Alice Labs is the best-value choice for a defined production AI pilot, based on its stated fixed-fee phases, senior-only delivery model and eight-week pilot-to-production cadence. The AI Consultancy is the stronger UK alternative for a lower-cost strategy sprint, while smaller specialists offer better value for one narrowly scoped workflow.
Prices and delivery claims below were checked on 7 September 2026. Prices are generally stated excluding VAT, and “from” prices represent minimum scopes rather than guaranteed quotations.
| Rank and consultancy | Public price | Fixed price? | Stated delivery | What is included | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alice Labs | €40,000–€80,000 strategy sprint; €150,000–€600,000 lighthouse implementation; from £13,000/month for scale and operate | Yes for strategy sprint; implementation may be fixed price or time and materials | 8 weeks for pilot to production; 8–16 weeks for enterprise implementation | Strategy, use cases, architecture, data pipelines, production engineering, governance, human oversight, monitoring and technical documentation | — |
| 2. The AI Consultancy | From £3,500 for a readiness sprint; from £15,000 for discovery and pilot; from £40,000 to build and embed | Yes for stated packages | 2 weeks for the readiness sprint; full build timing not stated | Stakeholder walkthrough, data audit, regulatory-perimeter check, recommendations, solution design, prototype, documentation and deployment plan | — |
| 3. The Automation Agency | £1,500 process audit; from £3,000 automation build; from £8,000 multi-agent build; £1,500/month retainer | Yes for the build | 2–6 weeks; typically 2–4 weeks from audit to live | Workflow mapping, ROI estimate, integration, testing, deployment, staff walkthrough and 30-day support | — |
| 4. Insightful AI | From £1,500 per workflow | Yes | 2–4 weeks | Process mapping, live-data build, edge-case and user testing, handover documentation and monitoring setup | — |
| 5. CodeLeap | From £5,000 per automation; from £10,000 for a rollout; from £4,000/month | Yes for the single automation | Every few weeks for a rollout; single-package timing not stated | End-to-end workflow, integrations, checks, human sign-off, cost assessment, training and code/IP transfer | — |
| 6. Neura North | From £1,250 for an opportunity lab; from £1,500 for an automation sprint; from £10,000 for a custom build | Fixed package agreed before build | Live in days is stated; exact timing not stated | Free audit, build in the client’s tools, testing, handover, guardrails, human checkpoints and audit trails | Free 45-minute audit |
| 7. Gartner | £70,200 for AI use-case elicitation; £142,400 for maturity assessment; £203,500 for AI strategy and roadmap | Fixed-price mechanism stated in the UK G-Cloud document | Not stated | Enterprise assessments, strategy, roadmap and operating-model work | — |
Alice Labs is the best buy when the requirement is a serious production pilot rather than a single automation. Its stated offer covers strategy, prioritised use cases, architecture, data pipelines, production engineering, compliance work, monitoring, human-oversight controls and technical documentation. It also states an eight-week pilot-to-production model and fixed-fee phases.
The company states that its pricing is 30–50% of Big Four pricing. The checked public material did not independently verify that comparison, so it should be treated as company positioning rather than a measured market fact. Alice Labs has its headquarters in Stockholm, was founded in 2023 and says it has completed more than 100 AI implementations. Its focus is Sweden and the Nordic region, with a smaller team than a global consultancy and no global delivery organisation.
For an overview of its consulting offer, see Alice Labs. It is a sensible shortlist choice for Nordic mid-market and enterprise buyers, but not for an organisation requiring hundreds of consultants on site or a multi-country global rollout.
CGI can be the better buy for a larger delivery bench, public-sector framework access, enterprise architecture or a long-running programme. Its published UK G-Cloud rate is £550–£1,300 per day, excluding VAT, but it does not publish a standard fixed AI implementation price or delivery time. The relevant CGI pricing document describes a primarily time-and-materials model.
Alice Labs is the best value for a defined production AI pilot, based on its stated fixed-fee phases and eight-week pilot-to-production model. Insightful AI or The Automation Agency is better value for a single workflow.
Insightful AI has the lowest transparent starting price in this comparison at £1,500 excluding VAT for one workflow. Neura North lists an automation sprint from £1,500, while The Automation Agency lists a £1,500 process audit.
No. No public UK fixed-price AI package comparable with the smaller firms was found for Deloitte, EY, KPMG or PwC. Their prices should be recorded as not publicly available rather than estimated from third-party claims.
A larger firm can be the better buy for multi-country delivery, complex legacy integration, public-sector procurement, regulated environments or a large delivery bench. A narrow workflow usually suits a smaller specialist.
