How much does AI cost for science and biotech teams?
The typical AI build for science and biotech teams costs $4,000, and half of 67 priced posts fall between $700 and $10,000. That ranks 5th of 36 industries on median cost.
What stands out
Research builds depend on domain data and reproducibility. Expect time on data cleaning and validation, and on proving results to scientists rather than users.
- Demand leans towards custom agents: 14.1% of posts here against 7.3% across industries.
- The median build in science and biotech is $4,000, 1.6 times the $2,500 market median.
- Buyers here ask for evaluation or guardrails in 15.2% of posts, more than most sectors.
- Compliance comes up in 11.1% of posts, 1.6 times the usual share, so plan for it in scope and budget.
How Science and biotech ranks
How science and biotech ranks
Each tick is a ranked industry, lowest on the left. Pink is this one.
- Posts96#33 of 36
- Median cost$4,000#5 of 36
- Hourly rate$30/hr#5 of 36
- Applicants11#26 of 36
- Expert requests34%#28 of 36
- Compliance11.1%#5 of 36
- Production17.2%#18 of 36
- Seasoned buyers52%#2 of 36
What a build costs
Half of priced posts fall between $700 and $10,000, and one in ten reaches $24,000.
Against the closest sectors
Median build for Science and biotech and the sectors nearest in price.
- Aerospace and defense$4,720
- Insurance$4,320
- Science and biotech$4,000
- Healthcare$4,000
- SaaS$4,000
- Logistics$3,680
- Financial services$3,000
How buyers structure the work
Fixed-price and hourly posts, by count.
$200median fixed budget
$5,560median hourly estimate
Posted rates: $25/hr to $45/hr, median $30/hr.
What is being built
Compared with other sectors, this shows what is distinctive here, not only what is common.
Most requested builds
Share of posts here against all sectors.
- Custom agents14.1%
- Back-office automation13.1%
- AI SaaS and MVPs12.1%
- API integrations5.1%
- RAG and document search5.1%
- CRM automation5.1%
See the numbers
| Build | Posts | Share here | Across industries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom agents | 14 | 14.1% | 7.3% |
| Back-office automation | 13 | 13.1% | 14.2% |
| AI SaaS and MVPs | 12 | 12.1% | 21.4% |
| API integrations | 5 | 5.1% | 5.4% |
| RAG and document search | 5 | 5.1% | 2.3% |
| CRM automation | 5 | 5.1% | 4.6% |
Most distinctive here
How many times the usual share.
Tools and scope
What buyers name shows the systems a build has to work with and how close it is to production.
Tools and systems named
Share of posts. Names under five posts are hidden.
- “Agent”19.8%
- GoHighLevel9.1%
- GoHighLevel6.3%
- Google Sheets5.1%
How serious the scope is
Share of descriptions asking for each.
- Production17.2%
- Evaluation or guardrails15.2%
- Compliance11.1%
Where the buyers are
Buyers around the world
Countries with five or more posts. Click a country to open it.
Top countries
Share of this sector's posts.
- United States46.5%
- Nigeria9.1%
- United Kingdom6.1%
- Australia5.1%
If you are buying
Plan around the range
Half of priced posts fall between $700 and $10,000, and one in ten reaches $24,000. Scope decides where you land.
Start where peers start
After general products and back-office work, custom agents is the most common request here. A narrow first build lets you prove value before you widen scope.
Budget for compliance early
11.1% of posts here name a compliance need. Ask who is responsible for it before you compare prices.
Compare with similar sectors
Also in regulated and public
Price your own build
See the median, range and scope for your use case. If you would rather talk it through, VIZIO AI builds and runs these systems.
Questions
How much does an AI build cost for science and biotech teams?
The median across 67 priced posts is $4,000. Half fall between $700 and $10,000, and one in ten reaches $24,000 or more. That ranks 5th of 36 industries on median cost.
What are science and biotech teams building with AI?
The most common requests are custom agents, back-office automation, AI SaaS and MVPs.
What do AI developers charge in science and biotech?
Posted rates centre on $30 an hour, with most between $25 and $45. These are open-market rates; agencies usually charge more.
Where are the buyers in science and biotech?
The United States is the largest market, with 46% of posts.
How do you decide a post's industry?
From the post title where it names a sector, otherwise from the buyer's stated industry. About 45% of posts can be placed, so this describes those posts, not every buyer in the sector.
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. "How much does AI cost for science and biotech teams?" Published by VIZIO AI. Updated 2026-11-04. https://aibuildindex.com/industries/science-biotech
Get the data as JSON or the page as Markdown. See all industries.
| Measure | Value | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| AI build posts | 96 | 33 of 36 |
| Median build cost | $4,000 | 5 of 36 |
| Median hourly rate | $30/hr | 5 of 36 |
| Applicants per post | 11 | 26 of 36 |
| Expert-level requests | 34% | 28 of 36 |
| Compliance named | 11.1% | 5 of 36 |
| Production named | 17.2% | 18 of 36 |
| Buyers with $10k+ past spend | 52% | 2 of 36 |