Project Cost Calculator
Build a project budget from the people and costs it needs. List each role with its hours and hourly cost, add other costs such as licences, hardware or travel, and set a contingency. The calculator shows labour cost and hours, other costs, contingency, the total estimate, the blended hourly cost and – if you enter a budget – whether the estimate fits and by how much.
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Free to use
One line per role or person.
Licences, hardware, travel, fees…
How to use Project Cost Calculator
- List roles: role | hours | hourly cost.
- List other costs: item | amount.
- Set the contingency.
- Compare the total with the budget.
Project Cost Calculator features
Roles and hours
Labour cost per role.
Other costs
Licences, travel, hardware.
Contingency
For risks and changes.
Budget check
Over or under.
Paste from spreadsheets
Tab or | separated lines.
Any currency
Choose from 30+ currencies; amounts are formatted for it.
When to use Project Cost Calculator
- Internal project approvals.
- Agency and consultancy estimates.
- Grant and funding applications.
- Comparing delivery options.
Project Cost Calculator FAQ
How much contingency?
10–20% is common; more for new technology or unclear requirements.
Hourly cost or hourly rate?
For internal budgets use cost (salary plus overheads); for client prices use your billing rates.
What is a blended rate?
Total labour cost divided by total hours – useful for quick estimates of similar projects.
Can I split by phase?
Run the calculator for each phase and add them up.
Estimating with roles
Bottom-up estimates – hours per role – are more reliable than a single guess for the whole project, because each person can check their own part.
Keep the contingency visible instead of hiding it in hours; it makes the risk discussion honest.
Re-run the numbers whenever an input changes – a supplier raises prices, a fee is updated or demand shifts – because small changes in costs or volumes often have a large effect on the result.
The calculator is deliberately simple: it uses the figures you enter and shows the arithmetic, so you can follow every step and repeat it in a spreadsheet when you want to build a fuller model.