香港中小企 AI 自動化要幾錢?一次過費用、每月 AI 費用同點計值唔值
「我哋想用 AI 自動化,大概要幾錢?」呢條問題好難一句答晒,因為 AI 自動化唔係一件產品,而係將你公司某一條流程交俾電腦做。流程唔同,價錢就唔同。
不過,價錢點樣計係有規律嘅。AI 自動化嘅錢一定分三份:一次過開發費、每月 AI 用量費、日後維護費。好多報價只講第一份,做完先發現每個月仲要俾錢。以下逐樣拆解。
1. 一次過開發費:視乎流程有幾複雜
開發費係將流程砌出嚟嘅費用,主要睇以下幾樣:
- 流程有幾多步:「影張單相,自動入 Excel」係一步;「收到單據,抽出資料,入帳,再通知同事核對」就係幾步。
- 資料由邊度嚟:相片、PDF、email、Excel、現有系統,每多一個來源就多一份接駁工作。
- 要接駁咩系統:寫入 Google Sheets 簡單;接駁會計軟件、CRM 或者自家系統就複雜啲。
- 要幾準:容許人手最後檢查,同埋要求完全自動、零出錯,係兩個級數。
建議:唔好一開始就自動化成個部門。揀一條最煩、最重複嘅流程做起,開發費低,亦好快見到效果。行得通先擴。
2. 每月 AI 用量費:用幾多俾幾多
AI 自動化通常會用到 ChatGPT、Gemini、Claude 呢類大型語言模型,或者文字辨識、語音轉文字等雲端服務。呢啲服務大多按用量收費:處理一張單、一段錄音、一條查詢,都係一筆好細嘅費用,但每個月累積落嚟就要計清楚。
影響每月費用嘅因素:
- 用量:每日 10 張單同每日 1,000 張單,費用差好遠。
- 揀邊個模型:最新最強嘅模型最貴,但好多日常工作用細啲、平啲嘅模型已經夠用。
- 有冇做快取:同一樣嘢唔使問 AI 兩次。我哋自家 App AceSpeller 嘅語音功能,就係將生成過嘅讀音儲存起嚟俾所有用戶共用,同一個詞語只需要付費生成一次,用戶越多,平均成本越低。
報價時要問清楚:每月 AI 費用大概幾多?用戶帳戶開喺邊個名下?用量多咗點收費?
3. 維護費:AI 工具會變,流程都會變
AI 服務更新得好快,模型會升級,舊版本會停用;你公司嘅流程同表格亦會改。所以自動化做好之後,都需要有人跟進。問清楚:
- 交付後出問題,邊個跟?點收費?
- 有冇交原始碼同文件?你自己同事或者其他人改唔改到?
- AI 服務升級或者停用舊模型,係咪包喺維護入面?
點計值唔值得做?用「慳返幾多個鐘」
判斷 AI 自動化值唔值得做,最簡單嘅方法係計時間:
- 呢條流程每個月要人手做幾多個鐘?
- 做呢件事嘅同事,每個鐘人工大概幾多?
- 相乘,就係呢條流程每個月嘅人手成本。
- 用開發費除以每月慳返嘅錢(扣埋每月 AI 費用),就知道幾多個月回本。
除咗時間,仲要計埋「錯一次」嘅成本:入錯數、漏咗文件、計錯糧。呢啲錯誤唔常見,但每次出事都好貴。AI 唔會攰,呢部分嘅價值往往比慳返嘅時間更大。
舉個真實例子:我哋幫一間本地畫室將收據記錄同打卡出糧自動化。之前同事每個月要花十幾個鐘人手入數、計糧;而家影張相入 folder,就會自動入帳、自動出糧單,每月慳返十幾個鐘,計錯數嘅情況亦冇晒。
報價前要問嘅問題清單
- 報價包括邊條流程、邊幾步?
- 一次過開發費幾多?每月 AI 用量費大概幾多?
- AI 服務帳戶開喺邊個名下?
- 資料存喺邊、去邊、留幾耐?可唔可以唔上雲?
- 幾時交付?分唔分階段?每階段交咩?
- 交付後維護點收費?有冇原始碼同文件?
- 點樣量度成效?做之前有冇量 baseline?
自己做最常卡喺邊?
