AI automation cost in 2026 splits into two numbers at webvise: a low four-figure one-time build and running costs measured in cents per run. The recurring line it replaces is the per-seat AI subscription at €100 to 200 per user per month.
The cheapest test run in webvise's logs came to $0.005.
You are budgeting an automation and every quote you collect uses a different unit: per hour, per seat, per workflow, per month. This article publishes the numbers from webvise's own shipped systems instead: two real build prices as ranges, measured per-run costs, and the setup that keeps those runs at cent level. Every figure below comes from a system running at a client or from a quote that actually went out.
- A production two-agent document automation was a low four-figure one-time build. A scoped RAG assistant on about 30 approved sources was quoted at mid three figures, one year of usage included.
- Runs cost cents: $1.50 to $2.50 per 11-page document conversion, a target of 20 to 30 cents for routine workflows, one test run logged at $0.005.
- Monthly AI costs in production are typically a two-digit euro amount, with no seat licenses. The roughly €50 token budget for building and testing is smaller than one month of a single AI seat.
- The measured baseline: about 1 hour of retyping per document became about 3.5 minutes at MP Bau, a German construction company.
- One gateway, a curated model list, and per-run cost tracking in the client's own portal make every number above checkable.
If you want those two numbers for a workflow of your own, webvise's AI automation service turns one named workflow into a fixed build quote plus a per-run cost estimate.
Two build prices from shipped work
webvise publishes build prices as ranges and never ties them to a client invoice. Two recent price points frame what an SMB automation costs. A production two-agent document automation, one agent for document conversion and one for quantity takeoff, was a low four-figure one-time build. A RAG assistant that answers from about 30 approved sources was quoted at mid three figures, and that quote already contained a year of usage costs.
Both prices are one-time. No monthly platform fee sits underneath them and no per-seat license comes on top. Scope set the smaller number: the RAG assistant stayed at mid three figures because the source list was fixed at about 30 approved documents before the quote went out.
What a run costs, measured
Per-run costs are logged, so nothing here is estimated. These are the numbers from webvise's shipped systems and their logs.
| Cost item | Number |
|---|---|
| 11-page document conversion, top model | about $2.50 per run |
| Same conversion, cheaper frontier model | about $1.50 per run |
| Target for routine workflow runs | 20 to 30 cents |
| Cheapest logged test run | $0.005 |
| Token budget for building and testing | about €50 total |
| Typical monthly AI cost in production | two-digit euros |
| Per-seat AI subscription this replaces | €100 to 200 per user, per month |
The €50 line is the one buyers misread most often. It is the entire token budget for building and testing an automation, and it is smaller than a single month of one AI seat. Once live, monthly model costs across a client's automations typically stay at a two-digit euro amount.
The baseline that justifies the build
MP Bau, a German construction company and webvise client, supplied the baseline. Retyping one 11-page tender document by hand took about an hour. The shipped automation converts the same document in about three and a half minutes, at $1.50 to $2.50 per run depending on the model.
That measurement is the whole business case, and your own team can repeat it before spending anything. Time one real document through the old path, then price the run. The method, and the ROI claims worth refusing, are covered in how to calculate AI automation ROI.
The setup that keeps runs at cent level
Every automation webvise ships routes its model calls through one gateway with a curated model list. The client's own portal tracks the cost of every run, so the cent figures above stay visible to the client, live, per run.
The model split does the rest. An expensive model authors the workflow logic once, during the build. Cheaper models execute that logic on every production run. That split is why the same 11-page conversion costs about $2.50 on a top model and about $1.50 on a cheaper frontier model, and why a test run can log at $0.005.
What such a build contains end to end is documented in AI document automation for small businesses.
The seat math this replaces
Per-seat AI tools for business run €100 to 200 per user per month, and they scale with headcount instead of with work done. A five-person team pays €500 to 1,000 a month before a single workflow is automated. That figure repeats every month, whether the seats produce anything or sit idle.
A low four-figure build with two-digit euro monthly costs undercuts that seat bill within the first year, and the gap widens every month after. The automation also does the work itself, while a seat only hands a person a chat window.
AI automation cost stops being a range the moment one workflow is named and one document is timed. Send webvise the task your team retypes most often through the contact form and you get a fixed build quote plus a per-run cost estimate for it.
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