What actually drives the cost
AI project cost is mostly a function of scope and data, not the model itself. Calling an off-the-shelf model like GPT or Claude is cheap per request; the work is everything around it — preparing your data, building the interface, integrating with your systems, and testing until it is trustworthy.
Two projects with the same one-line description can differ a lot in price depending on how messy your data is, how many systems it has to touch, and how high the cost of a wrong answer is.
- Scope: one focused feature versus a multi-step workflow or full platform
- Data readiness: clean and structured versus scattered across PDFs, emails, and legacy systems
- Approach: prompting is fastest; retrieval (RAG) adds data work; fine-tuning adds training and evaluation
- Integrations: each system it connects to (CRM, database, auth, billing) adds work
- Accuracy and safety bar: higher stakes mean more testing, review, and guardrails
- Ongoing usage: model API fees and hosting are a recurring cost separate from the build
How we price it — and why we won't quote blind
We quote after a short discovery, because an honest number requires knowing your use case, your data, and your integrations. Depending on the project we price it as a fixed-scope build (a defined deliverable for a set fee) or time-and-materials (billed for the hours worked on an evolving scope). Small integrations and full custom platforms sit at very different points on that spectrum.
Separately from the build, budget for running costs: the per-request fees you pay the model provider and any hosting. We size those with you up front so there are no surprises after launch.
- Fixed-scope: best when the deliverable is well defined and you want a predictable number
- Time-and-materials: best for exploratory work where scope will shift as you learn
- A small proof-of-concept first keeps early spend low before committing to the full build
- Recurring costs (model API usage, hosting) are quoted separately from one-time build cost
- We will flag when a cheaper off-the-shelf tool would do the job instead of a custom build
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Frequently asked questions
Why won't you just give me a price on the website?
Because any number posted without knowing your data and scope would be a guess, and a guess helps no one. A 15-minute conversation lets us give you a real range instead of a made-up one.
What's the cheapest way to start?
A small, tightly scoped proof-of-concept on your real data. It costs a fraction of a full build and tells you whether the AI can do the job before you commit a larger budget.
Are there ongoing costs after launch?
Usually yes — you pay the model provider per request and pay for hosting. These scale with usage. We estimate them with you before the build so the running cost is part of your decision, not a surprise.