AI agent agency pricing: what to expect (and what 'cheap' costs)
How AI agent agency pricing usually works: audits, fixed pilots, retainers, and the hidden cost of demo-grade builds.
Written by Dali
Dali is an AI agent systems studio. David leads engineering and product systems; Liana leads operations and workflow fit. We ship production agents inside tools teams already use.
David Hakobyan · Dali
Direct answer
Expect a paid discovery or audit, then a fixed-price pilot for one workflow. Cheap unlimited 'agents everywhere' packages usually mean thin demos without gates or ownership.
Common commercial shapes
Hourly consulting. Fixed pilot milestones. Monthly ops retainers after launch. Platform licenses on top if a product is required - prefer using tools you already pay for.
What should be in a pilot quote
Workflow map, integrations in scope, acceptance test, gate rules, logging, handoff package, explicit exclusions.
Hidden costs of underpriced work
Rewrites after secrets leak. No one on-call. Knowledge leaves with the contractor. CRM pollution from bad automation.
How to compare quotes fairly
Normalize scope. Ask what happens when the agent is wrong. Ask who pays for production hardening.
How Dali fits
Dali quotes fixed-scope pilots after an audit defines the acceptance bar. See solutions.
FAQ
Rarely for production systems. Free work often skips discovery and gates.