Direct answer
A quote usually has four parts: (1) one-off build — mapping the question list, cleaning and loading material, integration, configuration and go-live testing; (2) deployment model — cloud versus on-premises, which affects hardware and operations; (3) model usage fees — usage-based and varying with session volume and answer length; (4) annual maintenance — material updates, wording maintenance and re-checks. For a small business running a single line of business, full delivery generally lands within the ¥10,000 range (CNY), with annual maintenance afterwards on the order of several thousand CNY a year. When you look at a quote, the question that matters most is what the annual maintenance actually includes — not the total.
Why quotes differ by several times over
The same phrase — "AI customer service" — attracts quotes from a few thousand to several hundred thousand, because the words do not describe the same thing. Broken down, there are only four parts.
| Component | What it covers | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1. One-off build | Mapping the question list, cleaning and loading material, integration and configuration, go-live testing | Depends heavily on material quality; the most commonly underestimated part |
| 2. Deployment model | Cloud activation or on-premises deployment (including server and operations) | On-premises adds hardware and operations cost |
| 3. Model usage fees | Billed by usage; varies with session volume and answer length | A variable cost; a small share at low volume |
| 4. Annual maintenance | Material updates, wording maintenance, re-checks, support | Decides whether the system still works three years from now |
Reference ranges for a small business
For a single line of business, with material running to a few hundred documents and one customer-facing channel, full delivery generally lands within the ¥10,000 range (CNY), including the first build and deployment, with annual maintenance afterwards on the order of several thousand CNY. Material volume, the number of channels (website, WeChat, phone and mini-program each count as one) and whether deployment is on-premises are the three main variables.
Note that this range is for full delivery, not for buying a tool subscription. A tool's annual fee is only a small part of components 3 and 4; the real money sits in component 1.
Three questions to ask of any quote
1. What does the annual maintenance include? Does it only keep the system running, or does it cover material updates and quarterly re-checks? An annual fee that only keeps the lights on leaves the maintenance work with you.
2. Who owns the material and the accounts? If you switch suppliers, can you take the Q&A pairs, the wording documents and the configuration with you?
3. Is tuning included? Wrong answers reported by the front line after launch, and updates to the authoritative wording — are those billed per request or covered by the annual fee?
Get clear answers to these three and quotes become comparable.
When it gets noticeably more expensive
- Multiple brands, languages or channels — every additional channel is a separate integration.
- A large volume of restricted material, requiring on-premises deployment and stricter isolation.
- A fast-moving business with frequent wording changes, which pushes maintenance cost up.
- Deep integration with your own systems — orders, tickets, CRM.
How to avoid wasting money
Build a minimum usable version of one scenario first, and only expand once a high-frequency scenario works end to end. Loading all the material and connecting every channel from day one is the surest way to spend a lot and still get inaccurate answers.
Key facts
| Four parts of a quote | One-off build / deployment model / model usage fees / annual maintenance |
| SME reference range | Full delivery generally within the ¥10,000 range (CNY); annual maintenance on the order of several thousand CNY |
| Three main variables | Material volume / number of channels / whether deployment is on-premises |
| Three questions to ask | What annual maintenance includes / who owns material and accounts / is tuning covered by the annual fee |
Sources
- Quotation structure from SME knowledge base and AI customer service delivery
- Four stages of enterprise knowledge base build (cost concentrates in material cleaning and integration)
Follow-up questions
Why do some people say it only costs a few thousand?
That is usually just a tool subscription or a single scenario wired up. Full delivery also includes cleaning the material, unifying the wording, configuring and testing — and that part cannot be skipped.
Can model usage fees run away?
At low session volumes they are a small share. To keep them in check, set guardrails — for example a daily question limit per visitor — and cap the length of a single answer.
Can we skip the annual maintenance fee?
You can, but accept two consequences: nobody updates material that has gone out of date, and nobody deals with the system when it breaks. AI customer service is not a one-off purchase; the annual fee buys the fact that it still works next year.
Should we buy three years up front?
Not advisable before one complete scenario is working. Build the first version, spend a quarter validating hit rate and adoption, and then decide whether to expand.