Expect $500 to $3,000 to build a first AI automation and $50 to $200 a month to run it. A custom system that replaces a manual back office costs $8,000 to $25,000, and doing it yourself on a business-tier AI assistant costs about $20 per user per month. These are published US prices from one agency, so use them as a planning band.
Most of the five and six figure numbers you will find online describe custom software for enterprise buyers, not a small business configuring tools it can buy off the shelf. The most useful figures come from practitioners who publish what they charge.
What one practitioner charges, by project size
From an automation agency that publishes its prices from work for more than 80 clients (2pizza, dev.to, 2026). It sells this work, so read these as one seller's prices. All figures in US dollars:
- Simple automation connecting two apps: $500 to $1,500
- Multi-step business process: $1,000 to $3,000
- Custom pipeline with AI and error handling: $3,000 to $8,000
- Full custom system replacing a manual back office: $8,000 to $25,000
- Running costs afterwards: $50 to $200 a month for most small businesses
What outside help costs
A one-time AI strategy session is commonly quoted at $500 to $2,500 (IABAC). A market guide from a firm that sells this work puts a fixed-scope first build at $2,500 to $10,000, with payback tending to land at 4 to 8 months (PathOpt). The cheapest entry is doing it yourself on a business-tier AI assistant: ChatGPT Business and Claude Team both list at $20 per user per month billed annually, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at $21 on top of a Microsoft 365 plan (vendor pricing pages, checked 1 October 2026).
No Canada-specific pricing data was found. Every range here is US or global.
What actually drives the cost up
Not the AI. The plumbing: connecting to your CRM or accounting system, handling the cases where something fails, and having someone who can fix it. A useful test: if the automation breaks and nobody notices for a week, you are buying configuration. If your operations stop by lunchtime, you are buying software, and software costs more to build and to support.
Before you accept a quote
- Get a fixed price for a first project of two or three workflows, not an open-ended engagement.
- Make the quote name the monthly running cost: subscriptions, API usage, and support. The build price is only the first line of year one.
- Ask what happens when it breaks, who fixes it, and what that costs.
Sources. How much does AI automation cost in 2026, dev.to. IABAC, AI consultation cost. PathOpt, AI consultant vs AI automation agency. Claude pricing. Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing. Project price bands are as published by those sources, two of which sell this work, and have not been independently audited.
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About this page. Written to answer one question directly. Figures are attributed inline to where they come from, survey averages are labelled as averages, and enterprise research is labelled as enterprise research. Nothing here is a vendor recommendation: Blue Harbour sells no software, does no implementation work, and takes no commissions or referral fees. Last checked 1 October 2026.
Disclosure. Trevor Jamieson holds a contract role as Partner Marketing Director at Amazon Web Services and is co-founder and CEO of PhoneStack. Blue Harbour Solutions is not an AWS partner or reseller and earns nothing from any tool a reader chooses. Nothing here is written, reviewed or endorsed by AWS. Full independence statement.