Getting customers
How much does an SDR cost?
An SDR costs more than the salary you offer, because payroll taxes, benefits, software and management time sit on top. Pay and costs differ by city and company, so the useful way to price one is to add up your own numbers. The table below shows how, using round assumptions you should replace with yours.
Updated October 2026
The cost is more than the salary
When a founder asks what an SDR costs, they usually mean pay. Pay is the largest line, but not the only one. You also carry employer payroll taxes, benefits, a laptop, a phone, software seats, and the time of the person who manages them. And for the first few months the rep produces little while they learn your product.
Salaries for the role vary widely by city, industry and whether there is a commission plan. I will not quote a market average here because I cannot verify one for your market. Look at current job postings for the same title in your city and use the middle of what you see.
A worked example with round numbers
These inputs are assumptions chosen to make the arithmetic easy. Replace each one with your own.
Line Assumption Per year Base pay $60,000 $60,000 Variable pay $10,000 if they hit target $10,000 Payroll taxes and benefits About 20 percent of base $12,000 Software seats and equipment $3,000 $3,000 Manager time 4 hours a week at a $60 an hour value $12,480 Total $97,480
The manager line is 4 hours times 52 weeks times $60, which is $12,480. The total is $97,480, or about $8,100 a month, before any recruiting fee.
If a recruiter finds the person and charges a fee, add it. If the rep is hired in March and leaves in December, add the hiring cost again.
Ramp time is a hidden cost
A new rep needs weeks to learn your offer, your buyer and your tools before sending a single good email. Suppose it takes three months to reach steady output. At $8,100 a month, that is $24,300 spent before the rep is fully useful. The math gets worse if the person does not work out and you start again.
Add one more thing: an SDR has working hours. Replies that come in at 9 pm on a Friday wait until Monday.
Compared with software
An AI worker does the same list of tasks for a fixed monthly price. Rocketship Launch is $24.99 a month, which is $299.88 over a year. Frontier is $79 a month, or $948 over a year. Mission Control is $1,499 a month, or $14,990 billed yearly, and is built for teams working about 6,500 leads a month.
These are not the same thing. A person can run a meeting and read a room. Software cannot. What it takes over is the finding, sending, following up and booking, which is most of the SDR day. If you want the comparison laid out, read <A href="/answers/ai-sdr-vs-human-sdr">AI SDR vs a human SDR</A>.
When hiring a person is the right call
Hire when you have a proven message, more replies than you can handle, and deals complicated enough that someone needs to work them full time. Do not hire to find out whether outbound works. Test that yourself or with software first, for a month, with a list of 100.
The longer cost comparison is on do I need an SDR, or can AI do outbound. For what Rocketship covers and costs, see pricing. Builder, Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required.
Related questions
- How much does it cost to hire an SDR?
- Add base pay, variable pay, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, manager time and ramp time. With the round assumptions on this page, the total is about $97,480 a year. Replace each line with your own numbers.
- Is an SDR worth it for a small company?
- Often not at first. Prove the message yourself or with software, then hire when replies outnumber your time.
- What costs more, an SDR or an AI SDR?
- A person costs far more per month. Rocketship starts at $24.99 a month (a phone line is +$5 a month). They do not do the same work, so compare the tasks, not just the prices.
- Can I pay an SDR only on commission?
- Some companies try it, but a rep with no base pay may leave quickly. Check what is normal for the role in your market.
Rocketship finds buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Launch is $24.99 a month, and a phone line is +$5 a month.
See plans and pricing