Cost control

AI cost audit checklist for small teams

A short monthly audit helps small teams keep useful AI tools while removing spend that no longer supports real work. The aim is not to cut every subscription; it is to make ownership, usage, and value visible before costs quietly compound.

1. Make one complete tool list

List every AI subscription, API account, browser extension, and automation that can create a charge. Record the owner, billing cycle, renewal date, plan, monthly cost, and payment method. Include tools bought with personal cards or inside larger SaaS plans.

2. Check seats and real activity

For each paid seat, ask whether the person used the tool in the past 30 days and whether a shared workflow depends on it. Remove former teammates, downgrade occasional users, and avoid paying for multiple tools that do the same daily job.

3. Review usage-based costs

Compare API requests, image credits, automation tasks, transcription minutes, and storage with the limits in your current plan. Sudden increases often come from retries, duplicated workflows, long prompts, or an integration running more often than expected.

4. Measure value in a simple way

Ask the tool owner what recurring task is faster or better because of the product. Estimate hours saved per month, then compare that value with the subscription cost. A tool with a clear owner and repeatable use case is usually easier to keep than one purchased for occasional experiments.

5. Decide: keep, change, or cancel

• Keep: active use, clear owner, and a workflow that would be slower without it.
• Change: reduce seats, switch billing frequency, cap usage, or move to a lower plan.
• Cancel: no recent use, duplicated capability, or no measurable role in the team workflow.

Turn the audit into a monthly habit

Set a calendar reminder a few weeks before major renewals. Track the decisions in an AI subscription tracker, then use the budget calculator to see the total impact of seats, usage, and add-ons together.