# How much does AI cost for technology companies?

The typical AI build for technology companies costs $2,700, and half of 3,132 priced posts fall between $450 and $8,800. That ranks 17th of 36 industries on median cost.

Updated 2026-11-04. Published by VIZIO AI (https://vizio.ai/?utm_source=build-cost-index&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=industry-md). Page: https://aibuildindex.com/industries/technology. Data: https://aibuildindex.com/industries/technology/data.json.

## Key points

- Demand leans towards RAG and document search: 3.9% of posts here against 2.3% across industries.
- Salesforce appears in 1.6% of posts, 1.6 times the usual share.
- Buyers here ask for evaluation or guardrails in 11.2% of posts, more than most sectors.
- The median build in technology and IT is $2,700, 1.1 times the $2,500 market median.

## What shapes cost here

Technology buyers often know what they want and hire for a gap in a team. Expect more integration with existing code, cloud accounts and internal tools than a fresh build.

## How it ranks

| Measure | Value | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI build posts | 4,443 | 1 of 36 |
| Median build cost | $2,700 | 17 of 36 |
| Median hourly rate | $29.50/hr | 14 of 36 |
| Applicants per post | 12 | 20 of 36 |
| Expert-level requests | 46% | 4 of 36 |
| Compliance named | 5.0% | 20 of 36 |
| Production named | 24.1% | 2 of 36 |
| Buyers with $10k+ past spend | 45% | 8 of 36 |
| Change in share of posts | -8% | 11 of 24 |

## What buyers ask for

| Build | Posts | Share here | Across industries |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AI SaaS and MVPs | 842 | 18.5% | 21.4% |
| Back-office automation | 489 | 10.8% | 14.2% |
| Custom agents | 352 | 7.8% | 7.3% |
| n8n workflows | 325 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
| API integrations | 230 | 5.1% | 5.4% |
| RAG and document search | 177 | 3.9% | 2.3% |
| Voice agents | 174 | 3.8% | 2.8% |
| AI mobile apps | 158 | 3.5% | 2.5% |
| Support chatbots | 148 | 3.3% | 3.3% |
| CRM automation | 145 | 3.2% | 4.6% |

## Tools and systems named

| Name | Share here | Across industries |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Claude | 5.3% | 6.0% |
| OpenAI and ChatGPT | 2.7% | 3.0% |
| n8n | 7.4% | 6.4% |
| “Agent” | 13.7% | 12.0% |
| GoHighLevel | 2.3% | 3.2% |
| “Chatbot” | 4.3% | 3.1% |
| WhatsApp | 4.1% | 4.5% |
| Shopify | 0.9% | 6.5% |
| HubSpot | 3.2% | 2.9% |
| Salesforce | 1.6% | 1.0% |
| GoHighLevel | 3.9% | 5.7% |
| Google Sheets | 3.6% | 5.7% |
| Slack | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| AWS | 8.2% | 6.3% |
| Twilio | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| QuickBooks or Xero | 0.7% | 1.9% |

## Questions

### How much does an AI build cost for technology companies?

The median across 3,132 priced posts is $2,700. Half fall between $450 and $8,800, and one in ten reaches $24,440 or more. That ranks 17th of 36 industries on median cost.

### What are technology companies building with AI?

The most common requests are AI SaaS and MVPs, back-office automation, custom agents.

### What do AI developers charge in technology and IT?

Posted rates centre on $29.50 an hour, with most between $20 and $40. These are open-market rates; agencies usually charge more.

### Where are the buyers in technology and IT?

The United States is the largest market, with 35% 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.