diff --git a/app/Console/Commands/PruneBacklogEntriesCommand.php b/app/Console/Commands/PruneBacklogEntriesCommand.php
index e5dd5c0..536bef7 100644
--- a/app/Console/Commands/PruneBacklogEntriesCommand.php
+++ b/app/Console/Commands/PruneBacklogEntriesCommand.php
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 use Illuminate\Console\Command;
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Config;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
+use Illuminate\Support\Number;
 
 /**
  * Empties the payload columns of entries old enough that nobody will read
@@ -56,21 +58,50 @@ public function handle(): int
             ->whereNotNull('finished_at')
             ->where('finished_at', '<', $cutoff);
 
+        // Measured before the UPDATE empties it, and in SQL — only the sum
+        // crosses into PHP, never a payload.
+        $freeing = self::payloadBytes(clone $matching);
+
         $pruned = $this->option('pretend')
             ? $matching->count()
             : self::prune($matching);
 
         $this->components->info(sprintf(
-            '%s %d %s finished before %s.',
+            '%s %d %s finished before %s, freeing %s of payload.',
             $this->option('pretend') ? 'Would prune' : 'Pruned',
             $pruned,
             $pruned === 1 ? 'entry' : 'entries',
             $cutoff->toDateTimeString(),
+            Number::fileSize($freeing),
         ));
 
         return self::SUCCESS;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * How many bytes of request and response bodies the matching rows hold.
+     *
+     * The number an operator acts on: Postgres reuses the space on its own
+     * but only VACUUM FULL hands it back to the filesystem, so "freeing 3 GB"
+     * says what tonight's run was worth where a before/after of the file
+     * size would read as the prune having done nothing.
+     *
+     * @param  Builder<BacklogEntry>  $matching
+     */
+    private static function payloadBytes(Builder $matching): int
+    {
+        // The cast is Postgres needing text before it will measure json;
+        // SQLite stores the column as text to begin with.
+        $length = match (DB::connection()->getDriverName()) {
+            'pgsql' => 'coalesce(length(request::text), 0) + coalesce(length(output::text), 0)',
+            default => 'coalesce(length(request), 0) + coalesce(length(output), 0)',
+        };
+
+        $bytes = $matching->toBase()->selectRaw("coalesce(sum({$length}), 0) as bytes")->value('bytes');
+
+        return is_numeric($bytes) ? (int) $bytes : 0;
+    }
+
     /**
      * One UPDATE over the base query, not a model loop: hydrating a payload
      * in order to throw it away is the exact cost this command exists to end,
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Console/PruneBacklogEntriesCommandTest.php b/tests/Feature/Console/PruneBacklogEntriesCommandTest.php
index ce4e736..e24c6ea 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Console/PruneBacklogEntriesCommandTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Console/PruneBacklogEntriesCommandTest.php
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
     $before = $entry->fresh()->updated_at->toDateTimeString();
 
+    // One substring, not one per claim: the whole report is a single console
+    // write, and PendingCommand lets each write satisfy only one expectation.
     $this->artisan('backlog:prune')
         ->expectsOutputToContain('Pruned 1 entry finished before')
         ->assertSuccessful();
@@ -89,3 +91,18 @@
     expect($events->filter(fn ($event): bool => str_contains((string) $event->command, 'backlog:prune')))
         ->toHaveCount(1);
 });
+
+it('reports how much payload the run frees', function () {
+    // A hand-sized payload, so the byte count in the report is exact:
+    // {"k":"v"} is nine bytes, and there is no output to add to it.
+    BacklogEntry::factory()->create([
+        'status' => 'completed',
+        'finished_at' => now()->subDays(8),
+        'request' => ['k' => 'v'],
+        'output' => null,
+    ]);
+
+    $this->artisan('backlog:prune')
+        ->expectsOutputToContain('freeing 9 B of payload')
+        ->assertSuccessful();
+});