How much does AI automation cost? Real prices for 2026
"It depends" is true but useless. So here are the actual prices businesses are paying in 2026, from published price lists and agencies' own websites, for everything from an off-the-shelf AI receptionist to a fully custom build. We don't list our own fees here. They depend on scope and we agree them before any work starts. But you should know what the market looks like before you talk to anyone, us included.
The short answer
| What you're buying | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Off-the-shelf AI receptionist app | From about $100 to $200 a month for small business plans |
| Human answering service | About $250 to $2,100 a month, depending on minutes or calls |
| Simple automation (a few connected steps) | About $1,000 to $2,000 per project |
| Mid-sized automation project | About $5,000 to $20,000 |
| Large or enterprise automation | $40,000 and up |
| Custom AI agent build | From about $20,000 to $300,000+, depending on complexity |
| Paid diagnostic or audit | About $5,000 to $7,500 for a fixed-scope engagement |
| Ongoing agency retainer | About $2,500 to $7,500 a month |
| Automation consultant, hourly | About $200 to $400 an hour |
Sources: published plan prices from answering and AI receptionist providers, and pricing published on AI agencies' and consultancies' own websites, checked in October 2026. Prices are in US dollars.
AI receptionist cost
Off-the-shelf AI receptionist apps
Small business plans we found start at around $100 to $200 a month. Some charge per minute on top, others offer unlimited calls on a flat plan. You get a voice agent that answers, takes messages and often books appointments, set up by you from templates.
Good for a simple business with standard questions and a supported calendar.
Human answering services
Published prices for well-known services run from about $250 a month for 50 minutes up to about $1,725 a month for 500 minutes on minute-based plans. Call-based plans run from about $300 a month for 30 calls to about $2,100 a month for 300 calls. Costs rise with every extra call.
Good for unusual or sensitive calls where a person matters.
A custom AI receptionist
Built around your phone line, calendar, CRM and the exact questions your team asks. You pay for the build and then for usage and upkeep. This sits in the "simple" to "mid-sized" project range above, depending on how much it connects to.
Good for businesses with real call volume, specific booking rules or several systems to connect. See how our AI receptionist works.
AI agent cost
A custom AI agent is priced by what it has to do and connect to, not by the agent itself.
- A focused agent doing one job inside your existing tools, like drafting email replies or filing documents, usually falls in the mid-sized project range.
- An agent with several steps, several systems and strict accuracy needs costs more.
- Enterprise agent programs run into six figures. One enterprise AI developer publishes a range of about $20,000 to $300,000+ for AI agent builds.
Running costs are usually small next to the build: AI model usage, hosting, and any software subscriptions it relies on.
AI automation agency pricing
Agencies price in a few common ways:
- Per project: a fixed price for a defined build. Published ranges run from about $1,000 for simple automations to $40,000+ for large ones.
- Paid diagnostic first: a fixed-price audit before any build. Published examples sit around $5,000 to $7,500.
- Monthly retainer: ongoing building and maintenance. One agency publishes plans from about $2,500 to $7,500 a month, plus setup.
- Phased programs: discovery, then a larger transformation. One AI firm publishes $15,000 to $30,000 for discovery and $80,000 to $250,000 for a full program.
- Hourly: automation consultants commonly charge about $200 to $400 an hour.
What drives the price up or down
- How many systems it has to connect to, and whether they have proper ways to connect (some industry software makes this hard)
- How accurate it has to be, and what happens if it's wrong
- How much messy data needs cleaning first
- Whether it needs to talk to customers by phone or text, which adds rules and registration
- Whether you want it maintained and improved, or handed over
How to tell if it's worth it
Work out what the task costs you now: hours a week across everyone who touches it, times their real hourly cost, plus the value of work you lose because it's slow. If a system pays for itself within months on cautious numbers, it's worth doing. If it only works on optimistic numbers, start somewhere else.
Try the AI ROI calculator to put numbers on it.
How we price
We charge a fixed fee per phase, agreed before we start, with no hourly billing. Agent OS, our diagnostic and first build, comes with a guarantee: if we can't find at least $100K a year you're leaving on the table, you don't pay.
Book a call to get a price for your specific build.