Owner-operators ask what AI automation costs and stop there. The more useful question is what the current manual process costs you in hours, errors and lost work, because that is the number the build is measured against.
How much does AI automation cost?
At Human Powered, a two-hour strategy session is $497 and full integration builds start at $20,000, with the final figure set by how many tools are involved and how deep the workflow runs. The price tracks the scope of the work, not the size of your business. You see a fixed number before anyone starts building.
What drives the price up or down?
Price is driven by the number of tools connected, the depth of the workflow, and how much bespoke logic is required, not by your revenue or headcount. A single task wired end to end sits at the lower end. A multi-step process spanning several tools and departments sits higher.
What drives the price
| Driver | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Number of tools connected | One or two | Many, across departments |
| Workflow depth | Single task, end to end | Multi-step, multiple outcomes |
| Customisation | Standard, proven patterns | Bespoke logic and edge cases |
What does doing it by hand actually cost?
Doing repetitive admin by hand costs you the hours spent, the work missed while you are buried in it, and the revenue lost to slow or forgotten follow-up. To size it for your own business, multiply the hours a task takes each week by what an hour of your time is genuinely worth, then add the value of the work that does not happen because you are stuck doing admin. Most owner-operators are surprised by the number.
Is AI automation a one-off or ongoing cost?
The build is a one-off, and the ongoing cost is limited to the third-party model subscriptions and any support or evolution you choose. Because you own the integration layer, you are not paying rent to stay switched on, and you can swap the underlying model as better or cheaper options arrive.
How do you know it will be worth the spend?
You know by sizing the return before you build, which is exactly what the strategy session does. It maps the workflow, identifies where the hours are going, and estimates what a build recovers, so the decision is made on numbers rather than hope. If the return is not there, you will know before you spend on a build.
How Human Powered prices it
Human Powered sizes the build in the two-hour strategy session, then quotes a fixed price before any work starts, so there are no open-ended bills. We run every workflow on our own business first, more than 1000 build hours before any of it reaches a client, so the estimates come from doing the work, not guessing at it. You drive. AI delivers.
If you want a fixed price for automating a specific part of your business, the two-hour strategy session ($497) sizes and quotes it. The free 15-minute discovery call is the place to start.