- 流程太多,唔知邊條最值得先做
- AI 偶然出錯,唔知點樣設計人手檢查嗰一步
- 要接駁會計軟件、雲端硬碟或者現有系統,卡喺權限同設定
- 每月 AI 用量費估唔準,做完先發現貴過預期
以上任何一樣卡住咗,都可以搵我哋。簽約前免費諮詢,我哋會直接話你知要做乜、大概幾錢。
我哋點收費
MuduoPro 嘅 AI 流程自動化由 HK$5,000 起,簡單嘅單一流程最快 2 日交付。我哋會由一條最煩嘅流程做起,項目開始前寫清楚數據點存、去邊、留幾耐;交付包括原始碼、文件同交接。免費傾完會俾你一份固定報價,列明開發費、預計每月 AI 費用同交付日期,冇隱藏收費。
想知你公司邊條流程最值得先做,可以睇揀第一條流程嘅五條問題,或者睇我哋嘅服務,又或者直接同我哋傾一次。
How much does AI automation cost a Hong Kong SME? One-off fees, monthly AI costs and how to tell if it pays
"We want to automate with AI. Roughly how much will it cost?" There is no one-line answer, because AI automation is not a product. It means handing one of your company's workflows to a computer, and every workflow is different.
How the price is worked out does follow a pattern, though. AI automation always costs money in three parts: a one-off build fee, monthly AI usage and ongoing maintenance. Many quotes only mention the first, and companies find out about the monthly bill afterwards. Here is each part in turn.
1. One-off build fee: depends on how complex the workflow is
The build fee pays for putting the workflow together. It mainly depends on:
- How many steps: "photograph a receipt and add it to Excel" is one step; "receive a receipt, extract the data, record it, then notify a colleague to check" is several.
- Where the data comes from: photos, PDFs, email, Excel, existing systems. Each extra source means more integration work.
- Which systems it connects to: writing to Google Sheets is simple; accounting software, a CRM or an in-house system takes more.
- How accurate it must be: allowing a final human check and demanding fully automatic, error-free output are two different levels.
Our advice: do not automate a whole department at once. Start with the single most repetitive, most annoying workflow. The build fee stays low and you see results quickly. Expand once it works.
2. Monthly AI usage: you pay for what you use
AI automation usually relies on large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude, or on cloud services for text recognition and speech-to-text. Most of these charge by usage: each receipt, recording or enquiry costs very little, but it adds up over a month and needs to be planned for.
What drives the monthly cost:
- Volume: 10 receipts a day and 1,000 receipts a day cost very different amounts.
- Which model: the newest, strongest models cost the most, but smaller, cheaper models handle much everyday work perfectly well.
- Caching: never ask the AI the same thing twice. In our own app AceSpeller, generated pronunciations are stored and shared across all users, so each word is paid for only once, and the more users there are, the lower the average cost.
When you get a quote, ask: roughly how much is the monthly AI cost? Whose name is the AI service account in? How is higher usage charged?
3. Maintenance: AI tools change, and so do your workflows
AI services move fast. Models get upgraded and old versions are retired; your own processes and forms change too. So someone needs to look after the automation once it is running. Ask:
- Who fixes problems after delivery, and how is it charged?
- Do you receive the source code and documentation? Can your own team or someone else change it?
- Is adapting to AI service upgrades or retired models included in maintenance?
Is it worth it? Count the hours saved
The simplest way to decide whether AI automation is worth it is to count time:
- How many hours a month does this workflow take by hand?
- What does an hour of that colleague's time cost?
- Multiply the two: that is the monthly labour cost of the workflow.
- Divide the build fee by the monthly saving (after monthly AI costs) to see how many months it takes to pay back.
Beyond time, count the cost of a mistake: a wrong figure, a missing document, a payroll error. These are rare, but expensive every time. AI never gets tired, and this part of the value is often bigger than the hours saved.
A real example: we automated receipt records and timesheet payroll for a local art studio. Staff used to spend over ten hours a month on data entry and pay calculations. Now they snap a photo into a folder and the accounts and payslips take care of themselves. That saves over ten hours every month, and the calculation errors are gone.
Questions to ask before you accept a quote
- Which workflow, and which steps, does the quote cover?
- What is the one-off build fee? Roughly what is the monthly AI cost?
- Whose name is the AI service account in?
- Where is data stored, where does it go and how long is it kept? Can it stay off the cloud?
- When will it be delivered? In stages? What does each stage deliver?
- How is maintenance charged after delivery? Do I get source code and documentation?
- How will results be measured? Is a baseline measured first?
Where do people usually get stuck?
- Too many workflows, and no idea which to start with
- The AI is occasionally wrong, and you are unsure how to design the human check
- Connecting accounting software, cloud drives or existing systems gets stuck on permissions and set-up
- Monthly AI usage is hard to estimate, and turns out higher than expected
If any of these is where you are stuck, talk to us. Consultation before signing is free, and we will tell you plainly what needs doing and roughly what it costs.
How we charge
MuduoPro AI workflow automation starts from HK$5,000, and a simple single workflow can be delivered in as little as 2 days. We start with the workflow that annoys you most, and write down where data is stored, where it goes and how long it is kept before the project begins. Delivery includes source code, documentation and a handover. After a free conversation you get a fixed quote stating the build fee, the expected monthly AI cost and the delivery date, with no hidden fees.
To find which of your workflows to automate first, read five questions to pick your first workflow, see our services, or talk to us directly.