> answers/ai
What is an AI automation agency, and what does it charge?
UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2026
An AI automation agency takes a repetitive process in your business, builds a workflow that performs it (using an AI model for the parts that need judgement and plain automation for the rest), connects it to the tools you already use, and keeps it running. What it charges varies enormously: some bill hourly, some by monthly retainer. Ghost charges a fixed price per workflow from $1,900, agreed after one mapping call, usually delivered in about a week.
What a good one does
- Starts with your process, not with a tool it wants to sell.
- Builds on what you already use rather than replacing it.
- Puts a human approval in front of money and customers.
- Shows you a log of everything the workflow did.
- Measures the hours saved and tells you honestly.
How to compare quotes
Ask for the price of one specific workflow, fixed, with what it does written down. Then ask what the monthly running cost is and who is paying for the model usage. A number per workflow is comparable; a retainer is not.
> faq
Related questions
- How much do AI automation agencies charge?
- Ghost: from $1,900 per workflow, fixed. Elsewhere: hourly or retainer, often several times that for the same outcome. Always ask for a per-workflow number.
- Is an AI automation agency worth it for a small business?
- If one process costs you several hours a week, a fixed-price workflow pays for itself within months. If nothing in your week is repetitive, it is not.
> open_channel.exe
Tell us what you need. Any budget.
Say what you have in mind and what you can spend. You get back what we would build for it, how long it takes and a fixed price, usually within one business day.
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