How much does AI automation cost?
Custom automation and AI agents from Varsuite start from £1,000 as a one-off build, plus £150 a month for each live agent we operate, before VAT. £1,000 is the floor for a focused build; larger automations and integrations are individually scoped and quoted once we understand the work involved, and the monthly fee keeps each agent operational, updated and integrated with your data.
Last reviewed: 2 August 2026
- Builds start from £1,000 before VAT. That is the floor for a focused build; larger integrations are quoted after we understand what we are replacing.
- £150 a month per live agent keeps it operational: model and skill updates, new data integrations, monitoring and tuning.
- Scope is what moves the price: which processes you are replacing, which systems the build must integrate with, and how much of your operation the agent needs to understand.
- We scope the work with you first, in person or on Google Meet, and with your consent we record a discovery conversation so the systems reflect how you actually operate.
- If the monthly fee ends, we stop operating the agent and the service is discontinued.
What does the £1,000 starting point buy?
A focused build: a custom CRM shaped around how you work, a business automation that replaces a manual task, or data integrations that keep your systems in sync. £1,000 is the floor, not a flat rate, because custom software, integrations, automations and AI agents are individually scoped and quoted based on the work involved.
The quote you receive defines the work and its cost, and it holds. If requirements change or you ask for something beyond the agreed scope, we re-scope and give you a revised quote before carrying it out, and additional work is only chargeable once you have agreed it. What an agent build looks like is covered on our AI agents service.
What is the £150 a month per agent actually for?
It keeps the agent alive and current. The fee covers keeping it operational, ongoing improvements, configuration changes and unlimited data integrations: in practice that means model and skill updates, new data connections as your systems change, and monitoring and tuning so the agent keeps pace with your business instead of going stale. If the fee ends, we stop operating the agent and the service is discontinued.
One honest limit to know before you buy: our SLA does not offer an uptime target or service credits for live agent availability, which can depend on third-party AI providers and infrastructure outside our control. We use reasonable endeavours to keep agents operational, and the uptime target and credits in the SLA apply to the website and application hosting we provide. How that SLA works in practice is in our answer on what happens when something breaks.
What makes one automation cost more than another?
Scope, in three dimensions. The first is how many processes you are replacing and how tangled they are: a single well-understood task is the floor case, a chain of interdependent processes is not. The second is integrations: each system the build must read from or write to adds real work, and the state of the data inside those systems matters as much as their number.
The third is understanding. An agent is only as good as its grasp of how your business operates, and the depth of discovery needed varies with the complexity of what you do. This is why we quote larger work only after we understand what we are replacing: a figure produced before that understanding would be a guess, and you would be the one paying for the error either way.
How does scoping actually work?
We meet you first, in person or on Google Meet, before any figure beyond the floor is put on paper. With your consent, we record a discovery conversation about how your business runs, and that detail informs the systems and the agent we build for you. The more you share about how you operate, the better the result.
From there you get a quote that defines the work and the cost, and the build follows it. For a sense of what a custom system build looks like end to end, our Insullite CRM case study is a fair example. If you would rather start with a conversation than a brief, get in touch and we will scope it with you.
Why is there a monthly fee per agent at all?
Because an agent is an operated service, not a file we hand over. The £150 a month keeps it running and covers ongoing improvements, configuration changes and unlimited data integrations, plus model and skill updates, monitoring and tuning. Without that, an agent drifts out of date as your business and the models around it change.
Is there an uptime guarantee for a live agent?
No, and we say so rather than burying it. Our SLA's uptime target and service credits apply only to the website and application hosting we provide, not to live agent availability, which can depend on third-party AI providers. We use reasonable endeavours to keep agents operational.
Can the price change mid-project?
Only through an agreed re-scope. If you ask for work beyond the agreed scope, or your requirements change, we provide a revised quote before carrying it out, and additional work is only chargeable once you have agreed it.
What happens if I cancel the £150 a month?
We stop operating the agent and the service is discontinued. Monthly services run on a rolling basis and can be cancelled with at least 30 days' written notice, taking effect at the end of the current paid month.
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