How Much Does AI Cost a Small Business?

The three ways to pay

• Free or low-cost tools: general AI assistants and features built into software you already use. Good for trying ideas.
• Monthly subscriptions: off-the-shelf AI products charged per user or per month. Costs grow as you add staff.
• One-off builds: a tool built around your business, paid for once, with small or no running costs.

Real examples

These are fixed prices for projects we have built and listed on our work page. Most small business needs are simpler than these.

• A tool that records an interview and writes it up print-ready: £100, built in 3 hours.
• Invoicing automation covering sending, collection and monitoring: £400.
• A rota and payroll manager replacing off-the-shelf software: £300 one-off plus £15 a month, saving the client over £400 a month.
• AI tools and assistants, set up and handed over: from £300, with no monthly fees.

The costs people forget

• Staff time to learn a new tool, and to check its output.
• Usage charges on some AI services, which rise with how much you use them.
• Per-user subscription fees as the team grows.
• Time spent copying information between tools that do not connect.

How to judge value

Work out the hours a job takes each month, multiply by what that time costs you, and compare it with the price of fixing it. A tool that saves five hours a week usually pays for itself quickly. If the saving is small, a free tool is probably enough.