Pricing Philosophy — AdapttoAI Internal

01How It Works — 3 Factors → 2 Outputs

Every workflow we price goes through three factors. Together they produce two numbers: Minimal (floor) and Optimal (lead number).

Factor 1: Build Cost   ──┐
Factor 2: Client Value ──┼──► Minimal (floor) + Optimal (lead number)
Factor 3: Replicability──┘

Internally we calculate Minimal and Optimal. Externally we present named tiers — never a raw range in a formal proposal.

02Factor 1 — Build Cost

Complexity Tiers

Tier	Description	Weeks	Partners	Dev	Build cost
Simple	One integration, defined rules, no ML	3–5	~35h	~100h	~$13K
Medium	1–2 integrations, configurable rules	4–6	~50h	~130h	~$18K
Medium-High	Complex parsing, multi-step, ERP write-back	6–8	~70h	~180h	~$25K
High	Custom ML, large catalog, multi-system	8–12	~100h	~260h	~$36K

Team Rates

Role	Rate
Partners combined (Giuseppe + Raffaello)	$200/h
Standard dev (LatAm)	$60/h
AI/ML specialist	$90–120/h
Senior architect	$80–100/h

Hard floor: $10K/year

Ongoing support ~$780/mo (~$9,400/yr). Below $10K/year we lose money on support alone. Never price below this.

03Factor 2 — Client Value

Hidden Labor Cost Calculator

WORKFLOW: [name]
PERSON DOING IT: [role + monthly salary]
FREQUENCY: [times per day / week / month]
TIME PER INSTANCE: [minutes]
TOTAL HOURS/MONTH: frequency × time ÷ 60
HOURLY COST: salary ÷ 160 working hours
HIDDEN MONTHLY COST: hours × hourly cost
HIDDEN ANNUAL COST: monthly × 12

ROI Check

(hidden annual cost − our annual price) ÷ our annual price ≥ 1.5x

If below 1.5x — the pain isn't big enough or the volume is too low. Revisit scope before pricing.

Build It Themselves Benchmark

LatAm dev shop: $5–10K/month retainer, 4–6 months minimum = $20–60K before anything works. No domain expertise. No pre-built ERP connector. We're faster, cheaper, and domain-specific.

ROI Types

Type	What to calculate
Time saved	Hours freed × salary rate → annual savings
Revenue recovered	Leads not lost, proposals faster, approvals unblocked
Risk reduced	Errors avoided, compliance met, key-person dependency removed
Cost avoided	Rehiring cost, dev shop cost if built internally

04Factor 3 — Replicability

Pipeline Demand

Active clients needing this	Signal
0	Custom work — charge premium or deprioritize
1	Early signal — price to learn, not maximize
2–3	Pattern confirmed — standardize, price with confidence
4+	Platform feature — lower cost, higher margin

Competitor Benchmarks

Competitor	Model	Range	What it means for us
Leadsales	Per user/mo	~$1–3K/yr	SMB WhatsApp tools — different buyer
Treble	Volume-based	~$1.2–6K/yr	Commodity pricing, not our positioning
Mercura (YC W25, $2.1M)	Annual SaaS	Est. $30–100K/yr	Closest comp — ERP-integrated AI, LatAm
Vendavo	Platform + SI	$100K–500K+/yr	Enterprise floor — not our buyer

Our position: $24–84K/year

The gap between Treble and Mercura is wide open. Custom dev shops charge $60–180K/year for worse output.

05The Two Outputs — Minimal & Optimal

Minimal — the floor

Minimal = build cost ÷ prepay months × 1.1 Must be ≥ $10K/yr

If minimal makes ROI check fail — the pain isn't big enough for this client right now.

Optimal — lead with this

Optimal = hidden annual cost × 0.5–0.7 +10–20% if 2+ clients need this

Client pays half to two-thirds of what they currently spend on the problem.

