A quote for an app is difficult to compare when one supplier includes deployment and another stops at the source code. Before comparing totals, get the same scope on the page.
For a business application, the budget needs to cover the first usable release and the work required to keep it useful. AI changes how some of that work gets done. It does not tell you which customer records are reliable, who should approve a refund, or whether an integration can deliver the data you need.
Describe the workflow before requesting a price
Take an invoice-review application. “Upload invoices and use AI” leaves most of the project undefined. A useful brief names the input formats, fields to extract, reviewer, approval rules, accounting destination, and handling of missing or conflicting information.
That last part deserves its own line in the estimate. An application that reads a clean sample PDF has a smaller scope than one that handles duplicate uploads, handwritten notes, and supplier names that differ between systems.
Ask each supplier to state assumptions and exclusions. You want to know whether historical-data cleanup, user training, migration, accessibility work, and post-launch support are included. An omission is a future decision, with a potential cost attached.
Separate the costs that behave differently
| Cost area | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Design and implementation | Workflows, screens, rules, integrations and review |
| Hosting and storage | Where the application runs and how data growth is priced |
| AI usage | Who pays the model provider and how repeated calls are controlled |
| External services | API subscriptions, email, document processing and other dependencies |
| Operations | Monitoring, access changes, support, backups and recovery checks |
| Changes | Who maintains the application when the business process changes |
Use these categories to compare estimates; the amounts depend on your scope. A small internal tool and a customer-facing service can have similar screens and very different operating requirements.
For AI features, describe a representative completed task. Document how many documents it processes, what calls it makes, and what happens on a retry. Measure that workflow during evaluation. A token price alone cannot establish the cost of completing it.
Turn the categories into a comparable estimate
Give suppliers the same planning horizon and ask them to separate setup from recurring charges. A useful worksheet has columns for the item, included scope, billing unit, expected usage, owner, and exclusions. Leave unknown amounts marked unknown until someone can explain the assumption behind them.
For the invoice app, ask for separate treatment of document extraction, human review, storage, and the accounting handoff. A quote that includes extraction alone should not be compared directly with a quote that also includes permissions, duplicate handling, and operator support. Ask the first supplier to price the missing work or remove it from both scopes.
Model-assisted development also has two different usage questions. The agent may consume model calls while building the app. The finished app may separately call a model whenever it processes an invoice. Record both if both occur; development-time usage does not tell you the operating bill.
When the usage level is uncertain, request estimates under explicitly stated low, expected, and high workloads. Change document volume, document size, retries, and review needs independently where possible. That shows which assumption drives the estimate and which part of the scope is worth simplifying.
A supplier should be able to explain what makes the price change. An unexplained total leaves you with little basis for a later scope discussion.
Reduce scope with a usable first release
Start with a workflow that someone can finish. For the invoice example, that could mean uploading a document, reviewing extracted fields, and saving an approved record. An accounting-system write can follow after the review flow is established.
This gives you a concrete acceptance decision. You can inspect the stored record, verify who approved it, and check how the application responds to a duplicate. A long feature list without those checks is harder to price responsibly.
OBTO's current pricing page separates application hosting from the AI spend you bring through your client or provider. Check the current terms when budgeting. Older articles can describe an earlier billing model.
For the invoice example, request a price for uploading, reviewing, and saving an approved record. List the accounting integration separately, with its access requirements and support owner. That leaves both suppliers quoting a scope you can compare.