Every 'how much does X cost' article online is useless. Either it gives you a range so wide it means nothing ($500 to $500,000) or it's a soft pitch for a discovery call. Here's the actual pricing breakdown based on what we charge and what we see in the market.
The pricing spectrum and why it exists
AI automation projects range from $500 to $50,000+. The range is real and the reason is simple: complexity. Connecting two tools with a simple if-this-then-that flow is fundamentally different work from building a multi-system pipeline with custom logic, error handling, AI integration, and a database backend. Both get called 'AI automation.' They're not the same thing.
What actually drives cost up or down
The three main cost drivers: how many systems need to connect (each API integration takes time to build and test), how complex the logic is (simple rules vs. AI judgment vs. multi-branch conditional flows), and volume and reliability requirements (a system processing 50 records/month vs. 50,000 has very different infrastructure needs).
Secondary cost drivers:
- Custom UI vs. no UI (adding a simple dashboard adds $1,000-3,000)
- Error handling and alerting (cheap to skip, painful to add later)
- Data cleaning requirements (messy input data = more work)
- Compliance and data handling requirements
- Number of edge cases that need to be handled
Real examples with prices
Here's what specific automation types actually cost to build.
Build cost by automation type:
- Simple Zapier/Make flow (2-3 steps, standard apps): $500-1,500
- Moderate Make automation (5-10 steps, some logic, 2-3 integrations): $1,000-3,000
- Custom n8n pipeline (complex logic, error handling, AI layer): $3,000-8,000
- Full ERP or CRM build (custom web app + integrations + database): $8,000-25,000
- AI customer support system (RAG + classification + escalation): $2,500-6,000
- Invoice processing pipeline (Claude vision + matching + ERP integration): $4,000-8,000
Monthly running costs
Beyond the build cost, you pay for the tools that run the system. Make: $9-16/month for most automations. n8n cloud: $20/month, or $30-50/month in server costs if self-hosted. Claude API: $20-100/month for typical small business usage. OpenAI: similar. Total monthly running cost for most small business automations: $50-200/month. For high-volume or complex systems: up to $500/month.
How 2pizza.team prices
We quote fixed price, fixed scope. You know the number before we start. Projects run 2-6 weeks depending on complexity. No hourly billing, no scope creep surprises. If we miss something in scoping, that's our problem to solve.
What to watch out for
Hourly billing on automation projects is a red flag. Good automation agencies know how long things take - they've built similar systems before. If they won't give a fixed price, they don't have enough experience to estimate or they're not incentivized to work efficiently.
Also watch for agencies who bundle in ongoing maintenance or retainers without explaining what they cover. Most well-built automations run without intervention for months. If you're being sold a $500/month maintenance retainer for a simple Make flow, ask specifically what it includes.
How to get an accurate quote
To get a real number, an automation agency needs: what process you want automated (step by step), what systems are involved (what tools you use today), roughly how many records per month the system will process, and what the output looks like (where does the result go). With that, a scoped quote takes 1-2 days. Without it, any number is a guess.
Take the 4-question audit at 2pizza.team/audit and get a personalized estimate for your specific process. Takes 2 minutes.
Free 30-min audit. We tell you what to automate first and what it would cost.