Licence only
£1,000/month£12,000 per year
Operate the factory with your own team. Includes product updates, security patches and defect reporting.
The modelled delivery and running costs
Lower delivery and running costs across the product lifecycle.
First-year model
95.0%Lower delivery and running cost per app at ten-app scale: £5,690–£5,705 against £113,203 in year one, before installation, licence and support.
Three-year model
£501,150Saved per evolving application at ten-app scale, including initial delivery, hosting and continued change.
Measured AI development
£7.35/hPer active team-hour during a two-hour run on genuine work. A representative two-hour sprint costs about £15 in AI use.
These case-study figures include Gallery hosting and quiet production hosting, and exclude commercial installation, licence and support. The calculator below includes the installation and selected licence/support package; real application usage is additional. Delivery and ownership totals are projections from the measured work and stated comparison assumptions.
The delivery journey
A working prototype becomes a governed investment.
People across the organisation can explore ideas with Claude or Codex. Reusable skills guide the prototype’s build, packaging and upload to AxiaCraft Gallery. Colleagues can try the idea and decide whether it should progress into production engineering.
- 01 · Prototype
Make the idea tangible
A business user describes the need and creates a working prototype with AI assistance. The prototype gives sponsors something concrete to assess.
- 02 · Share and review
Choose what deserves production
Colleagues try the prototype in the Gallery. Sponsors assess the need, value and fit, and decide which ideas to take forward.
- 03 · Engineer
Turn approval into reviewed software
A Gallery handoff prepares a draft plan with the source and brief. Once agreed, agents build and review the application, addressing security, reliability, performance and operational requirements.
- 04 · Release and improve
Keep the application improving
Protected build and release pipelines prove and promote the change. Operational feedback becomes visible work, with people retaining approval authority.
The installation hosted 26 low-traffic Gallery prototypes for less than £6.02 per month in prototype compute, with shared services allocated separately. The AI cost of creating prototypes in Claude or Codex sits outside the study. These figures describe that low-traffic workload; backends, databases and heavier use need their own hosting estimate.
Measured work, projected delivery
Modelled delivery for the case-study scope.
The study combines a two-hour active development run with measured preparation and specialist reviews. At that representative scope, two to three sprints take 4 hours 27 minutes to 6 hours 40 minutes of workflow time.
That is 72–108 times faster than the comparison’s 12-week, 480-working-hour window. Calendar delivery also depends on approvals, review outcomes and external dependencies.
| Stage | Evidence | AI cost |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare the work | Average of five runs | £0.132 |
| Active development | Measured two-hour team run | £14.693 |
| Final specialist reviews | Average of five complete sets | £0.175 |
| Representative sprint | Preparation, development and reviews | About £15 |
LiteLLM routes work to appropriate models and applies a shared spending limit. At the study’s £2.96 per rolling 15-minute setting, teams wait when budget is full and continue as it becomes available. Completed teams make no routine AI calls while quiet.
Monthly running costs
Each app has hosting. The factory is shared.
Allow £383.61 per month for each released app’s quiet production environment. Add approximately £0.23 for its low-traffic Gallery prototype and £863.80 per month for the shared factory and database. The shared cost is spread across your applications.
- 01Shared factory
Agent workspaces, retained files, common services and the database. Shared across applications.
- 02Each released app
Its own production hosting. More apps add more environments; real usage adds workload.
- 03Your selected package
Licence or licence-inclusive support, added once per installation.
The calculator combines these costs with the initial build, selected changes and the one-off installation. Idle agent workspaces and available production apps have separate hosting budgets.
| Component | Per installation |
|---|---|
| Shared platform services | £305.70 |
| Retained workspace files and storage | £272.76 |
| Agent workspace compute · four-hour daily assumption | £59.48 |
| Full shared database allowance | £225.86 |
| Shared monthly total | £863.80 |
| Apps | Portfolio total | Average per app |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £1,247.64 | £1,247.64 |
| 2 | £1,631.48 | £815.74 |
| 5 | £2,783.00 | £556.60 |
| 10 | £4,702.20 | £470.22 |
| 20 | £8,540.60 | £427.03 |
| 50 | £20,055.80 | £401.12 |
Assumes one low-traffic prototype per app and the same shared capacity at each scale. Add £1,000 per month for the licence-only package, or your selected licence-inclusive support package, once per installation. Builds, changes, the one-off installation and real app usage are additional. All amounts are GBP before tax.
