How Much Does AI Automation Cost for a Small Business?
Let's skip the "it depends" dance. Here's what AI automation actually costs, what you get, and how to know if it's worth it for your business.
Most pricing pages bury the numbers behind a "Schedule a Call" button. We're not going to do that. If you're trying to figure out whether AI makes financial sense for your business, you need real numbers — not vague ranges and certainly not a sales call before you're ready.
So here's the full breakdown.
The Three Levels of Engagement
Relay KC offers three tiers. Each one is designed for a different stage of business, and they build on each other.
1. The AI Tools Assessment — $999
This is the starting point. For $999, we go through your business and identify exactly where AI can save you time. You get:
- A 9-slide deliverable that maps your current workflows
- An effort-vs-impact matrix showing which automations to tackle first
- A 4-day quick-start plan so you can begin implementing immediately
- Our 5-hour time-back guarantee — if the assessment doesn't identify at least 5 hours of weekly time savings, you get your money back
Think of this as a GPS. It tells you where you are, where the time sinks are, and the fastest route to getting hours back. You can take the assessment and implement everything yourself, or you can hand it off to us for ongoing help. For a deeper look at the assessment process, see what an AI assessment actually looks like.
2. AI Concierge — $1,500/month
Once you know what to automate, the concierge plan keeps things running. For $1,500 a month, you get:
- A Notion Hub where all your automations and documentation live
- Voxer access for quick questions and adjustments
- A 12-hour response time on any request
- Ongoing optimization — we're not just setting things up and disappearing
This is for businesses that want AI working in the background without having to manage it themselves. You flag something that needs fixing or improving, and we handle it. Simple as that.
3. Managed AI Employees — $5,000/month
This is the full-service option. For $5,000 a month, you get a team managing your AI systems around the clock:
- Full team support, not just a single point of contact
- 24/7 monitoring — if something breaks, we know before you do
- Custom agent deployments that handle complex, multi-step workflows
- Proactive improvements, not just reactive fixes
This is for businesses where automation is mission-critical — law firms processing documents, insurance operations handling claims data, manufacturing businesses tracking inventory across systems. When downtime costs you money, this is the level that makes sense.
How That Compares to Your Other Options
You've got choices when it comes to getting hours back. Here's how AI automation stacks up against the alternatives:
Hiring a Virtual Assistant — $3,000 to $5,000/month
A good VA runs $3,000–5,000 a month when you factor in wages, taxes, and onboarding time. VAs are great for tasks that require human judgment. But they get sick, they go on vacation, and they can only do one thing at a time. AI handles the repetitive stuff 24/7 without burnout. The smart move isn't choosing one over the other — it's using AI for the repetitive work so your VA (or you) can focus on the things that actually need a human.
Buying Software — $500 to $2,000/month
Most businesses already have software they're underutilizing. But buying more tools without a plan just creates more silos and more logins nobody remembers. The problem isn't usually a lack of software — it's a lack of integration. That's what we fix. We connect the tools you already have so they actually work together.
Doing Nothing — Priceless (And Expensive)
This is the option most businesses pick by default. Here's what it costs: if you're losing 8 hours a week to tasks that could be automated, and your time is worth $40 an hour, that's $320 a week. Over a year, that's $16,640. And that's just your time. Add in your team's hours, and the number gets uncomfortable fast. If you're ready to reclaim some of those hours, here's how to save 10 hours a week with AI.
The ROI Math
Let's make this concrete. Here's what the numbers look like for a typical small business that implements AI automation:
- Time saved: 5–8 hours per week (conservative estimate based on our assessments)
- Value of that time: $30–50/hour (what you or your team's time is actually worth)
- Weekly value created: $750–2,000 per week
- Monthly value created: $3,000–8,000 per month
Now compare that to the cost:
- The assessment pays for itself in the first week of implementation
- The concierge plan at $1,500/month is less than the value it creates — every single month
- The managed AI employees plan at $5,000/month makes sense when the value of recovered time exceeds the cost, which happens for most businesses doing $1M+ in revenue
The question isn't "can I afford AI automation?" It's "can I afford to keep losing 5-8 hours every week?"
When It Doesn't Make Sense
We're not going to pretend AI is the right move for every business at every stage. If you don't have recurring tasks, if your team won't adopt new tools, or if you can't name a specific bottleneck — start with the free assessment. We'll tell you straight whether it's worth the investment right now.
Sometimes the honest answer is "fix your processes first, then come back." We'd rather tell you that than sell you something that won't deliver.
The Bottom Line
AI automation isn't a luxury spend. For most small businesses with repetitive workflows, it's one of the highest-ROI investments you can make. The assessment is $999 and comes with a guarantee. The ongoing plans are priced to deliver more value than they cost from month one. And if you're still weighing the cost, read about the real cost of not using AI.
If you want to see what the numbers look like for your specific business, that's exactly what our free 20-minute assessment is for. No pressure, no commitment — just a conversation about where your time is going and what it's worth.