Cost guide · Australia
A build price is only half the answer. This guide separates the one-off build from the monthly running costs, shows the ranges Australian providers publish, and gives you a worked example you can change.
Build prices
Each figure is the provider’s own published range. They are not SIX9 prices, and each provider defines “a workflow” a little differently — use them as a sense of scale, not a quote.
| Provider | What the range covers | Published range | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| FlowWorks | Basic: 1–2 workflows, 2–3 integrations | A$3,000–A$5,000 | Published Nov 2025 |
| FlowWorks | Standard: 3–6 workflows, 4–8 platforms | A$5,000–A$15,000 | Published Nov 2025 |
| Better Automations | Most builds, quoted fixed before work starts; 2–6 weeks | A$3,000–A$15,000 | Checked 25 September 2026 |
| Spark Interact | Small-business solutions | A$15,000–A$50,000 | Checked 25 September 2026 |
Price drivers
Two projects that both “automate enquiries” can differ by thousands of dollars. These are the reasons.
Running costs
These are billed by each provider to the account holder — ideally your business — and continue for as long as the automation runs.
| Cost line | How it is billed | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| AI usage | Per token (roughly per chunk of words) sent to and returned by the model | Volume per month, length of each item, which model is used, and whether retries or extra calls happen |
| Zapier | By tasks — each successful action step | Tasks per month on your plan (Zapier pricing) |
| Make | By credits — one credit per standard module run; AI modules and code can use more | Credits per month on your plan (Make pricing) |
| n8n | Cloud plans by workflow executions; can also be self-hosted | Executions per month, or hosting and maintenance if self-hosted (n8n pricing) |
| Hosting | Monthly, for self-hosted tools or custom code | Who applies updates and security patches, and where data is stored |
| Support | Optional retainer or quoted changes | What is monitored, how fast issues are fixed and what counts as a change |
Worked example
An illustration with stated assumptions, not a quote. Your own volumes and model choice will change the figures.
A trades business receives 300 website enquiries a month. Each one is summarised and categorised by an AI model: about 1,000 tokens in and 300 tokens out. At illustrative rates of US$1 per million input tokens and US$5 per million output tokens, the AI usage comes to about US$0.75 a month — 300 × (1,000 × $1 + 300 × $5) ÷ 1,000,000.
At this volume a paid automation platform plan would usually cost more each month than the AI itself, and the build is the largest cost overall. That is common for small volumes, and it is why a quote should always show build and running costs on separate lines.
Build or subscribe
Some Australian providers sell automation as a weekly or monthly managed service with little or no upfront cost. Neither model is better in every case.
How SIX9 quotes
We do not publish a single automation price, because a fair number depends on your tools and data. Here is exactly what happens instead.
Sources
SIX9 Design is not affiliated with the businesses named. Found an out-of-date figure? Tell us through the contact page and we will correct it.
Published Australian ranges put a first project of one or two workflows at about A$3,000–A$5,000, several connected workflows at A$5,000–A$15,000, and larger agency programmes from A$15,000 to A$50,000. On top of the build you pay running costs: AI usage, automation platform subscriptions and any hosting or support.
Check the tools you already pay for first. Many email, form, CRM and booking tools include rules, auto-replies and simple integrations at no extra cost. When a workflow crosses several tools or needs AI to read and summarise, start with one well-defined workflow rather than a large programme.
Usually not. AI providers bill usage per token to the account holder, so the running cost belongs to your business. At SIX9, AI usage, subscriptions and hosting are excluded from the build quote and estimated separately.
It depends on volume and who maintains it. Zapier bills by tasks and Make by credits, while n8n bills its cloud plans by workflow executions and can also be self-hosted. Self-hosting removes the platform fee but adds hosting, updates, security and monitoring work.
Providers rarely define scope the same way. The number of systems, the quality of your data, how exceptions are handled, how much testing is done and whether support is included all change the price. Compare quotes line by line, not by the headline number.
We review one workflow for free, then send a written quote for the build with an estimate of the running costs. AI usage and software subscriptions are paid directly by you to each provider.
Describe one workflow. We review it for free and send a written quote with estimated running costs.
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