Cost
AI MVP Cost
Short answer
AI MVP cost is two bills: the product build (same ballpark as other web MVPs) and inference (tokens). Founders underestimate the second. Cap usage before you buy ads.
What does an AI MVP cost?
Build: a scoped production app (auth, one workflow, deploy). Run: model API + host. RAG and agents add ingest and tool-call spend.
Order-of-magnitude (2026)
| Shape | Build (typical) | Run risk |
|---|---|---|
| Chat over FAQ | Lean web MVP | Low if cached |
| RAG over docs | Higher (ingest + UI) | Embed + chat tokens |
| Agent + tools | Higher (perms + logs) | Loops can explode |
| Fine-tune first | Usually wasted | N/A — skip |
Our build floor
Same $3,460 starting price as other MVPs when the AI piece is one API workflow. RAG, voice, and multi-agent are quoted after we see the job. Use the AI MVP cost tool for a heuristic.
FAQ
Is AI more expensive than a normal SaaS MVP?
The app is similar. The variable cost is inference. Price the product so tokens are a small fraction of revenue.
Related
Need a number, not a range blog?
Run the estimator, then book a call if the scope is RAG or agents.