Quotes, hours and fees
How we price AI work.
Regan Fisher or Brandon Fisher writes every quote, and they're the two people who'd do the work.
How a quote comes together
- 01
A free call
Tell us how the work gets done now, and we'll say where AI could help. There's no charge and no obligation.
- 02
A first AI review, if the scope is unclear
Simple, well-defined jobs go straight from the free call to a written plan with the hours. Bigger or less clearly defined jobs start with a first AI review: a fixed-length session, charged by the hour, with its length agreed with you and written down first. It looks at the jobs that repeat and the tools you already pay for.
- 03
A written plan, with the hours
Either way, you get a written plan: what we'd build, in what order, and the hours each part should take. For a simple, well-defined job the plan is free, because it's your quote.
- 04
Your decision
Build it with us, do it yourselves, or leave it. We don't start any building until you've agreed the plan.
- 05
The build, inside the hours
We work to the hours in the plan. Going over them needs your OK first.
Not sure you need an AI consultant yet? Our free AI readiness assessment for business gives you a first answer on the page, with no email needed.
How AI consultants charge, and why we use hours
There's no standard way. Look at a few UK AI consultants and you'll find these, often mixed together.
| Way of charging | How it works | Worth asking |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate | You pay for the time the work takes, sometimes bought in blocks of hours | How many hours do you expect, and what happens if it needs more? |
| Day rate | A set price for each day of work | How many days will it take, and how many hours is a day? |
| Fixed-price package | One price for a defined piece of work | What's included, and what costs extra? |
| Paid first session | A session or audit you pay for before any build | What do I get at the end of it? |
| Monthly retainer | Ongoing support after a build, paid each month | What does a month cover, and how much notice do I need to give? |
Whoever you talk to, ask whether software subscriptions and AI usage fees are included, and whether VAT is added. Both are often left out of the headline price.
We use hours because AI jobs vary too much in size for a price list to tell you much. The fair worry with hourly billing is that the hours creep up. That's why ours are written down before we start, and only go up if you agree.
What you pay for
| What | How it's charged |
|---|---|
| The first call | Free, with no obligation |
| A first AI review, for bigger or less clearly defined jobs | By the hour. It's a fixed-length session, with its length agreed with you and written down first |
| Your written plan, with the hours | Free for a simple, well-defined job, because the plan is your quote. On a bigger job, the first AI review ends with the plan |
| Building automations, assistants and custom tools | By the hour, within hours agreed in writing before we start |
| AI training for business: online, for 2 to 6 people, on fixed dates agreed with your team | The time to prepare and run the sessions, in a written quote before you book. There's no certificate of attendance |
| Changes later, upkeep, or anything outside the quote | By the hour, with the hours written down first |
| Software subscriptions and AI usage fees | Paid by you, in your own accounts, and listed in your quote |
Software and AI fees
Most AI work runs on tools that charge by the month or by use. That could be a ChatGPT or Claude plan, an automation platform that connects your apps, or an AI model you pay for each time it does a piece of work. You pay the providers directly, so those bills come to you, not to us. Your quote lists them before you commit, so you know the running costs as well as our hours.
Example: an assistant that drafts replies to website enquiries, for a person to check before they're sent, might need an AI plan and an automation platform. Both accounts would be in your business's name, and the quote would show their fees next to our hours.
As an AI automation agency, we pick the platform that suits the apps you already use. For the AI plans themselves, our guide to the best AI tools for business compares ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini.
Chatbots and AI receptionists
A website chatbot or an AI receptionist for business has running costs of its own. Before you commit, its quote gives you a written total: our set-up hours, the tool's monthly fee, any usage charges such as per-minute call costs, and upkeep, which is charged by the hour.
Some rules hold whatever the budget. Standard messages like booking reminders go out automatically, in wording you've approved. Anything AI writes for one particular customer is checked by a person before it goes out. Live assistants, such as website chats and phone receptionists, always say they're AI, hand over to a person on request, and have their conversations reviewed afterwards. No outbound AI marketing calls.
Invoices, payment and VAT
We invoice for the work, and each invoice is paid in one go. We don't take payment in instalments. We're not VAT registered, so we don't add VAT to our quotes or invoices. The full terms are in our terms of business.
What you own
We set everything up in your own accounts, under your own logins. Once it's paid for, what we've built is yours, along with the data in it. If you stop working with us, it stays in accounts you control.
Questions
Yes, in your quote. We don't publish it on the website, but every quote shows the rate next to the hours we expect the work to take, so you can see how the total is made up before you agree to anything.
It depends on two things: our hours, and the tools the work runs on. The first call is free, and for a simple, well-defined job so is the written plan, because it's your quote. Either way, you'll have our hours and any tool fees in writing before you say yes.
A job is worth automating when it takes enough of someone's time, often enough, to repay the hours the build takes. Before we change a task, we record how long it takes now, so you can compare before and after. If the sums don't add up, we'll tell you.
Not always. If something you already pay for can do the job, we'll say so before suggesting anything new. Your written plan names the tools each part would use, so you can see what you'd be signing up for.