What the market charges in 2026
These are published third party benchmarks, not our prices. They are included because a buyer who knows the range negotiates better with every supplier, including us, and because a quotation is impossible to judge without one.
| Buyer | Typical spend | What that usually buys |
|---|---|---|
| Any size, single project | USD 1,500 to 12,000 or more, one off | One automation, from a simple handler at the bottom of the range to a multi-system build at the top |
| Small business, retainer | USD 1,000 to 3,500 per month | Two or three workflows built and maintained, with a small amount of new work each month |
| Mid-market, retainer | USD 4,000 to 10,000 per month | A continuous programme across several functions, with a named team and a roadmap |
| Enterprise, retainer | USD 8,000 to 25,000 per month | Integration with governed systems, security review, change control and formal support commitments |
| Hourly engagement | USD 75 to 250 per hour | Advisory or overflow capacity. Less common in 2026 because it puts the risk of a slow build on the buyer |
Why the top and the bottom of that range are so far apart
The word project is doing an enormous amount of work in those figures. At USD 1,500 a buyer is typically getting one trigger, one action and no exception handling. At USD 12,000 the same word covers several agents, four or five integrated systems, a review queue, monitoring and documentation. Comparing two quotations is only meaningful once both have been reduced to a count of agents, a count of systems and a statement of what happens when the system is not confident.
One off build against monthly retainer
This is the decision that changes the total more than any negotiation on rate. The arithmetic below assumes a mid-sized first project and a two year horizon, which is where the two models separate.
| One off build | Monthly retainer | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical entry cost | USD 1,500 to 12,000 per project | USD 1,000 to 3,500 per month for a small business |
| Cost over 24 months | The build, plus optional support | USD 24,000 to 84,000 at the small business band |
| Who owns the result | You do, if it is built on your accounts. Confirm this in writing | Often the supplier's platform. Check before signing |
| Best when | You have a defined set of processes and want them finished | You expect to keep adding workflows every month |
| Main risk | Nobody maintains it when your tools change | Paying a monthly fee long after the work has stopped |
| What to insist on | Documentation, credentials and a recorded handover | A written scope each month and a notice period you can live with |
Five things that move the price
The number of systems that have to be integrated
The single largest driver. Each additional system adds authentication, field mapping, error handling and testing. Two systems is a straightforward build. Six is a different project entirely.
Whether any of those systems has no way to connect to it
A system with a documented interface is routine. One with none has to be driven another way, which adds days of work and an ongoing maintenance obligation. This is the most common reason two quotations for the same brief differ by a factor of three.
How many decisions the system is allowed to make alone
Every autonomous decision needs a confidence threshold, a fallback and a test set. A system that drafts for human approval is materially cheaper than one that acts, and for some processes it is also the correct design.
Volume
Model cost scales per item. At a hundred documents a month, running cost is negligible. At fifty thousand it becomes the dominant line and changes which model, and sometimes which architecture, is appropriate.
Whether the process is documented
If the rules exist only in one person's head, discovery takes longer and edge cases surface during testing rather than before it. Organisations that arrive with a written process routinely land at the lower end of a quoted range.
The costs that are not the agency fee
These are almost never included in a headline price and they belong to you, billed to your own accounts. Ask for them in writing during discovery, because a supplier who cannot estimate them has not built at volume.
| Running cost | Typical monthly range | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Model usage | USD 20 to 300 | Items processed and the length of each one. Document heavy work costs more than short messages |
| Telephony or messaging | USD 30 to 250 | Minutes answered or messages sent. Only applies to voice and messaging agents |
| Automation platform | USD 20 to 100 | Task or execution volume on the orchestration tool, where one is used |
| Hosting and storage | USD 0 to 80 | Often nothing, unless the build needs its own server or holds large document archives |
What we charge
We do not publish a price list, and it is worth saying why on a page about cost. Every figure above is a range because scope drives the number, and the single thing that moves it most, how many of your systems have no interface to build against, cannot be read off a website. A published figure would therefore be either meaningless or wrong for most readers.
What we will commit to in advance is the shape of the deal rather than the size of it. One fixed quotation, issued in writing after a fifteen minute discovery call, which does not move afterwards for the scope it covers. No hourly billing and no revised estimate part way through. The build is a one off, not a subscription, and the workflows, agents, integrations and documentation are yours on delivery. Every build carries a 28 day money back guarantee that starts the day the first system goes live. The call and the quotation are both free.
How to compare two quotations honestly
- Reduce both to a count: how many agents, how many systems, how many of those systems have no interface.
- Ask what happens on an input the system is not confident about. If there is no answer, there is no exception handling in the price.
- Ask who owns the accounts the system runs on. Accounts in the supplier's name are the mechanism by which a one off build quietly becomes a subscription.
- Ask for the running cost estimate in writing, separately from the fee.
- Ask what is delivered on the final day: working system only, or system plus documentation plus a recorded handover.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the published range so wide?
Because the word project covers everything from a single form handler to a rebuilt finance function. The three variables that move the number most are the count of agents, the count of systems that have to be integrated, and whether any of those systems lack a way to connect to them. A fixed quotation is only possible once those three are known.
Is a monthly retainer better value than a one off build?
It depends on whether your automation demand is continuous. A retainer makes sense if you expect to keep adding workflows every month. If you want two or three processes automated and then left alone, a one off build with an optional support plan costs less over two years and leaves you owning the result.
What are the running costs after the build is paid for?
Model usage, any telephony or messaging charges, the automation platform subscription, and hosting. For a single agent handling normal small business volume these usually land between USD 50 and USD 400 a month. They belong to you and are billed to your own accounts, not through us.
Do agencies charge by the hour?
Some do, commonly between USD 75 and USD 250 an hour depending on market and seniority. Fixed project fees are more common in 2026 because hourly billing puts the risk of a slow build on the buyer. We quote a fixed fee after discovery and it does not move afterwards.
What does a cheap automation project usually leave out?
Exception handling, monitoring and documentation. A quote at the very bottom of the market range typically buys a working demonstration rather than something that survives the first unusual input. Ask what happens when the agent is not confident, and ask who is alerted when it stops.
How much do you charge?
We do not publish fees, because scope drives the figure and the thing that moves it most, how many of your systems have no interface to build against, cannot be read off a website. You get one fixed quotation in writing after a fifteen minute call, and it does not move afterwards for the scope it covers. The call and the quotation are both free.
Sources
Figures on this page that are not ours are attributed here. Where a number is our own, the text says so at the point it is used.
Related answers
Disclosure, and the only sales pitch on this page
This page is published by a company that sells the thing it describes.
Oxford Crown Technologies builds voice and operations agents for organisations in the United Kingdom and internationally. We publish these pages as reference material, including market figures that are not ours and that do not always favour us, because a buyer who understands the range negotiates better with everybody, including us. Leadership holding postgraduate degrees from the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford.
Our own builds are fixed fee, live in 14 days, built on accounts in your name, and carry a 28 day money back guarantee. We prove Return on Investment, or you do not pay.
Reviewed 25 July 2026. Market figures change; where this page quotes a range from a third party, the source is named above. Figures described as ours are typical results for a first build, not measured results for a named client.