The short answer: typical 2026 market ranges
There is no single price, because 'AI consulting' covers everything from a two-week diagnostic to a multi-month build. But the market has settled into recognisable bands, and knowing them stops you over-paying or, worse, buying a build before anyone has diagnosed whether it pays.
- AI readiness assessment or audit: roughly £1,500 to £3,000 in the UK, or $2,000 to $8,000 in the US, delivered in two to four weeks.
- AI strategy and roadmap: around $8,000 to $25,000 for a comprehensive, costed plan with tool selection and a phased implementation timeline.
- Day rates: UK AI and automation consultants typically charge £400 to £1,500 a day, depending on seniority and whether they advise or build.
- Project-based SME automation builds: roughly £2,000 to £15,000, depending on scope and how much data plumbing is needed first.
- Fractional AI leadership: around £1,500 a day for two to four days a month (~£36,000 a year), versus the six-figure cost of a full-time Chief AI Officer.
What actually drives the price
Two SMEs can get quotes an order of magnitude apart for what sounds like the same thing. The gap is almost always explained by four factors.
- Scope: a diagnostic roadmap costs a fraction of a build. Advising where AI pays is cheap; shipping it is where the number scales.
- Data readiness: a business with clean, owned data pays less. One that needs a data spine built first pays for that first, before any AI.
- Seniority and productisation: a standardised, productised diagnostic is cheaper than bespoke, senior-led strategy work.
- Build versus advise: the roadmap is the cheap part. Implementation, integration and change management are where cost concentrates.
The four pricing models, and when each fits
How you are charged matters as much as how much. Four models dominate the SME market.
- Day rate: flexible and good for exploratory work, but you carry the scope risk and the meter is always running.
- Fixed-price package: a defined deliverable (an audit, a roadmap) for a set fee. Predictable, and the right way to start a relationship you can exit cleanly.
- Retainer or fractional: ongoing leadership for a monthly fee. Sensible once you have a real programme to run, not before.
- Performance or outcome-based: fees tied to a measurable result. Rare, and only honest where the outcome can be cleanly attributed.
Judge it on value, not on day rate
The wrong question is 'what is your day rate?'. The right one is 'what is the cost per outcome?'. A £3,000 roadmap that surfaces three quick wins worth five figures a year is cheap. A £25,000 build with no defensible business case behind it is expensive, whatever the day rate looked like.
- Ask for a costed business case per opportunity before any build is quoted.
- Prioritise quick wins that can be operational in 60 to 90 days over a grand transformation.
- Be wary of anyone who sells the build before they have done the diagnosis. The order tells you who they work for.
Where to start: a costed roadmap before you spend
You should never commit to an AI build without a costed, ranked view of where it actually pays in your business. That is exactly what our free AI Profit Roadmap is: a 45-minute discovery call, a costed analysis delivered within a week, and three named quick wins you can act on regardless of whether you work with us further.
It is roughly £750 (about $1,000) of work, given free, because it also qualifies both sides. If a paid engagement is wrong for you, the roadmap is still useful on its own. You spend on outcomes, not on hype.