It depends on the task. A straight-line task, such as copying a form into a spreadsheet, can run on a no-code tool. Zapier and Make both have free plans. Zapier's paid plans start at $19.99 a month billed yearly, and Make's at $9 or $10.59 a month, depending on the billing period. A task that branches, reads messages, handles sensitive data or must run reliably at volume needs a custom build. Ours starts with "Your first automation": USD 1,500 for one workflow or one AI agent connected to two or three of your tools, delivered in two weeks. The AI and tool running costs come on top, and each provider bills you for them directly. A bigger build has no list price. It gets a fixed price after a free 30-minute discovery call. Looking after an automation once it runs is "Monthly care", which is optional and starts at USD 500 a month.
The tool prices in this post come from each vendor's pricing page, checked on September 24, 2026, and linked in the list below. They change, so follow the links before you budget.
Business automation, defined plainly
Business automation means having software do a repetitive task that a person does today: moving data between systems, replying to routine inquiries, generating documents, chasing follow-ups, producing reports. An AI agent is one kind of automation. It is a program that reads a request, decides what to do, does it, and records the result. Some automations need AI and some are simple rules, and the cost follows the complexity of the task.
Three kinds of cost
1. Off-the-shelf tools: plans priced by volume
Tools like Zapier, Make and n8n connect your apps with simple rules: when this happens, do that. They suit straight-line tasks that need no judgment. Zapier and Make are no-code tools, so you (or we) can set them up without writing code. Their published prices on September 24, 2026:
- Zapier: a free plan with 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps. Professional starts at $19.99 a month for 750 tasks and Team at $69 a month for 2,000 tasks, both billed yearly.
- Make: a free plan with up to 1,000 credits a month. Core is $9 or $10.59 a month, depending on the billing period, for 10,000 credits a month.
- n8n: the Starter plan is €20 a month billed annually, for 2,500 workflow executions, and Pro is €50 a month billed annually, for 10,000. n8n also publishes a self-hosted Community Edition on GitHub, which you host yourself.
All three charge more as your volume grows. Zapier counts tasks and sells them in tiers from 100 up to 2,000,000, and its pricing page says "You can change tiers as usage grows." Make counts credits: Core costs $16 a month for 20,000 credits, on the same billing period as its $9 price. n8n counts workflow executions, from 2,500 on Starter up to 40,000 on Business, which is €667 a month billed annually.
2. A custom build: "Your first automation" for USD 1,500
When the task branches, needs to read language, handles sensitive data or must run reliably at volume, it needs building. Our first offer for that is "Your first automation": one workflow or one AI agent, connected to two or three of your tools and delivered in two weeks, for a fixed price of USD 1,500. For 30 days after delivery, we fix anything that does not work as agreed in the written scope, for free. Those 30 days do not cover new features, scope changes or changes made by outside tools or AI providers.
The USD 1,500 is for the build. It does not include a second workflow or agent, more than three integrations, or the running costs: AI model usage, any tool subscriptions, hosting and messaging fees such as WhatsApp. Each provider bills those directly, on accounts in your company's name. We set the accounts up with you and add no margin, and before we build, you get a written estimate of the monthly running cost at your volume. Testing during the build runs on the same accounts, so each provider bills that usage to you too. Where a provider has a free test mode, we use it. We set spending limits and usage alerts on each account that allows them, and the estimate shows testing as its own line. You own the code, the workflows and the accounts.
Anything bigger, such as several workflows or a build that spans more systems, gets a fixed price after the free discovery call, with the scope agreed in writing before any work starts.
First we get the requirements clear and work out the workflow from how your business runs. Once we fully understand it, we share it with you: this is how the workflow will run for your business. That way it's clear to you, and if something is wrong, you can tell us right there. When you're happy with it, we start the actual build.
The two weeks start on the day you approve the written workflow design and we have access to the tools it connects to, so the design step is not counted. If we are waiting on you for a login or an answer during the build, the two weeks pause until we have it.
3. "Monthly care": from USD 500 a month
Once an automation is live, someone has to watch it and keep it working. You can take that in-house, or keep us on "Monthly care", from USD 500 a month. It covers monitoring, small improvements and fixes when a connected tool or API changes, which the 30 days of free fixes leave out. It is optional, runs month to month and you can cancel anytime. It starts only after the first build.
What moves the price of a custom build
Four things move the cost more than anything else:
- How many systems it touches. Each extra app is one more connection to build, test and keep in sync.
- How much judgment it needs. Each decision it makes for you, such as whether a lead is worth pursuing, is more to build and test.
- How sensitive the data is. Money and personal data raise the bar on how carefully it must be built.
- Volume. A task that runs 100 times a month and one that runs 100,000 times are different engineering problems.
How to avoid overpaying
- Start with your single most repetitive task. One working automation earns trust, and running it shows you what to automate next.
- Get a fixed price before any work starts. Open-ended hourly work is where automation budgets grow. Agree the number up front, after a proper look at the task. If someone quotes you a large number before they have mapped your process, ask how they got to it before you sign.
Where to start
The quickest way to find your number is a conversation about the specific task. Book a free discovery call: thirty minutes, with no obligation and no sales pitch. We map the task with you and tell you whether "Your first automation" fits it. If it makes sense to go ahead, you then get a plan and a fixed price in writing.