How much does an AI build cost in the United States?
The typical AI build for a buyer in the United States costs $3,360, and half of 17,147 priced posts fall between $600 and $8,800. That ranks 19th of 72 countries on median cost.
What stands out in the United States
- Relative to population, the United States ranks 6th of 72, with 75 posts per million people.
- The median build in the United States is $3,360, 1.3 times the $2,500 market median.
- Competition for work here is high: a median of 15 applicants a post against 12 overall.
Where the United States ranks
Where the United States ranks
Each tick is a ranked country, lowest on the left. Pink is this one.
- Posts25,643#1 of 72
- Median cost$3,360#19 of 72
- Hourly rate$29.50/hr#20 of 72
- Applicants15#8 of 72
- Expert requests41%#32 of 72
- Per million75#6 of 72
- Against income3.7%#57 of 72
- Seasoned buyers43%#17 of 72
What a build costs
Half of priced posts from the United States fall between $600 and $8,800, and one in ten reaches $21,600.
Against the closest markets
Median build for United States and the countries nearest in price.
- Lithuania$3,400
- United States$3,360
- Netherlands$3,200
- Canada$2,160
How buyers structure the work
Fixed-price and hourly posts, by count.
$400median fixed budget
$5,940median hourly estimate
Posted rates: $20/hr to $45/hr, median $29.50/hr.
What buyers in the United States ask for
Compared with the world, this shows what is distinctive here, not only what is common.
Most requested builds
Share of posts here against worldwide.
- AI SaaS and MVPs16.8%
- Back-office automation13.3%
- Custom agents7.2%
- CRM automation6.5%
- n8n workflows6.0%
- Make and Zapier5.3%
- API integrations5.1%
- Support chatbots2.9%
See the numbers
| Build | Posts | Share here | Share worldwide | Median here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI SaaS and MVPs | 4311 | 16.8% | 17.3% | $4,720 |
| Back-office automation | 3419 | 13.3% | 13.0% | $3,500 |
| Custom agents | 1836 | 7.2% | 7.0% | $4,520 |
| CRM automation | 1666 | 6.5% | 4.9% | $2,880 |
| n8n workflows | 1533 | 6.0% | 6.8% | $1,600 |
| Make and Zapier | 1353 | 5.3% | 4.1% | $1,260 |
| API integrations | 1295 | 5.1% | 4.8% | $3,600 |
| Support chatbots | 738 | 2.9% | 3.2% | $2,500 |
| Voice agents | 736 | 2.9% | 2.7% | $2,380 |
| AI mobile apps | 589 | 2.3% | 2.3% | $2,500 |
| RAG and document search | 487 | 1.9% | 2.1% | $3,100 |
| Email automation | 455 | 1.8% | 1.5% | $2,400 |
| Social media | 444 | 1.7% | 1.6% | $2,000 |
| SEO content | 432 | 1.7% | 1.4% | $2,240 |
| Vibe-code rescue | 374 | 1.5% | 1.3% | $3,600 |
| Document extraction | 272 | 1.1% | 0.9% | $2,000 |
| Text to SQL | 268 | 1.0% | 1.0% | $3,200 |
| Computer vision | 263 | 1.0% | 1.0% | $4,400 |
| Trading bots | 248 | 1.0% | 0.8% | $2,700 |
| MCP | 228 | 0.9% | 0.7% | $4,400 |
| AI receptionists | 162 | 0.6% | 0.5% | $840 |
| AI scraping | 161 | 0.6% | 0.5% | $1,000 |
| WhatsApp bots | 85 | 0.3% | 0.9% | $780 |
Most distinctive here
How many times the worldwide share.
- MCP1.3×
- CRM automation1.3×
- Make and Zapier1.3×
- Email automation1.2×
- Document extraction1.2×
- AI receptionists1.2×
- AI scraping1.2×
- SEO content1.2×
Tools and systems named
What buyers mention shows the systems an AI build has to work with.
Share of posts naming each
Here against worldwide. Names under five posts are hidden.
- “Agent”12.1%
- GoHighLevel8.1%
- Claude7.1%
- n8n6.1%
- Google Sheets5.8%
- AWS5.5%
- GoHighLevel5.1%
- Slack4.1%
- HubSpot3.7%
How serious the scope is
Share of descriptions asking for each.
- Production18.7%
- Evaluation or guardrails7.7%
- Compliance6.5%
If you are buying from the United States
Plan around the range
Half of priced posts from the United States fall between $600 and $8,800. The median is a starting point, and scope decides where you land.
Treat rate as a weak signal
Posted rates here centre on $29.50 an hour and rates vary little between countries, because talent is global. Compare scope and evidence of similar work instead.
Plan time for shortlisting
A median of 15 applicants means screening takes real time. Ask for one similar past project up front.
Compare with similar markets
Neighbours
Closest in North America
Closest elsewhere
Price your own build
See the median, range and scope for your use case. Ready to price your own? Send a brief.
Questions
How much does an AI build cost in the United States?
The median across 17,147 priced posts from buyers in the United States is $3,360. Half fall between $600 and $8,800, and one in ten reaches $21,600 or more.
What do AI developers charge buyers in the United States?
Posted rates centre on $29.50 an hour, with most between $20 and $45. These are open-market rates from public posts; agencies usually charge more.
What are businesses in the United States building with AI?
The most common requests are AI SaaS and MVPs, back-office automation, custom agents.
How does the United States compare with the rest of the North America region?
The United States has 25,643 posts, 91% of the 28,187 we track in the region. Its median of $3,360 compares with a typical country median there of $2,760. Worldwide it ranks 19th of 72 on median cost.
Does this measure where the work is done?
No. It shows buyers located in the United States, wherever the people they hire are based. It reflects public job posts, which lean towards smaller, open-market projects.
How to read this
Country is the buyer's stated location, not where the work is done. Figures come from public job posts from December 2025 to November 2026 and show what posts offered, not what was paid. Hourly posts are estimated from rate, length and workload. Countries need 30 priced posts to be ranked, and are left out of rankings when one account makes up over a quarter of posts. Counts under 5 are hidden. Population and GDP per person are the latest World Bank figures. Read the method
Cite this page. The AI Build Index. "How much does an AI build cost in the United States?" Published by VIZIO AI. Updated 2026-11-04. https://aibuildindex.com/countries/united-states
Get the data as JSON or the page as Markdown. See all countries.
| Measure | Value | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| AI build posts | 25,643 | 1 of 72 |
| Median build cost | $3,360 | 19 of 72 |
| Median hourly rate | $29.50/hr | 20 of 72 |
| Applicants per post | 15 | 8 of 72 |
| Expert-level requests | 41% | 32 of 72 |
| Posts per million people | 75 | 6 of 72 |
| Median build against income | 3.7% | 57 of 72 |
| Buyers with $10k+ past spend | 43% | 17 of 72 |