Question 1

What drives custom AI agent development cost?

Accepted Answer

Number of integrations (CRM, ticketing, calendar), RAG data complexity, voice/mobile surfaces, compliance (HIPAA, SOC 2 architecture), and whether you need human-in-the-loop approval workflows.

Question 2

Is $25k enough for a production AI agent?

Accepted Answer

Yes for a focused MVP — one workflow, RAG over docs/tickets, 1–2 integrations, and basic admin. Multi-surface products with mobile and advanced CRM write-back typically start at $45k+.

Question 3

How much do LLM API costs add monthly?

Accepted Answer

Most US SMB agents run $200–$2,000/month in inference depending on volume. We model token costs during discovery and set rate limits to prevent surprise bills.

Question 4

Agency vs freelance AI developer cost?

Accepted Answer

Freelancers may quote $80–$150/hr but lack full-stack, RAG, and production guardrail experience. Agencies deliver fixed-scope MVPs with eval infrastructure — typically better ROI for first production agent.

Question 5

What is included in a typical AI agent MVP quote?

Accepted Answer

Discovery, RAG pipeline, 2–4 tools, web chat or admin UI, logging, staging deploy, 30-day post-launch support, and documentation.