QA automation ROI calculator: the regression hours a pipeline would give back.
This calculator estimates how many QA hours and how much cost an AI test automation pipeline would return each month, from four numbers you already know: releases a month, hours of manual regression per release, loaded hourly cost, and the share of that effort the pipeline removes. The default reduction is the production figure from a US marina-software company; change it to what you believe. Nothing you type leaves the page.
The calculator
How the estimate is calculated
Releases a month, multiplied by hours of manual regression per release, gives the hours spent today. Multiply by the reduction for hours returned, by loaded hourly cost for money returned, and divide by 160 for full-time-equivalent capacity. Days removed per release is the returned hours per release at eight hours a day.
It ignores what makes the real number larger: releases that ship sooner because nobody is waiting on a regression pass, and the defects a suite catches that a tired manual pass misses. It also ignores what makes it smaller: the framework work before generation starts, and the exploratory testing that should stay with people. The six-step guide covers both.
What to do with the number
Use it to decide whether the release cycle is worth mapping, not to sign anything. On the Automation Audit the same calculation is done against your actual release cadence, your framework, and your coverage gaps, and comes back as a written estimate you keep. If the honest answer is that your product changes slowly enough for a hand-written suite, the map says so.
For how "manual QA effort" was counted behind the default, see the production case study; for the hand-built alternative, the test automation consultant page.
Questions about the calculator
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is stored or transmitted. Refresh the page and it resets to the defaults.
What is a realistic reduction in manual QA effort?
About 80% is the production figure from a US marina-software company, 2025–2026, where the pipeline ended dedicated manual regression cycles. Products with unstable selectors, shared test data, or few repeatable flows will see less until that is fixed, which is why the framework work comes first in the method.
Does this include exploratory testing?
No, on purpose. Exploratory testing is judgment and should stay with people; the calculator counts only the repeatable regression pass a pipeline can take over. The returned hours are usually where the exploratory time comes from.
Related pages
Turn the estimate into a written number.
The free Automation Audit runs this against your real release cycle and sends the result within 48 hours.