Free Tool
Build vs Buy
AI Agent Calculator
Should you build a custom AI agent or buy an off-the-shelf tool? Plug in the numbers and see Year 1 costs, monthly burn, and ROI. No spreadsheets!
start here
Use Case
Scale
5,000
5
Standard integration — typical team needs
Configuration
$100/hr
Auto
Auto: uses estimate for selected use case
Build Year 1
—
Buy Year 1
—
You Save
—
Break-Even
—
Cost Breakdown
Build It Yourself
Year 1 Total$0
$0/mo ongoing
Buy a Tool
Year 1 Total$0
$0/mo ongoing
Cumulative Cost Comparison
Recommended AI Tools
Copied!
Done crunching numbers?
Hidden costs, the 3x rule, vendor lock-in traps, and the hybrid playbook nobody talks about — we broke it all down in a 4,000-word guide with real data, a decision framework, and an interactive scorecard.
Read the Full Guide →
Cost estimates based on real vendor pricing, February 2026. Build costs from industry research (Azilen, Cleveroad, Insighto AI).
Buy pricing: Intercom ($29/seat + $0.99/res), Copilot ($19/user), Clay ($149/mo), Vapi ($0.05/min+), Otter ($17/user), and others from official pages.
LLM API rates: OpenAI GPT-4.1 ($2/$8 per 1M tok), GPT-4o ($2.50/$10), GPT-5.4 ($2.50/$15 per 1M tok), DeepSeek V3 ($0.15/$0.60), Claude Sonnet ($3/$15), Opus ($15/$75).
Maintenance = 15–24% of build cost annually (industry standard). Infra = $50–$2,500/mo based on scale.
Your actual costs will vary — use this as a starting point for decision-making.
Buy pricing: Intercom ($29/seat + $0.99/res), Copilot ($19/user), Clay ($149/mo), Vapi ($0.05/min+), Otter ($17/user), and others from official pages.
LLM API rates: OpenAI GPT-4.1 ($2/$8 per 1M tok), GPT-4o ($2.50/$10), GPT-5.4 ($2.50/$15 per 1M tok), DeepSeek V3 ($0.15/$0.60), Claude Sonnet ($3/$15), Opus ($15/$75).
Maintenance = 15–24% of build cost annually (industry standard). Infra = $50–$2,500/mo based on scale.
Your actual costs will vary — use this as a starting point for decision-making.
