What drives the price
There's no honest flat price for an AI agent, because 'an agent' ranges from a single grounded FAQ assistant to a multi-agent system wired into your operations. The cost tracks the complexity of what it has to understand and do.
The biggest drivers are how many systems it integrates with, how complex the tasks are, how much your knowledge base needs cleaning, and how strict the reliability, security, and compliance requirements are.
- Scope: single-purpose agent versus multi-step or multi-agent system
- Integrations: how many of your systems it connects to, and how cleanly
- Knowledge base: how much content prep and structuring it needs
- Channels: chat, email, voice, or all of them
- Reliability and compliance: guardrails, testing, security, and audit needs
- Ongoing costs: model/API usage and maintenance, separate from the build
How we scope and price it
We start with a consultation to understand the job, then scope a specific build rather than quote a number blind. Most projects are priced per defined scope, and we favor starting with the smallest real end-to-end version so you see value before investing further.
We also separate one-time build cost from ongoing running cost. The agent will incur model and infrastructure usage every month, and it needs maintenance as your content and systems change. We're upfront about both so there are no surprises.
- Free consultation first to understand your actual need
- Priced per defined scope, not a mystery flat rate
- Start small end-to-end, then expand what works
- Build cost and monthly running cost stated separately
- Usage costs (model/API) scale with volume
- Maintenance planned in, since agents aren't set-and-forget
More on custom ai agents
Frequently asked questions
Why won't you just give me a price?
Because a real number requires knowing the scope, and a made-up figure would be dishonest. A simple grounded assistant and a multi-system agent differ enormously. Tell us the job on a free consultation and we'll scope it specifically.
What are the ongoing costs after it's built?
Mainly model/API usage, which scales with how much the agent is used, plus infrastructure and maintenance as your content and systems evolve. We separate these from the build cost so you can plan the monthly side honestly.
How do I keep the cost down?
Start narrow. A focused agent that nails one high-value task costs far less than a sprawling do-everything system, and it proves value before you invest more. We deliberately scope the smallest useful version first.