More apps spread the shared cost further; each production environment still adds hosting cost. App count does not determine how many engineering teams can work at once. Additional simultaneous work, longer runtime, data growth or separate security boundaries can require more capacity. These portfolio figures are allocation scenarios, not tested capacity limits.
How idle shutdown affects the forecast
Production validation on 17 September confirmed that idle agent workspaces return to zero running compute and wake for work. Their retained files and shared services continue to incur costs. The application’s production hosting is separate and stays available.
The historical compute reference for two agent workspaces is £356.86 per 30 days. Assuming four billable hours per workspace each day gives £59.48: a projected £297.38 reduction, or 83.3%, in that compute component alone. This lower figure is already included in the shared allowance above. A comparable settled Azure billing period is still needed to measure the realised saving.
| Billable hours each per day | Monthly compute | Projected reduction |
|---|---|---|
| 2 hours | £29.74 | 91.7% |
| 4 hours · model assumption | £59.48 | 83.3% |
| 8 hours | £118.95 | 66.7% |
Billable hours include startup, active work, warm idle time and cooldown. AI-provider charges, storage and shared services are outside these compute reductions.
The release workflow also retires temporary Check and Review environments after use while retaining production. The model allows £16.90 for a 24-hour validation window per build or change. Keeping both temporary environments all month would instead add £506.99 per app; that ongoing cost is already excluded from the released-app baseline.
The first-year cost
Delivery and running costs, with common costs included.
The modelled AI and validation cost per initial build is £46.90–£61.90: £30–£45 of AI work over two to three sprints and £16.90 for one day of Check and Review environments. This is the resource cost for the modelled work. The £20,000 entry installation covers the agreed installation, integration, first-application engagement and handover. Hosting, shared platform costs and commercial fees are accounted for separately.
| Cost component | Per app |
|---|---|
| Initial build AI and validation | £46.90–£61.90 |
| 12 months of quiet production hosting | £4,603.32 |
| Gallery prototype allowance | Approximately £2.76 |
| Share of common platform and full database allowance | £1,036.56 |
| First-year delivery and running costs, rounded | £5,690–£5,705 |
| Traditional comparison | £113,203 |
Common costs use £637.94 a month for the platform and workspaces, plus the full £225.86 monthly shared database allowance. Dedicated production hosting is £383.61 per app-month while quiet. Application traffic, additional computing, storage growth and third-party services add to the operating budget.
How the first-year cost changes with portfolio size
| Applications | First year per app |
|---|---|
| 1 | £15,019–£15,034 |
| 2 | £9,836–£9,851 |
| 5 | £6,726–£6,741 |
| 10 | £5,690–£5,705 |
| 20 | £5,171–£5,186 |
| 50 | £4,860–£4,875 |
The model divides common costs across the portfolio. Additional simultaneous work or security separation may require more workspace capacity.
Continued product change
The value continues after the first release.
The three-year model follows an evolving app: six production fixes, four change sprints and one larger three-sprint feature each year, alongside hosting and shared platform costs.
AxiaCraft · ten-app scale
£17,995Three-year cost per evolving app
Traditional UK team model
£519,145Three-year cost for the stated workload
£501,150 saved per app, or 96.5%, under the case-study assumptions.
| Work item | AxiaCraft | Traditional |
|---|---|---|
| Small production fix | £24.25 | £1,005–£2,010 |
| One-sprint enhancement | £31.90 | £17,600 |
| Three-sprint feature | £61.90 | £52,800 |
Each AxiaCraft change includes one 24-hour validation window. A small fix assumes one active development hour. The ownership comparison uses quiet hosting on both sides; real application use is additional.
