third quote to compare them side by side.

Short answer: A meeting really costs everything you pay over the term, divided by the meetings that took place. On a retainer, a month with no meetings costs the full fee. On pay per booked meeting, you also pay for no-shows. On pay per held meeting, an empty month costs nothing. Compare up to three quotes above.

The formula

For each quote:

Held meetings = months × meetings booked a month × (1 − no-show rate).
Per-meeting charges = per-meeting fee × booked meetings, or × held meetings, depending on what the contract bills.
Total cost = setup + months × monthly fee + per-meeting charges.
Cost per held meeting = total cost ÷ held meetings.
Cost of a zero-meeting month = the monthly fee.

I divide by held meetings because a no-show closes nothing. The longer version is in appointment setting cost per meeting.

The inputs

Months in the term. Use the minimum term or pilot. Presets with a published or reported minimum set it.
Fees and what they are charged on. Copy them from the quote. Pay per meeting sometimes means booked, so read the invoice clause.
Meetings booked a month and no-show rate. Your assumptions. Most vendors publish neither.

Presets and their sources

Every competitor figure is copied from one of our pricing write-ups, with the original page linked. Ranges stay ranges. Where a firm publishes no price, the figure is a labelled third-party estimate.

Firm	Figures used	Source and check date
ROI Maximizer	$1,000 to $3,000 setup, then $200 to $500 per qualified meeting that took place	Our published terms, published by ROI Maximizer (us)
ROI Maximizer	$5,000 a month, flat, no per-meeting fee	Our published terms, published by ROI Maximizer (us)
SalesRoads	$11,950 per four weeks for one SDR, about $12,950 a calendar month	salesroads.com/pricing, as published by SalesRoads, checked 14 October 2026
CIENCE	$4,249 a month (one offshore SDR) to $6,999 (one US SDR), before setup or bonus	cience.com/pricing, as published by CIENCE, checked 14 October 2026
Martal Group	$4,100 to $11,500 a month	Cleverly’s Martal Group review, low end as reported by Cleverly (17 July 2026), checked 14 October 2026; martal.ca/roi-calculator, high end as published by Martal Group, checked 14 October 2026
Belkins	$5,000 to $14,800+ a month	Salesforge’s Belkins review, as reported by Salesforge (updated 23 August 2026), checked 13 October 2026
Callbox	$16,000 to $32,000 a month per pod	callboxinc.com/lead-generation-pricing, as published by Callbox (estimated monthly investment), checked 14 October 2026
SalesHive	$5,000 to $12,000 a month	LeadHaste’s SalesHive review, as reported by LeadHaste (updated 11 October 2026), checked 13–14 October 2026

I run ROI Maximizer, so I compete with every other firm in that table. Our per-meeting terms are a range, not a price: $1,000 to $3,000 setup, then $200 to $500 per qualified meeting that took place, with no minimum term. The full terms are in pay per meeting lead generation pricing.

What it leaves out

Bonuses and commissions, such as CIENCE's held-meeting bonus and Martal's sales commission. Neither is fully published.
Setup fees only quoted on a call.
Notice periods, such as SalesHive's extra billing month.
Meeting quality. A cheap meeting with the wrong person is still expensive.

The ROI calculator tells you what a meeting is worth to you, which is the most you should pay.

Frequently asked questions

What does a meeting really cost on a retainer?

The retainer for the whole term, divided by the meetings that took place. A month with no meetings still costs the full fee. Ask every retainer agency what a zero-meeting month costs, and get the answer in writing.

Is pay per meeting always cheaper than a retainer?

No. At high volume and a low deal value, a flat fee wins. At 40 meetings a month, $200 to $500 a meeting is $8,000 to $20,000, against our flat $5,000. Pay per meeting vs retainer lead generation has the full comparison.

Why count held meetings instead of booked ones?

A no-show produces nothing you can close. On a contract that bills per booked meeting, every no-show raises the cost of the meetings that happened. The calculator shows that as money paid for no-shows.

Where do the competitor figures come from?

From each vendor's pricing page, or from a third-party review where the vendor publishes nothing. Each preset links its source and check date. Prices change, so the order form is the price.