LLM Evaluation Burn Rate Calculator

Size the burn rate for LLM human evaluations so you can right-size staffing or justify automation. Input the number of test cases per release, average minutes per review, and the fully-loaded analyst cost. Optional fields let you tweak release cadence and automated coverage to see the monthly and annual run rate for keeping evaluation gates in place.

Number of prompts or scenarios you review before promoting a new checkpoint.
Average analyst time spent scoring each evaluation sample.
Include wages, benefits, vendor fees, and tooling for the human evaluation team.
Optional. Defaults to 4 releases per month.
Optional. Defaults to 0%. Enter the share of evaluations handled by automated scoring to reduce manual volume.

Evaluation staffing and cost structures vary by organization. Validate assumptions with your finance and ML operations teams before committing budgets.

Examples

  • 450 cases per release, 3.5 minutes each, $85/hr reviewers, 4 releases, 30% automation ⇒ Manual evaluation hours per release: 18.38 • Human cost per release: $1,561.94 • Monthly evaluation spend: $6,247.76 • Annual evaluation spend: $74,973.12 • Manual cost per evaluated case: $5.19 • Automation removes 30.00% of cases, leaving 315.00 manual reviews each release.
  • 800 cases, 2 minutes each, $60/hr reviewers, 2 releases, automation blank ⇒ Manual evaluation hours per release: 26.67 • Human cost per release: $1,600.00 • Monthly evaluation spend: $3,200.00 • Annual evaluation spend: $38,400.00 • Manual cost per evaluated case: $2.00 • Automation coverage left blank (0%).

FAQ

Can I model multiple reviewer tiers?

Run separate scenarios for each reviewer tier (e.g., domain experts vs. BPO contractors) and blend the outputs according to their share of the workload.

How do I account for escalation re-reviews?

Increase the minutes per evaluation to include rework time, or add the expected re-review count to the evaluation cases input.

What cadence should I enter for continuous delivery?

Use the average number of gated releases you expect each month. For daily deploys with weekly evaluation cycles, enter four releases per month.

Does the calculator include model inference costs?

No. Layer in your inference or fine-tuning spend separately, then compare to the human evaluation burn to prioritize automation.

Additional Information

  • Review minutes should include grading, rubric notes, and ticketing overhead tied to each sampled response.
  • Fully-loaded cost covers salary, benefits, overhead, and any vendor platform fees so budget owners see the true burn.
  • Automation coverage models deterministic checks, rubric heuristics, or synthetic judges that replace human review volume.

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