What an AI agent actually costs to build.
Get a real Year-1 estimate in 60 seconds , using the same coefficients we use to scope our own production agents.
Based on real spend from Funding OS + Run GTM
Two multi-agent systems we run on our own business. We know what these actually cost because we pay the bills.
Tell us about your agent
It takes about 60 seconds , the output updates live as you change inputs.
Not sure? Pick by what the system does , if it’s one LLM call per trigger, it’s 1. If multiple LLM steps hand off to each other, it’s 2–4. If there are async multi-day flows or human approvals, it’s 5+.
Memory = the system remembers prior interactions (e.g., “this lead was rejected last month”). Costs more in both build and API.
A “run” = one full trigger-to-output cycle. If your agent processes 200 emails/day, that’s 200 runs.
Each external API (Gmail, Slack, Notion, your CRM, etc.) adds build hours. OAuth-protected APIs add more than open ones.
Not sure? Defaults assume a moderate context window with structured output. If you’re processing long documents, bump input to 30,000+.
A calibration set + regression suite that flags when the agent silently degrades. Adds ~10–25% to build but the alternative is invisible drift.
Tracing every agent call so you can debug failures. Non-optional past Tier 1.
E.g., a human approves the draft before it sends. Adds UI build hours.
Uses $150/hr blended. Senior US/EU shop quality , the default for production work.
Your estimate
Live calculation
Updates as you change inputs · no signup required
Tier
Tier 1 · Simple
Build cost range
$2,850 – $4,500
Tier 1 agent · 2 integrations · US/EU senior shop
Monthly API + infrastructure
$8 – $42 / mo
At your selected volume and model tier
Year-1 total estimate
$3,231 – $5,454
Build + 12 months of API/infra + 10% maintenance buffer
vs. enterprise shop quote
Enterprise shops would quote you $40,500+ for the same build, with a $2,500/mo retainer. Your real Year-1 with us: $3,231 – $5,454.
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See your full Year-1 breakdown
You’ve got the headline numbers. Get the per-line-item breakdown, the cost-leak audit for your specific inputs, and the enterprise-shop comparison , emailed as a PDF.
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Per-token pricing (May 2026)
Claude Sonnet 4.6: $3.00 in / $15.00 out per 1M tokens Claude Haiku 4.5: $0.80 in / $4.00 out per 1M tokens Claude Opus 4.7: $15.00 in / $75.00 out per 1M tokens GPT-5: $5.00 in / $20.00 out per 1M tokens GPT-5 mini: $1.50 in / $6.00 out per 1M tokens
Build-hour coefficients
Tier 1 (simple): 19–30 hours base Tier 2 (mid): 63–103 hours base Tier 3 (complex): 136–239 hours base + 4 hrs per integration beyond the first 2 + 8 hrs for persistent memory + 10–15 hrs for eval framework + 4 hrs for observability + 12 hrs for human-in-loop Hourly rates: $150 (US/EU), $50 (offshore), $0 (in-house)
Monthly infra ranges
Tier 1: hosting $0–20 / obs $0–20 / vector $0 / eval $5–15 Tier 2: hosting $20–50 / obs $20–50 / vector $0–50 / eval $20–50 Tier 3: hosting $50–200 / obs $50–200 / vector $50–150 / eval $50–100
Year-1 TCO formula
year_1 = build_cost + (monthly_cost × 12) + (build_cost × 0.10)
Our actual benchmark systems
Funding OS: ~$120/mo all-in (Claude API + Langfuse + eval re-runs) Run GTM: ~$280/mo all-in (Claude + OpenAI + Trigger.dev + Langfuse + Resend + eval)
All math is client-side and visible in dev tools. The calculator isn’t a black box , that’s the point.
Want us to build this at the price above?
Skip the calculator. We sell fixed-price Agent Sprints at the exact tier your inputs land in. No retainer trap, no surprises. We tell you the math first because if you’re a fit, you’ll know it from the numbers.
No sales pitch • Response within 24 hours
Pricing last updated May 2026 against current Anthropic + OpenAI rate cards. Coefficients calibrated against our own production agents.