What AI actually costs, and what it returns
Real numbers with sources: what a build costs, what running it costs, and how to model the return before you commit. We publish our prices, so the arithmetic here uses figures you can check.
Everything we've written on this
Zapier pricing: every plan and task tier, and what a real workload costs
Zapier pricing, checked 30 October 2026: Free for 100 tasks, Professional from $19.99 a month, Team from $69, both billed annually. Every tier, with examples.
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Make.com pricing: every plan and credit tier, and how credits run out
Make.com pricing, checked 30 October 2026: Free for 1,000 credits, Core from $9, Pro $16 and Teams $29 a month billed annually. Every tier and how credits work.
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HubSpot pricing: every hub, seat and onboarding fee, with first-year costs
HubSpot pricing, checked 30 October 2026: Free for 2 users, Sales Hub $7, $90 or $150 a seat, Marketing Hub $800 or $3,600 a month, onboarding up to $7,000.
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Salesforce pricing: every Sales Cloud edition, Agentforce and team costs
Salesforce pricing, checked 30 October 2026: Starter $25, Pro $100, Core $195, Advanced $395, Max $550 a user a month. Agentforce from $2 a conversation.
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Shopify pricing: every plan, the third-party fee, and when to upgrade
Shopify pricing, checked 30 October 2026 on the US page: Basic $19, Grow $49, Advanced $299 a month paid yearly, Plus from $2,300. Fees and upgrade break-evens.
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How much does custom software cost? Rates, project ranges and what moves the price
Custom software cost, checked 30 October 2026: Clutch reviews show $10,000-$49,999 typical, $132,480 average, $25-$149 an hour by country. Example budgets.
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Cursor pricing in 2026: every plan, how usage works and what a team of 5, 20 or 50 pays
Cursor pricing, checked October 2026: Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200 a month, Teams from $30 a seat. How usage works and what a team pays.
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Magento to Shopify migration: a step-by-step guide with a data map and redirect plan
Magento to Shopify migration in 10 steps: what moves and what doesn't, a data mapping table, a redirect plan, app replacements, Plus or not, and a cutover list.
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n8n pricing in 2026: every plan, and what self-hosting really costs
n8n pricing in 2026: Cloud from €20 a month for 2,500 executions, Business €667, a free self-hosted edition, and the cost at 5,000 and 50,000 runs.
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Webflow pricing in 2026: plans, seats, add-ons and what a site really costs
Webflow pricing, checked October 2026: Basic $15, Premium $25 a month billed yearly, plus $15 to $39 per seat. Every plan and add-on, with worked examples.
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Odoo pricing in 2026: plans, hosting, implementation and what a rollout really costs
Odoo pricing in the US, checked October 2026: Standard $31.10, Custom $61 a user a month billed yearly, 20% off year one. Plus hosting and worked budgets.
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Claude Code pricing in 2026: every plan, API costs and three worked examples
Claude Code pricing, checked October 2026: Pro from $17 a month, Max $100 or $200, Team seats from $20, or pay per token. What a session and a team cost.
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WordPress to Webflow migration: a step-by-step guide with a redirect map
WordPress to Webflow migration in 9 steps: inventory, CMS design, CSV import, a copyable 301 redirect map, SEO carry-over and a cutover checklist.
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What does an ERP implementation cost in 2026? A real budget breakdown
What a mid-market ERP implementation costs, why the licence is the cheapest line, and where budgets blow up. From a firm that publishes its own prices.
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AI for consulting firms: start with the archive
AI for consulting firms should start with the archive, not a proposal bot. One firm got 1,200 hours a quarter back. Book the $25,000 AI Transformation Sprint.
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What does an AI MVP actually cost? A build budget breakdown
Four cost centres, and the model is the smallest. What an AI MVP cost covers to reach real users, and the line most budgets forget.
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How to calculate ROI on an AI project before you build it
An AI project ROI calculator is simple arithmetic. The hard part is four inputs, and three are inflated by whoever builds the case.
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What should a mid-market company budget for AI in 2026?
A realistic first-year AI budget runs $75,000 to $300,000 for 20-to-500-person firms. How to split it across audit, build and operate so year two holds.
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The hidden costs of AI projects nobody puts in the proposal
Not the vendor's tricks, your own. Seven internal line items that never appear in a quote, why the biggest is your team's time, and how to price them.
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How much does generative engine optimization (GEO) cost?
GEO has no standard sticker price. The three ways it is priced, what drives the number, what agencies charge, and our own: Ascent from $4,000 a month.
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How much does an AI agent cost in 2026? Build and running costs
AI agent cost, checked 30 October 2026: from $8,000 to about $150,000 to build, plus tokens and $3,000 to $20,000 a month to run. Tables and worked examples.
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Want this running in your stack?
If this is the kind of work you're trying to get into production, a 30-minute call with an engineer is the fastest path to a scoped plan with a price.