06Billing Structure

Month	Client pays	Why
Mes 1	Implementation fee (one-time)	Covers the build
Mes 2	$0	System in testing, not yet live
Mes 3+	Monthly subscription	Starts at go-live

Key client message

"You only pay the monthly fee once it's running in production."

Implementation Fee Sizing

The impl fee is our hedge against build risk. It scales with complexity — not just workflow count.

Complexity	Impl fee as % of annual value	Example
Simple	10–20%	Easy flow, one integration, low risk
Medium	20–30%	Lamosa Light/Standard (~17–24%)
Medium-High	30–40%	ERP write-back, complex parsing
High	40–50%	Aronlight — custom ML, multi-system

Never below 10% (absorbs risk into subscription) · Never above 50% (kills the close)

Monthly vs Annual

Monthly: standard rate, no lock-in
Annual: 20% discount · full year paid at Mes 3, not at signing

Annual rate = monthly rate × 0.8 Annual total paid at Mes 3 = annual rate × 12 Example: $1,000/mo → $800/mo annual → $9,600 paid at Mes 3

The 20% discount is standard across all tiers. Do not invent a different rate per client.

07Named Tiers (Client-Facing)

Internally: Minimal/Optimal range. Externally: named tiers. Never present a raw range in a formal proposal.

Light

1 workflow
No consulting
Lowest impl fee

Standard

2 workflows
No consulting
Recommended tier

Pro

3 workflows
4h/mo consulting
Fractional AI team

Workflow count is the primary differentiator. Price scales with scope.

Pro tier: Standard + 1 extra workflow + 4h/month ongoing consulting. Positioning: "we help you discover and design new automations on top of the running platform."

When to use tiers vs. range

Context	Present as
Pre-proposal, discovery call, verbal conversation	Range only
Formal proposal sent to client	Named tiers

08Bundling

When a client takes 2+ modules sharing the same ERP connector:

ERP connector built once — each additional module adds 3–5 days, not weeks
Bundle annual fee = sum of individual modules minus 10–15% discount
Prepayment period = the longer of the two (not additive)
Bundle discount applies to annual fee only — never to impl fees

Tiers vs bundles — don't confuse them

Tiers (Light/Standard/Pro) are exclusive options — a client picks one. Bundles are when a client adds a second module on top of an existing engagement. Never show additive math across tiers.

09Pricing Brainstorm Template

Run this before every pre-proposal. Read docs/module-registry.md first.

CLIENT: [name]
DATE: [date]
MODULE(S): [from registry]

--- FACTOR 1: BUILD COST ---
Complexity tier: [Simple / Medium / Medium-High / High]
Tech profile: [Standard dev / AI specialist / Senior architect]
Build cost estimate: $[X]
Delivery: [N] weeks
Partners: [~Xh] | Dev: [~Yh]

--- FACTOR 2: CLIENT VALUE ---
Who does this manually: [role + salary]
Frequency: [X times/day or week]
Time per instance: [Y minutes]
Hidden monthly cost: [hours × hourly rate]
Hidden annual cost: $[Z]
ROI check: (hidden cost - our price) / our price = [X]x → target ≥ 1.5x

--- FACTOR 3: REPLICABILITY ---
Pipeline demand: [N clients need this]
Competitor pricing: [what they charge]

--- OUTPUTS ---
Minimal: $[X]/mo · $[X×12]/yr
Optimal: $[Y]/mo · $[Y×12]/yr
Implementation fee: $[Z] ([%] of annual → check complexity band)
Annual total at Mes 3: $[annual rate × 12]
Lead with: [Named tiers / Range]

Scope status: [CONFIRMED / PARTIAL — gaps listed]
Confidence: [HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW]

10Learning Log

Update after every deal — won or lost. This is where pricing gets real.

Date	Client	Module	Impl fee	Monthly	Outcome	What we learned
Apr 2026	Lamosa Peru	A1 — Discount Approval	$2K–$3.5K	$1K–$1.5K/mo	Pending	Light/Standard/Pro tiers. Antu didn't reject on the call. First real A1 data point.