What software and AI projects actually cost.
Ten client projects, each with what it cost to build, what it costs a month to run, how long it took and when it paid back. Every figure comes from a published case study, and each row links to it.
Lowest build cost first.
One-off cost is everything paid before launch. Monthly cost is what the client kept paying afterwards, and for what.
| Project | One-off cost | Monthly, after launch | Time | Result | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five AI workflow automationsMulti-channel e-commerce brand, $28M revenue | $44,000$6,000 assessment + $38,000 build | $2,500operation | 8 weeks | Manual work cut from 32 to 4.5 hours a week; about $87,000 a year | 10.2 months |
| Data stack and self-serve analyticsB2B SaaS, $6M ARR | $44,000 | $2,850$850 platform + $2,000 support | 7 weeks | Manual reporting cut from 56+ to 4 hours a month; $270,000+ in year-one value | Not stated |
| SaaS MVPPre-seed logistics startup | $48,000 | $180infrastructure at launch; later a retained team of three at $14,500 | 11 weeks | 14 paying customers by month six; $2.1M Series A four months after launch | Not applicable |
| AI customer support agentD2C home goods brand, $12M revenue | $50,000$8,000 assessment + $42,000 build | $3,500operation | 10 weeks | 64% of tickets resolved with no human; $217,200 a year saved | 5.1 months |
| Two-sided marketplacePre-seed B2B services marketplace | $72,000 | $7,500ongoing development | 14 weeks | $2.4M GMV and $360K commission revenue in year one | Not applicable |
| Heroku to AWS migration, zero downtimeSeries B payments platform | $74,000 | $5,500SRE retainer | 14 weeks | Infrastructure cost down from $14,200 to $9,230 a month; deploys 38 minutes to 2.5 | 14.8 months, on infrastructure savings alone |
| B2B payments platformSeed-funded construction payments startup | $118,000 | $8,500ongoing development and support | 4 months | $41.2M processed in year one at a 0.02% error rate | Not applicable |
| HIPAA telehealth platform, 3 EHR integrationsChronic disease management company | $124,000 | $5,500maintenance and support | 5 months | 1,200 patients enrolled in 90 days; coordinator capacity up 3.6× | Not applicable |
| AI transformation, three phasesManagement consulting firm, 140 people | $168,000$12,000 assessment + $156,000 build | $4,500operation | 6 months | 1,020+ hours recovered in the first full quarter; $480,000 a year | 5.3 months |
| Embedded engineering team of threeSeries B HR-tech SaaS, $8M ARR | None | $14,400three engineers | First pull requests in 5 days | Sprint velocity 34 to 78 points; $207,600 a year against $600,000 to hire | Not applicable |
These are what past clients paid, not today’s price list; current fixed prices are on the pricing page. Three further case studies do not publish a price and are not listed. “Not applicable” marks a first product for a startup, which is judged on customers and funding, not on a cost it removed.
Four things the table shows.
Counted from the rows above. Ten projects is a small sample, so treat these as what happened, not as a market rate.
Every project has a monthly cost after launch.
Not one of the ten ended at the invoice for the build. The three AI systems cost $2,500 to $4,500 a month to operate. Products that kept a development team cost $5,500 to $8,500 a month. Budget for both lines.
Where payback was measured, it took 5 to 15 months.
Four case studies state a payback period: 5.1, 5.3, 10.2 and 14.8 months. The two fastest replaced a large, measurable cost. The slowest counts infrastructure savings only.
The AI projects began with a paid assessment.
All three AI builds started with one to two weeks of assessment costing $6,000 to $12,000, before any build was priced. In each case the assessment set the scope and the order of work.
Startup builds are judged differently.
Four of the ten are first products for funded startups. They did not pay back by cutting a cost; they were judged on reaching customers and the next round. Payback is marked not applicable for those.
A quote with no monthly line is missing something. Ask any vendor, us included, what the system costs to run in month thirteen and who is doing the running. Then put your own numbers through the ROI calculator, which subtracts that cost every month.
What these projects cost, in short
How much does it cost to build an AI customer support agent?
One Gigabit client, a $12M direct-to-consumer brand, paid $50,000 before launch ($8,000 for an assessment and $42,000 for the build) and $3,500 a month to operate it. It took 10 weeks, resolves 64% of tickets with no human, and paid back in 5.1 months. That is one engagement, not a price list; today Gigabit Agents start from $8,000 flat per agent.
How much does it cost to build a SaaS MVP?
Four first-product builds on this page cost $48,000 (a logistics SaaS, 11 weeks), $72,000 (a two-sided marketplace, 14 weeks), $118,000 (a B2B payments platform, 4 months) and $124,000 (a HIPAA telehealth platform with three EHR integrations, 5 months). Regulated data and payment handling are what moved the price.
What does an AI system cost to run after it is built?
For the three AI systems here, $2,500, $3,500 and $4,500 a month, covering monitoring, upkeep and model usage. Gigabit's current Managed AI Operations retainer is $3,000–$20,000/mo depending on how many systems are covered.
How long does an AI project take to pay back?
Among these projects, the AI support agent paid back in 5.1 months, the consulting-firm transformation in 5.3 months and the e-commerce operations automations in 10.2 months. A cloud migration paid back in 14.8 months on infrastructure savings alone. The other six do not state a payback period.
Are these Gigabit's current prices?
No. They are what ten past clients paid, taken from the published case studies. Current prices are fixed and public: the AI Transformation Sprint is $25,000 for 2 weeks, Gigabit Agents start at $8,000 per agent, and Embedded AI Teams are $3,000–$7,500 per engineer per month.
Why are only ten of the thirteen case studies listed?
Three healthcare case studies do not publish what the client paid, so they have no row. Nothing was estimated to fill the gap.
Get a fixed price for yours, with the monthly line included.
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