TestingBudget

Total Cost

Year 1 total

Build cost plus one year of ongoing cost — the first-year budget line.

Unit
money
Where you enter it
Computed; shown on the Total Cost tab.

What it means

The one-time build cost added to a single year of ongoing cost. It is the figure a budget holder approves for the first year and the peak of every annual cost chart, because the build lands entirely in year one.

Why it matters to the cost

Year one is where a low-build tool looks best and a homegrown framework looks worst; over a longer horizon the ongoing lines take over. Quoting only year one, or only the five-year figure, each tells half the story — the calculator shows both.

Typical values

For a 300-case suite: roughly $50,000–$100,000 for automation tools; around $100,000 for a manual baseline.

Typical values describe a category of tool — AI-native, codeless, script-based, homegrown, manual — never a named product. Why we do not price named products.

Where it appears in the model

Totals, per application

Annual ongoing cost
Run cost per year + Maintenance cost per year + Licensing and infrastructure (allocated)
Year 1 total
Build cost + Annual ongoing cost
Analysis horizon
Build cost + Annual ongoing cost × years in the horizon — the total over the horizon

Every name is a link to its definition. See the whole model.

Try it with your numbers

Year 1 total is a row in the calculator. Change it and every total on the page moves with it — free, in your browser, nothing to install.

See how year 1 total impacts the calculation of test automation costs

Related terms

  • Build cost Build effort at the effective hourly rate, plus build tokens — the one-time cost of standing the suite up, landing in year one.
  • Annual ongoing cost What a vendor costs every year after the build: run, maintenance, licensing and infrastructure summed.
  • Analysis horizon How many years the comparison runs over — five by default — and the total cost of ownership across them.

Last reviewed 2026-09-15. All terms.