How much does AI development cost?
$10K-$50K for a production build. 2-8 weeks. Fixed price, NDA-first.
Custom AI development typically costs $10K-$50K for a complete production build, depending on scope. At Wolrix, Build engagements ($10K-$25K) ship in 2-4 weeks — single-feature AI integrations with auth, payments, and database. Scale engagements ($25K-$50K) ship in 4-8 weeks — multi-tenant platforms with RAG, multi-role workflows, AI cost telemetry. Hourly advisory is $100-$200/hour, no minimum. Plus monthly model spend at production volume: typically $200-$1,800/month depending on traffic. Quote fixed in 48 hours after a 15-minute scope call. 100% satisfaction or your money back. NDA before technical details.
What you actually get at each price
Fixed price, fixed timeline. Quote in 48 hours after the spec call.
Single-feature AI integration. One workflow, one model, auth + Stripe + Postgres. Right for a chatbot, classifier, agent loop on top of an existing app, or a focused intake automation.
- Claude-powered candidate screening (shipped 2 weeks, $12K)
- Document classifier with a single approval queue
- Customer support drafting + human approval
Multi-tenant platform. Auth + Stripe + Postgres + RLS + RAG + multi-role workflows + AI cost telemetry. The telemedicine reference build and the multi-tenant MSP platform live here.
- HIPAA-aware telemedicine platform (8 weeks)
- Multi-tenant MSP operations platform (6 weeks)
- Multi-LLM enterprise platform with admin + RBAC
Architecture review, vendor selection, prompt + cost audits, on-call advisory for an existing codebase. No minimum. Senior engineer time billed against a Stripe invoice every Friday.
- Pre-build architecture review and quote pressure-test
- Prompt + cost audit for a live AI feature
- Vendor selection (Claude vs GPT vs Gemini for your workload)
Five things that move the price
The same AI feature can cost $12K or $40K depending on these five inputs. The spec call narrows the number.
Number of AI surfaces
A single Claude integration on one workflow is a Build. Four AI surfaces — intake, triage, drafting, classification — each with its own eval harness, prompt versioning, and human approval gate, pushes you into Scale.
Multi-tenancy
Single-tenant apps with one user role ship faster and cheaper than multi-tenant platforms with role-based access, row-level security, and per-tenant cost telemetry. Multi-tenancy alone adds 1-2 weeks.
Compliance posture
HIPAA-aware, SOC 2-ready, or NDA-restricted builds need audit logs from day one, encrypted-at-rest schemas, and human-in-loop gates on irreversible actions. Adds 3-5 days per AI surface for compliance review.
Data integration depth
Chatting with the model is cheap. Retrieving against your private documents (RAG), calling your existing APIs as tools, and writing back to production systems is where engineering hours land.
Model spend at production volume
Not in the build cost — but plan for it. Typical production AI spend is $200-$1,800/month for early-stage apps. Claude Sonnet 4.6 with prompt caching cuts input cost up to 90%. Multi-model routing keeps the bill bounded.
What the quote doesn't cover
The build price covers engineering, design, and delivery. Operational costs live with the client. We tell you the expected range up front so the total cost of ownership is on the table before contract signing.
- •Hosting (Vercel: $0-$200/mo at low scale)
- •Model API costs ($200-$1,800/mo at production volume)
- •Stripe fees (2.9% + 30¢ on payments)
- •Domain, email, third-party tools ($50-$300/mo)
- •Ongoing maintenance after the 30-day post-launch window
Pricing questions
What does a typical AI development project cost?
Most AI development projects fall between $10K-$50K. A Build engagement ($10K-$25K) ships a single AI feature in 2-4 weeks. A Scale engagement ($25K-$50K) ships a multi-tenant platform in 4-8 weeks. Hourly advisory is $100-$200/hour for architecture review and consulting.
Why is the price range so wide?
Three things drive the number: how many AI surfaces ship, whether the build is single- or multi-tenant, and the compliance posture. A single chatbot on an existing app is the bottom of the range. A multi-tenant HIPAA-aware platform with four AI features and audit logs is the top.
What is not included in the build price?
Hosting (Vercel typically $0-$200/mo at low scale), model API costs ($200-$1,800/mo at production volume), Stripe processing fees, domain and email, and ongoing maintenance after the 30-day post-launch window. The build price covers the build — operational costs live with the client.
Do you charge hourly or fixed price?
Fixed price for Build and Scale engagements. Hourly ($100-$200/hr) for Consult engagements — architecture review, vendor selection, on-call advisory. Fixed price means we eat the risk: 100% satisfaction or your money back if you're not satisfied with the deliverable.
How accurate is the quote?
The quote is fixed once the spec is signed. We quote in 48 hours after a 15-minute scope call. If scope changes mid-build, we issue a written change order before continuing. We have not run a Build or Scale engagement over budget in the last 12 months.
Want a number on your project?
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