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What would AI agents cost your business?
Tell us where your team is stretched and we will show you which agents could take that work on, what each one covers and what it costs a month. It takes about a minute and there is no sign-up.
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A PDF with every answer and figure. Just your email, no call unless you ask for one.
OpenAI Select PartnerCyber Essentials CertifiedSenior engineers only
1,000+
quotes a week, if you need it. A person manages forty. Your sign-off is the only queue.
24/7
Big calls are drafted, challenged and re-tested by a panel of AI personalities before you see them.
100%
of external actions wait for your signature. Every one logged.
What the monthly price covers
A guide, not a quote: exact numbers follow the audit. Bespoke or custom system? A plus, not a problem: no API constraints, and we work directly with your vendor.
Free, 30 minutes, no obligation
Talk to the engineer who would build it
We will have read your answers before we call, and we will say plainly if something is not worth doing.
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For the thinking behind the numbers, read what AI agents cost UK businesses.
For the thinking behind the numbers, read what AI agents cost UK businesses.
What an AI agent costs a UK business a month
An AI agent from Codebased is priced against the work it takes over, not per agent. Each process we run has its own monthly price, set by how often that work comes round. How many agents it takes to run it is our problem, not something you pay per unit for.
| Volume of that job | Monthly, per process |
|---|---|
| Up to 500 runs a month | £750 |
| Up to 2,000 runs a month | £1,250 |
| Up to 5,000 runs a month | £2,000 |
| More than 5,000 | £2,000, plus usage above 5,000 at cost plus 20% |
A process is one end-to-end job you do today, from the thing that starts it to the finished output. Producing quotations is a process. Chasing overdue invoices is a process. Variations on the same job count as one, so quoting for three product lines is still one process. A run is one time the job happens: one quote drafted, one invoice chased, one enquiry answered.
Every engagement opens with a £1,500 AI process audit: a look at the systems an agent would touch, the rules your people apply today written down, and a price for each process. If you go ahead within 30 days the £1,500 comes off the build fee. The report is yours whether or not you go ahead.
Building costs £4,500 for the first process and £3,000 for each one after, invoiced half on signature and half when the first process goes live. That pays for integrating into the systems you already run, designing the permissions and testing against your real cases. It is also why the agreement is twelve months and not three years: we are paid for the build when we build it.
Two worked examples
One process: quoting
A manufacturer sends about 300 quotes a month, and two people spend most of their week pricing them. One process at up to 500 runs is £750 a month. The audit is £1,500 and the build is £4,500, of which £3,000 is left to pay once the audit is credited. The first year comes to £13,500, and each year after to £9,000.
Three processes at different volumes
A lettings agency wants quoting at about 1,200 runs a month (£1,250), rent arrears chasing at about 400 (£750) and its shared inbox, about 3,000 emails a month (£2,000). That is £4,000 a month. The build is £4,500 plus £3,000 for each of the other two, £10,500 in all, less the £1,500 audit. The first year comes to £58,500, and each year after to £48,000.
An agent against the alternatives
| A month | What you get | |
|---|---|---|
| Off-the-shelf AI tool | £40 to £400 | Works inside its own product. Your people still move the work between systems. |
| A Codebased agent, one process | From £750, plus the build | Runs the whole job inside the systems you already use, with a person signing off. |
| Another administrator on £26,000 | About £2,500 | Employer's National Insurance and pension included. Holidays, sickness and training on top. |
The audit, the build and the running of the agents are all part of our agentic AI consultancy. For the wider market, including what other firms charge, read what AI agents cost UK businesses.
Common questions
How much does an AI agent cost for a UK business?
From £750 a month for each process we run, set by how often that work comes round: £750 for up to 500 runs a month, £1,250 for up to 2,000 and £2,000 for up to 5,000. A run is one time the job happens, such as one quote or one invoice chased. On top of that is a build fee of £4,500 for the first process and £3,000 for each one after.
Is there a build fee or an up-front cost?
Yes. Building costs £4,500 for the first process and £3,000 for each one after, invoiced half on signature and half when the first process goes live. It covers integrating into the systems you already run, designing the permissions and testing against your real cases. It is also why the agreement is twelve months and not three years.
What comes before the build?
A £1,500 AI process audit. We look at the systems an agent would touch, write down the rules your people apply today and price each process. If you go ahead within 30 days the £1,500 comes off the build fee, and the audit report is yours either way.
What does the monthly price include?
Hosting and infrastructure, model usage up to the volume your tier allows, upgrades whenever a better model is released, monitoring and support, updates to the framework the agents run on, and continuing improvements as your team feeds back. Past 5,000 runs a month, usage is charged at cost plus 20 per cent.
How quickly can an AI agent go live?
Most agents are working within two to four weeks of the audit. Where a business needs several, they go live in waves so each one proves itself on real work before the next is built.
Do our systems need an API for AI agents to work?
It helps, but it is not a requirement. Where a system has no API we build an access layer for it. The audit establishes which of your systems need one, which is the single answer that moves the build fee most.
Are the AI agents fully autonomous?
No, and deliberately so. Every agent works under human sign-off. Anything leaving your business waits for a person to approve it, and every action an agent takes is logged.
Is my business too small for an AI agent?
If the job comes round a handful of times a week, an off-the-shelf subscription tool at £40 to £400 a month will usually do it, and we will say so. Agents pay off where several people spend a large part of the week on the same repetitive work.