Compare
Own your automation, or rent an AI employee?
Subscription AI tools are cheap to start and quick to switch on. A build costs more on day one and nothing to us after that. Which is right depends on how specific your work is and how long you will use it.
| / Side by side | A build you own | A subscription tool |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | One-time fee from $7,500, then your AI provider directly (usually $30–$150 a month) | A monthly fee for as long as you use it, often per seat or per agent |
| Who holds the accounts | Your company | The vendor |
| Fit to your process | Built around how your company works | You adapt to how the product works |
| Connections | To the systems you already run, including ones with no ready-made integration | To the integrations the vendor chose to support |
| If you stop paying | It keeps running | It stops |
| Time to start | About 30 days for a first build | Same day |
| Upkeep | Yours, or ours under an optional $350/month care plan | Included in the subscription |
Which one are you
When each is the right call
Rent when the job is generic
If a product already does exactly what you need and your data can live in it, subscribe. Paying us to rebuild it would be a waste.
Build when the work is yours
If the job spans several of your systems, follows your own rules or handles data that cannot sit with a vendor, a build fits and a product will not.
Do both
Many businesses rent a general assistant for everyone and own the one or two systems their revenue runs through. The AI workspace rollout covers the first; a build covers the second.
Questions
Questions
Is owning always cheaper over time?
Not always. It depends on how many seats you would rent, for how long, and what the subscription costs. The ROI calculator lets you run it with your own numbers.
What does owning actually include?
The workflows, the accounts they run in, the credentials and the documentation. Everything runs on your own AI provider keys.
Who fixes it if a connected tool changes?
You can, with the documentation. Or we do, under the optional care plan at $350 a month, which you can cancel with 30 days' notice.
Where we go from here
Not sure which fits? Ask.
The free audit ends in a written plan with a fixed price. If a subscription tool or a hire would serve you better, the plan will say so.
No subscription.
No lock-in.
No surprise invoices.
Or start smaller — the $500 pilot · see pricing