What an AI agent really costs to run.
Mateo Ruiz
Delivery lead
The build is the small part. Here’s the monthly sum, worked through on a real workflow.
The build fee is the small part
Most quotes focus on the build. Over two years, running the agent usually costs more than building it, so the monthly number deserves the same attention.
What you pay for each month
Model usage, priced per task. Voice or messaging minutes, if it talks to people. Hosting and logging. And the person who reviews what it sends up, which is the cost teams most often forget.
A worked example
Take 900 invoices a month at six minutes each and $38 an hour. That’s $3,420 of labor. Subtract $194 of review time, $399 for fixing misses and $480 to run it, and you keep $2,347 a month. A $9,000 build pays back in 3.8 months.
Now run the same sum at 100 invoices. You lose $166 a month. Same agent, same quality, wrong volume.
What to ask a vendor
Ask for the cost per task at your volume, what happens when volume doubles, and who pays for retraining when your process changes. If the answer is a monthly plan with no link to the work, keep asking.
