What automation costs a small business, and how to work out if it pays off
What drives the price of an automation, what it costs to run (server, AI, text messages) and how to work out in five minutes whether it will pay for itself in your business.
"How much does it cost?" is the first question I hear on every call. The honest answer is: it depends on the task. But "it depends" tells you nothing, so in this post I set out exactly what the price depends on, what costs come up after the build, and how to work out yourself whether an automation will pay off.
My starting price is in the pricing section on the homepage. Here I focus on what pushes it up or down.
What the price of an automation depends on
The price is mostly set by the time it takes to build and test the solution. That time grows with:
- The number of steps. "A form goes into a spreadsheet" is one step. "A form goes into a spreadsheet, creates a document, sends it to the customer and adds the date to the calendar" is four.
- The number of connected systems. Every program the automation has to talk to is a separate connection to build and test.
- The quality of the data. A tidy spreadsheet is quick work. Data scattered across emails, PDFs and photos takes more, often with help from AI.
- Whether AI is involved. If the automation has to understand something (read an email, answer a customer, recognise a document), it needs longer testing, and the AI model costs money every time it runs.
- Exceptions. The more "what if the customer pays only part of it?" situations there are, the more work it takes.
In practice I split jobs into three kinds: small automations of one task, medium ones that connect several systems, and AI agents that handle conversations or documents on their own. You get a written quote after a free call, before you pay anything.
Costs after the build
An automation doesn't end on handover day. It's worth knowing from the start what it will cost each month:
- A server or platform. Some automations run free in tools you already have, such as Google Workspace. Others need a server or a subscription to a platform like Make or Zapier.
- The AI model. You pay per use, usually a few grosze per task. With a lot of conversations or documents, it's worth working out.
- Text messages. An SMS gateway charges for every message sent.
- Support. When your process changes, or one of the programs changes how it works, someone has to adjust the automation.
I list tool and server costs separately in the quote, so nothing takes you by surprise. The first month of support is free, and after that the cost depends on the size of the solution.
How to work out whether automation pays off
Three numbers are enough:
- How many minutes the task takes once.
- How many times a month you do it.
- What an hour of the person doing it costs. If it's you, use what you earn from clients in that time.
An example: a task takes 20 minutes and comes up 40 times a month. That's about 13 hours a month. At €15 an hour, that's about €200 a month, or about €2,400 a year, spent on one dull chore.
The homepage has a calculator that works this out for you. If the yearly cost of a task is several times the price of automating it, it's a good candidate.
How payment works
You pay half up front and the rest only once everything in the agreed process map works. After that I fix bugs free of charge for several weeks. If something doesn't work the way we agreed, you don't pay the second half until I've fixed it.
What to watch out for in quotes
- No written quote. The scope and the price should be written down before you pay.
- Vague monthly costs. Ask what the server, subscriptions and AI will cost after the build.
- Lock-in to the builder. Ask who will own the accounts, the data and the solution, and put it in the contract.
- Empty promises. "You'll save 20 hours a week" from someone who doesn't know your business is marketing, not a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start with one small automation?
Yes, and that's usually what I recommend. One automation that works well shows what you really save before you decide on the next. At handover you get a list of three more things worth automating.
Does the price include running costs?
The build price covers building, testing, handover with a how-to video and free fixes during the guarantee period. Server and tool costs and later support are separate, and the first month of support is free.
Do you issue invoices?
Yes. I run a sole proprietorship and I'm exempt from VAT (Article 113 of the Polish VAT Act), so I issue invoices without VAT and the quoted price is final.
How quickly does an automation pay for itself?
It depends on how much time the task takes today. For tasks repeated every day, it's often a few months. Work it out in the calculator on the homepage, or we can go through it together on a call.
Want a specific quote?
Book a free call. Tell me about the task, and I'll tell you what the build will cost, what it will cost to run, and whether it's worth doing at all.
