There is no single answer, because the cost of an agent depends on what it does. But you can work out your own number before you commit, and you can make sure the worst case is one you chose.
What drives the cost
- The model. Larger models cost more per token. A draft that needs judgement may be worth it; a summary often is not.
- How much it reads. Long transcripts, big files and a large Wiki in every run add up. Pin the pages that matter instead of feeding everything.
- How often it runs. A weekly routine is 4 or 5 runs a month; a daily one is about 22.
- Reruns. Each "request changes" is another run. Clear briefs and a good Wiki reduce them.
- Computer time. An agent that runs code or uses a browser in a sandbox pays for the minutes it is on.
How to estimate yours
- List the jobs: for example, a weekly client update for three clients and a Monday competitor brief.
- Count the runs a month: 3 clients × 4–5 weeks, plus 4–5 briefs, about 20 runs.
- Allow for reruns: add a quarter for the first month.
- Run each job once and read what it cost on the card. Multiply.
The step that matters is the fourth: one real run tells you more than any table.
Make the worst case a number you chose
Most tools bill you after the fact. Afarin checks before: you set caps per card, per person, per agent and for the whole workspace, each run is estimated before the model is called, and a run that would cross a cap does not start. Every card, run and month shows what it cost and which model did the work. People never pay for a seat.
Compared with what
Practices compare agent costs with people, not software: one agency put a setter at "$18-22 an hour", or "$35-45k a year once you add payroll tax" (r/GoHighLevel). The useful question is not "is this cheap" but "what does a reviewed first draft of this job cost, against the hours it saves".