What AI automation costs for SMEs in 2026
A first automation costs between EUR 2,000 and EUR 9,000 at Dutch agencies, plus EUR 75 to EUR 600 a month. Below are the prices we charge, next to the market's, and what you get for them.
Three cost items
Every automation has three cost items: the build, the management and the usage. The build is one-off. Management is a monthly fee for monitoring and adjustments. Usage is the cost of the language model and the hosting, usually tens of euros a month.
What the market charges
| Type | Build | Per month | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple (one trigger, one system) | EUR 2,000 to 4,000 | EUR 75 to 150 | 2 weeks |
| Medium (several systems, exceptions) | EUR 4,500 to 9,000 | EUR 150 to 600 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Advanced (agent, own data, portal) | EUR 12,000 to 25,000 | EUR 600 to 2,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
These ranges come from the 2026 price overviews of WerkstroomAI, Clevertech and UnifyAI. They are close together, and that is no coincidence: the hours go into understanding your process, not into the technology.
What we charge
A Sprint, one automation from our catalogue live in 15 working days, costs EUR 3,950. Custom work starts at EUR 9,500 and usually lands between EUR 9,500 and EUR 25,000. Management is EUR 295, EUR 695 or EUR 1,495 a month, cancellable monthly. All prices are on the pricing page.
A worked example
An installation company makes 30 quotes a week of 40 minutes each. That is 20 hours a week. At EUR 45 an hour that is EUR 3,900 a month. A quote generator takes 75 percent of that off: 15 hours a week, EUR 2,925 a month. The EUR 3,950 Sprint pays for itself in seven weeks. After that it costs EUR 295 in management and about EUR 40 in usage a month.
When it does not pay off
If a process takes less than three hours a week, a Sprint takes more than half a year to pay back. We will tell you so in the Quickscan. A standard tool at EUR 30 a month is then often the better choice.
Last updated: 2026-10-05.