On this page
- 01What you pay for: three separate costs
- 02What makes one automation cost more than another?
- 03When a cheaper automation tool is enough, and how its pricing scales
- 04Why is there no fixed price before the audit?
- 05Which of our solutions does this cover?
- 06What is the copying worth? Do the sum
- 07Frequently asked questions
What you pay for: three separate costs
An automation has a build cost, a running cost and an optional support cost. They go to different places, so budget for them separately.
- One-off build: £5,000 to £20,000, with larger projects priced separately. Payment is 50% upfront and 50% on launch.
- Running costs: hosting, software and any AI usage are paid directly to the providers from your own accounts. They rise with how often the process runs, and the scope sets them out.
- Optional support: Run & Improve at £1,000, £2,000 or £4,000 a month. It suits a process that changes often. A stable process may not need it.
Everything is built in your accounts. You own the code and the data, so a later change does not depend on us.
What makes one automation cost more than another?
The happy path is cheap to build. The price comes from the cases where a tool is offline, a record is missing a field or a person needs to approve something.
| Cost driver | What it means | Effect on the price |
|---|---|---|
| Number of tools connected | Each tool in the chain needs its fields mapped to the next one and tested with real records. | Lower with two tools. Higher with each one added. |
| Whether each tool has a usable connection | Some tools let other software read and write their data. Some only allow exports, or nothing at all. | Lower when every tool has one. Higher when we have to work around a tool that does not. |
| Review steps | Points where a person checks before the process carries on: money, messages sent in your name, anything legal. | Lower with none. Higher with each approval screen, though some are worth it. |
| Monitoring and failure handling | What happens when a step fails: retry, alert a named person, and keep a log of what ran. | Lower if a failure can wait a day. Higher if a missed step costs you a customer. |
| How often the process changes | A process that is rewritten every quarter needs settings your team can edit without a developer. | Lower for a settled process. Higher for one still moving. |
If you are choosing where to start, our guide on what to automate first helps you pick the process to begin with.
When a cheaper automation tool is enough, and how its pricing scales
A subscription automation tool is enough when the process has two or three steps, every tool in it has a ready-made connection, and a failed run is an annoyance and not a lost customer. Start there. If it keeps doing the job, you never need more.
Check how the tool counts usage before you rely on it. Zapier's help centre explains that each successful action step counts as a task, while triggers, filters and paths do not. At the plan limit, new runs are held unless extra tasks are paid for.
So usage grows with steps multiplied by runs. A five-action workflow that runs 1,000 times a month uses 5,000 tasks. That is the point to compare both routes, and our page on Zapier versus custom automation sets out the comparison.
Why is there no fixed price before the audit?
We cannot price a process we have not watched. Until someone has followed a real job from the first form to the final invoice, nobody knows how many steps it has or which tools will not connect.
- Range. On the first call you get the £5,000 to £20,000 range and an honest view of where you might sit.
- Audit. The paid audit is £3,000 plus VAT (US $5,000). It maps how the business runs and where work gets stuck. The report arrives within 10 working days.
- Written scope. Systems, integrations, permissions and success measures, with one fixed price and an agreed timeline.
- Credit. The audit fee comes off the build when the build deposit is paid within 14 days of the report.
Which of our solutions does this cover?
Workflow automation connects the tools you already have, so a detail entered once reaches every tool that needs it. When no existing tool fits a step, an internal tool gives your team one screen for it. If the tools themselves are the problem, custom software is a separate conversation with its own pricing page.
For MRM Group, a UK property development and investment company, we built task workflows, reminders and an audit history, with human approval at sensitive decision points. The case study gives the build details.
What is the copying worth? Do the sum
The leak: "My team types the same details into three different tools." Two levers apply. Time back, counted in pounds, and money kept, because copying by hand produces mistakes.
The mechanism: a new job is entered once. The automation creates the matching record in each other tool, checks the required fields are present and pauses for a person where you have asked it to. If a step fails, it retries and then alerts someone by name.
| Line | Example sum | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Copying per job | 4 copy steps × 3 minutes | 12 minutes |
| Jobs a week | 40 jobs × 12 minutes | 8 hours a week |
| Cost of that time | 8 hours × £20 an hour × 52 | £8,320 a year |
| Mistakes | 2 a month × £150 each × 12 | £3,600 a year |
| Total | £8,320 + £3,600 | £11,920 a year |
Example figures. Swap in your own. These are round, made-up inputs to show the method. They are not a client result or an average.
What to count: pick one process and follow one job through it. Count the copy steps, time one of them, and note how many jobs run a week and what the person doing it costs an hour. Then count last month's mistakes and what each cost to put right. You can work out your own figure with our ROI calculator before the call, and the audit report prices each problem.
Frequently asked questions
What does workflow automation cost for a small business?
A scoped build with us is £5,000 to £20,000. The number of tools, the review steps and the failure handling decide where in that range a process sits.
Is there a monthly fee after the build?
Not to us, unless you choose support. Running costs go directly to the providers from your accounts.
Can you automate a tool that has no connection?
Sometimes, through exports or a replacement step. It adds work, so we check every tool during the audit. Now and then the honest answer is to replace the tool.
What happens when an automated step fails?
The scope says what happens for each step: a retry, an alert to a named person and a log entry. We test failure paths before launch.
Should a person still approve some steps?
Yes. Money, legal commitments, complaints and messages sent in your name keep a human check. It costs a little more to build and is worth it.
Can we start with one process?
Yes. One process with a clear owner is the sensible first scope. Others can follow once it has run on real work.
How soon can an automation go live?
The timeline is agreed in the written scope, once we know the tools involved. We do not promise a date before then.