# AI project costs by country: read the scope first

Published US and India rate ranges, regional context, and a method to compare AI agency quotes.

Updated 2026-10-29. Also on the [web page](https://aiagencies.fyi/guides/ai-project-costs-by-country).

An agency quote is a scope, not just a rate. Separate discovery, data work, integration, evaluation and support. Check who owns each task before you compare totals.

## Published ranges

Space-O Technologies publishes the following estimates in its AI development cost guide. We fetched the page on 2026-10-29. All amounts below are US dollars. These are a supplier's estimates, not a survey of our listings or a promise of local prices.

| Delivery market | Published hourly range | Published project range |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $150–$250 | $200,000–$700,000 |
| India | $25–$60 | $40,000–$180,000 |
| Western Europe, as a region | $80–$150 | $120,000–$400,000 |

Do not apply the regional row as a measured price for the UK, Germany, France or any other country. We have not verified separate national ranges for those markets, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, the UAE, Ireland, New Zealand or Hong Kong. Request a local quote. The agency's address may differ from the delivery team's location.

Appinventiv's AI development cost guide, fetched on the same date, publishes $40,000–$80,000 for entry-level work, $80,000–$200,000 for mid-level work and $200,000–$400,000 or more for advanced systems. These scope bands come from a different supplier. They are not interchangeable with the country table.

## Make quotes comparable

Send the same brief to each agency. Ask for effort by role, rate by role, deliverables, exclusions and acceptance tests. Confirm currency and tax treatment. Ask whether cloud usage, model access, data labelling and third-party subscriptions are included.

Price a limited pilot before a broad rollout. Require a usable handover even if the pilot fails. Keep a separate budget for review, monitoring and incidents. Use the free cost estimator with the supplier's actual rate and scoped hours; its result is arithmetic, not a quote.

## Sources

- [Space-O Technologies, AI Development Cost](https://www.spaceotechnologies.com/blog/ai-development-cost/). Public page fetched 2026-10-29.
- [Appinventiv, AI Development Cost](https://appinventiv.com/blog/ai-development-cost/). Public page fetched 2026-10-29.

## Questions

### Is this a supplier recommendation?

No. Use this guide to prepare a brief and check the supplier evidence yourself.