AI Data Labeling Budget Forecaster

Calibrate your data labeling budget before launching an AI project. Enter record volume and per-label pricing, then add consensus requirements, QA rework, management overhead, rush premiums, or contingency buffers to surface total labels, base spend, overhead allocations, and the all-in budget with per-record cost benchmarks.

Total items (images, text prompts, events, etc.) slated for labeling or relabeling.
Unit economics quoted by your labeling vendor or internal workforce per annotation.
Average number of annotations per item, including consensus checks. Defaults to 1 when blank.
Extra labels expected from quality review cycles. Defaults to 15%.
Internal program management or vendor oversight allocation charged on top of base spend. Defaults to 12%.
Premium charged for accelerated SLAs or overnight turns. Defaults to 0% when blank.
Budget buffer for scope creep, new classes, or additional QA passes. Defaults to 10%.

Budgeting estimate — validate scope, annotation complexity, and vendor SLAs before finalizing contracts or internal funding approvals.

Examples

  • 180,000 records, $0.45 per label, 2 labels each, 20% rework, 15% overhead, 5% rush, 12% contingency ⇒ Total labels including QA rework: 432,000. Base annotation spend: $194,400.00 USD. Overhead and rush allocation: $38,880.00 USD. Contingency reserve: $27,993.60 USD. All-in labeling budget: $261,273.60 USD ($1.45 per record).
  • 25,000 records, $0.32 per label, 1 label each, 10% rework, 8% overhead, 0% rush, 8% contingency ⇒ Total labels including QA rework: 27,500. Base annotation spend: $8,800.00 USD. Overhead and rush allocation: $704.00 USD. Contingency reserve: $760.32 USD. All-in labeling budget: $10,264.32 USD ($0.41 per record).

FAQ

How do I model multi-class consensus workflows?

Increase labels per record to reflect the number of annotators voting on each item, then layer QA rework to capture dispute resolution passes.

Can I separate internal payroll from vendor costs?

Yes. Enter vendor unit pricing here and treat internal payroll as part of the management overhead percentage, or run two scenarios and sum the results in your budget sheet.

What if I only label a sample for quality control?

Reduce the record count to the sampled subset and keep the contingency buffer to fund any expansion if model drift requires more coverage.

Does the contingency roll forward if unused?

The tool simply earmarks a reserve. Track actual invoices separately and release unused dollars at project close.

Additional Information

  • QA rework inflates the label count before cost multipliers apply — adjust it based on historic audit failure rates.
  • Management overhead and rush premiums are calculated on the base spend, then the contingency applies to the combined subtotal.
  • Per-record cost divides the all-in budget by total items so you can benchmark bids across vendors or automation scenarios.

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