Industries · 37 sectors compared

AI build costs by industry

Sector changes the price of an AI build more than most buyers expect. Medians run from $1,000 in art and design to $8,160 in crypto and Web3, and regulated sectors have a typical median of $3,000 against $2,400 elsewhere.

Updated November 4, 2026 · 25,935 public job posts placed in a sector · Published by VIZIO AI · How we measure

Technology and IT$26.4M · $2,700SaaS$16.2M · $4,000Marketing and sales$12.4M · $2,800Healthcare$10.7M · $4,000Financial services$8.7M · $3,000E-commerce$8.3M · $2,400Real estate$6.4M · $2,780Education$5.7M · $2,000Media and entertainment$3.9M · $2,400Legal$2.4M · $3,000Recruiting and HR$2.4M · $3,100Retail$2.2M · $2,400Manufacturing$2.1M · $3,600Crypto and Web3$2.0M · $8,160Business services$1.9M · $2,840Travel$1.7M · $2,160Engineering and architecture$1.7M · $2,000Fashion and beauty$1.6M · $2,000Logistics$1.5M · $3,680Restaurants and hospitality$1.3M · $2,000Automotive$1.2M · $2,500Sports$1.2M · $2,100Accounting and tax$1.1M · $2,000Home services$988k · $2,000Construction$981k · $4,720Art and design$943k · $1,000Energy and utilities$873k · $1,500Fitness and wellness$873k · $2,900Insurance$667k · $4,320Aerospace and defense$666k · $4,720Science and biotech$559k · $4,000Gaming$519k · $1,200Agriculture$468k · $2,650Dental$465k · $1,380Government$241k · $2,650Pets and veterinary$206k · $1,500Nonprofit$193k · $2,490

Size is posted value. Deeper pink is a higher median cost.

Every industry

Industries by AI build posts, median cost, hourly rate, applicants, compliance and momentum
Industry
Technology and IT	4,443	$2,700	$29.50/hr	12	5.0%	-8%
SaaS	2,577	$4,000	$30/hr	20	9.1%	+30%
Marketing and sales	2,434	$2,800	$25/hr	13	3.6%	-24%
E-commerce	2,002	$2,400	$22.50/hr	10	4.6%	+2%
Healthcare	1,724	$4,000	$30/hr	15.5	25.3%	+12%
Financial services	1,548	$3,000	$30/hr	11	7.4%	-7%
Real estate	1,517	$2,780	$25/hr	14	7.1%	-8%
Education	1,430	$2,000	$27.50/hr	10	3.7%	-11%
Media and entertainment	882	$2,400	$29.50/hr	13	3.3%	-20%
Business services	629	$2,840	$27.50/hr	10	3.1%	-22%
Retail	520	$2,400	$29/hr	14	4.2%	-11%
Recruiting and HR	460	$3,100	$25/hr	10	9.1%	-23%
Legal	459	$3,000	$30/hr	15	16.0%	-12%
Manufacturing	441	$3,600	$29.50/hr	13	5.4%	-23%
Travel	440	$2,160	$25/hr	11	5.2%	-18%
Fashion and beauty	414	$2,000	$25/hr	12	3.3%	-3%
Engineering and architecture	355	$2,000	$27.50/hr	11	5.5%	-6%
Automotive	340	$2,500	$25/hr	14	1.4%	n/a
Restaurants and hospitality	325	$2,000	$29.50/hr	14	5.2%	+12%
Art and design	317	$1,000	$27.50/hr	12	0.9%	-8%
Sports	302	$2,100	$29.50/hr	13	3.3%	-13%
Accounting and tax	300	$2,000	$30/hr	12	6.6%	-17%
Logistics	287	$3,680	$30/hr	15	6.5%	-12%
Home services	242	$2,000	$22.50/hr	14	5.8%	-6%
Energy and utilities	238	$1,500	$30/hr	13	4.6%	n/a
Fitness and wellness	189	$2,900	$27.50/hr	17.5	4.2%	-2%
Crypto and Web3	164	$8,160	$42.50/hr	9	3.0%	n/a
Construction	155	$4,720	$35/hr	15	5.2%	n/a
Insurance	129	$4,320	$32/hr	13	18.5%	n/a
Dental	120	$1,380	$30/hr	14	20.7%	n/a
Agriculture	104	$2,650	$29.50/hr	12	3.8%	n/a
Gaming	101	$1,200	$26/hr	7	0.0%	n/a
Science and biotech	96	$4,000	$30/hr	11	11.1%	n/a
Aerospace and defense	71	$4,720	$35/hr	13	5.5%	n/a
NonprofitNot ranked	71	$2,490	$29.50/hr	10	4.2%	n/a
Government	56	$2,650	$25/hr	11	3.5%	n/a
Pets and veterinary	53	$1,500	$25/hr	12	5.7%	n/a

What the sectors show

Crypto and Web3 has the highest median build, $8,160, and art and design the lowest, $1,000.
Regulated and public sectors have a typical median of $3,000 against $2,400 for other sectors, and name compliance in 15.8% of posts.
Healthcare names compliance most often, in 25.3% of posts.
Between January to March and May to July, SaaS gained the most share of posts (+30%), and marketing and sales lost the most (-24%).
Technology and IT is the largest sector we can identify, with 4,443 posts.

