How much does AI automation cost a small business?
OpenAI's new Sol and Luna models make the cost question timely. But a cheaper model is only one part of a dependable business system. Here is what belongs in your budget.
The short answer: there is no useful single price for AI automation. A draft-writing assistant and a system that reads enquiries, checks availability and updates your CRM are different projects. Budget separately for implementation, monthly operation and the people who handle exceptions.
Buy a process that works, not a model name that sounds impressive.
Three costs. One business decision.
Ask a supplier to separate these items so you can compare like with like.
Build and connect
Workflow design, integrations, data preparation, permissions and tests against your real business cases.
Run and maintain
Model usage, hosting, connected services, monitoring and agreed support. Identify fixed and variable charges.
Review and improve
Your team's review time, exception handling and changes when policies, products or integrations evolve.
What changed in OpenAI's pricing?
Lower model rates can reduce usage costs. They do not price the whole project.
The launch table lists GPT-6 Sol at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. GPT-6 Luna is listed at $0.10 and $0.50 respectively. These are API rates in US dollars, checked against the September 22 announcement, not a monthly subscription or a LineWeb service price.
Why two automation quotes can look very different
Imagine a service company receiving enquiries through its website and email. Preparing a suggested reply is a narrow task. Reading attachments, detecting duplicates, assigning a territory, checking the current calendar and creating a reliable CRM record requires more integration work. The same model can sit behind both.
Estimate value from work you already understand
Start with a week's sample of the task. Count how often it happens and time the complete human process, including corrections. Then trial the assisted version on comparable cases. Count accepted results, not merely generated responses.
Connect AI to the work behind the business
LineWeb designs automation around existing forms, CRMs and operational tools, with a defined scope and a clear handover to the people using it.
Explore automation and integrationsClear answers, without the jargon.
01Is AI automation a one-off cost?+
Usually not. Separate implementation from model usage, infrastructure, third-party subscriptions and maintenance. Ask which costs rise with volume.
02Does a cheap AI model make custom development cheap?+
Not necessarily. Integration, workflow rules, testing and support still need work. Model usage is only one budget line.
03Can I keep my existing CRM?+
Often that is the sensible starting point. Feasibility depends on its interfaces, permissions and data quality, which should be checked before quoting an integration.
04How do I request an accurate AI automation quote?+
Provide a sample of the task, monthly volume, current tools, the desired result and the mistakes you cannot accept. Remove personal or confidential information from initial examples.
Andrew Matia - LineWeb
Founder of LineWeb. I write about the practical side of websites, systems, automation and search: the decisions that make a business easier to run and clearer to find.
Read the founder storyTell us which task is costing you time.
Share the workflow, the tools you use and an approximate monthly volume. We can assess whether existing software is enough or a focused custom integration makes sense.