What each sector really buys

Each industry has its own shape of demand. Deeper pink means a build takes a larger share there than usual. This is where a sector's priorities show.

Sector by build

The largest sectors and the most requested specific builds. Labels mark cells at 1.5 times the usual share or more.

Share of each industry's posts by build, compared with the share across industries
Industry	Back-office automation	Custom agents	n8n workflows	API integrations	CRM automation	Make and Zapier	Support chatbots	Voice agents	AI mobile apps	RAG and document search
Technology and IT										1.7×
SaaS
Marketing and sales			1.8×
E-commerce				1.6×			2.4×
Healthcare								1.7×	1.8×
Financial services	1.9×
Real estate		2.0×			2.5×	1.7×
Education
Media and entertainment
Business services			2.1×		1.6×	2.4×
Retail
Recruiting and HR
Legal						1.8×				3.1×
Manufacturing	1.6×				1.5×
Travel		1.9×
Fashion and beauty									3.3×

Regulation, price and risk

Regulated sectors pay more and ask for more. Part of that is compliance, and part is the cost of being wrong.

Volume against budget

36 ranked industries. Pink dots are regulated and public sectors.

Median cost

$1k$2k$4k$8k501002505001k2.5k5kTechnology and ITSaaSMarketing and salesHealthcareEducationLegalArt and designEnergy and utilitiesCrypto and Web3ConstructionDentalAerospace and defense

Posts in the window

Typical median by sector group

The middle industry's median in each group.

Market median

Regulated and public$3,000
People and services$2,840
Digital and media$2,700
Property and industry$2,650
Commerce and consumer$2,130

Compliance and evaluation by group

Share of descriptions naming each.

Evaluation or guardrailsCompliance

Regulated and public15.8%
People and services4.5%
Digital and media5.3%
Property and industry5.7%
Commerce and consumer4.4%

Highest median build

Ranked industries only.

Lowest median build

Where first steps are smallest.

Compliance named most

Share of descriptions naming a compliance need.

Where demand is moving

Change in each sector's share of posts from January to March to May to July, before collection widened. A falling share can still mean more posts.

Gaining share

Largest rises in share of posts.

Losing share

Largest falls in share of posts.

Agents against chatbots

Share of titles using each word, in larger sectors.

ChatbotAgent

Real estate21.0%
Travel18.0%
Automotive15.6%
Fashion and beauty14.7%
Restaurants and hospitality13.8%
Technology and IT13.7%
Marketing and sales13.6%
Retail13.5%
Recruiting and HR13.3%
Healthcare11.3%

Most seasoned buyers

Share of posts from buyers with $10k+ past spend.

Most applicants per post

Where a post draws the biggest field.

Fewest applicants per post

Where a post reaches the fewest people.

Price your own build

Start with your sector, then compare by country or read the market in Pulse. If you would rather talk it through, VIZIO AI builds and runs these systems.

Browse all costs

Questions

Which industry pays the most for AI builds?

Among ranked industries, crypto and Web3 has the highest median at $8,160, followed by construction at $4,720 and aerospace and defense at $4,720.

Do regulated industries pay more for AI?

Yes, on these figures. Regulated and public sectors have a typical median of $3,000 against $2,400 for other sectors. Compliance is only one reason; these sectors also ask for more senior talent.

Which industries are adopting AI fastest?

We can only compare share of posts. From January to March to May to July, SaaS, restaurants and hospitality, healthcare gained the most share. This is not a measure of total adoption.

How complete is the industry data?

About 45% of posts can be placed in an industry, from the title or the buyer's stated industry. The rest name none, so read these figures as a large sample, not a census.

How to read this

A post's industry comes from its title where that names a sector, otherwise from the buyer's stated industry. About 45% of posts can be placed. 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. Industries 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. Momentum compares January to March with May to July, before collection widened, and is left out where one account is over 12% of posts. Read the method

Cite this page. The AI Build Index. "AI build costs by industry." Published by VIZIO AI. Updated 2026-11-04. https://aibuildindex.com/industries

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