Comparison assumptions and evidence
The initial traditional build uses 12 weeks with two engineers, half-time project management and QA, and quarter-time DevOps and UX. The study’s UK median contractor day rates are £550, £545, £375, £525 and £475 respectively, giving £108,600 of initial build labour. The 480-hour comparison describes the working window, rather than combined team labour.
A traditional change sprint uses 20 engineering days, five PM days, five QA days, two DevOps days and two UX days. A small fix uses one to two engineer days with proportionate supporting roles. Traditional teams may share services and reuse components; the model makes its staffing assumptions explicit.
AI evidence comprises a two-hour development run, five preparation runs producing 28 tickets, and five complete specialist review sets. Projected durations and ownership costs apply these units to the stated workloads.
The comparison includes Gallery hosting, shared platform and database costs, and quiet production hosting. Prototype-creation AI, human product ownership, specialist advice, data migration, third-party licences and real application use sit outside it. The case-study comparisons exclude commercial installation, licence and support. The calculator adds the £20,000 entry installation and the selected recurring licence/support package to the underlying delivery and running costs. Contractor costs exclude employment overheads and agency margin.
Source: AxiaCraft Full Cost Case Study, 14 September 2026, v25, and AxiaCraft Client Case Study, v47, reconciled with production validation dated 17 September. Financial figures retain the PDF’s Gallery-inclusive model: its platform total already includes the four-hour gateway-compute forecast. AI measurements are dated 12 September; infrastructure uses a 30-day monthly convention and the study’s GBP conversion basis. The Gallery model rounds its low-traffic allowance to approximately £0.23 per prototype-month. Percentages are calculated from unrounded comparison totals and then rounded to one decimal place.
Plan your deployment
How much could your business save?
Choose your applications, development activity and support package. Your estimate includes a £20,000 entry installation and a licence from £1,000 per month, with first-year, annual and three-year costs shown.
Cost basis: Microsoft Azure infrastructure and Fireworks.ai models, using the September 2026 case-study measurements and assumptions. See monthly running costs and scaling.
Estimated AxiaCraft cost
2 applications · over three years
£115,822Includes delivery, running costs, installation and selected package
- Net saving to your business76.5% saved over three years
- £376,378
- First-year total Includes the one-off installation and initial builds
- £52,023
- Following annual cost At the selected workload and package
- £31,899
- Monthly operating baseline £1,315.74 per app on average · includes selected packageBefore builds, changes, installation and live app usage
- £2,631.48
- Traditional team cost Case-study delivery team · three years
- £492,200
- One-off installation Fixed entry scope · included in total
- £20,000
- Licence and support Licence only · per year, included in totals
- £12,000
Three-year delivery and running costs: £59,822. Licence and support: £36,000. Installation: £20,000.
How running costs scale: £383.61 per app-month for quiet production hosting, approximately £0.23 per Gallery prototype, and £863.80 per month shared across the installation. The shared allowance already includes two agent workspaces at an assumed four billable hours each per day, plus retained files and the full database allowance. Activity changes the annual delivery workload; it does not automatically resize this shared capacity. More simultaneous work, longer runtime or stricter separation needs a revised estimate.
The 95% headline compares modelled delivery and running costs for ten apps over one year, before installation, licence and support. This calculator includes those commercial costs and compares your selected workload with the case study’s traditional delivery team. The junior-developer comparison describes the entry package’s first-year budget.
Three-year projection, GBP before tax. Includes initial builds, selected annual changes, an approximate £0.23 monthly allowance per low-traffic Gallery prototype and quiet hosting using the case-study assumptions. Additional prototype backends, databases or heavier usage require a separate estimate. Includes £20,000 installation once and the selected licence/support package throughout. Assumes the agreed entry installation scope and shared platform capacity; larger or more complex installations are quoted separately. Real application usage, additional customer staffing and third-party services are additional. Case-study assumptions.
Apply it to your organisation
Start with a product worth building.
Bring an idea, a prototype or an existing application that needs to evolve. A four-week AxiaCraft installation establishes the factory around your environment and proves the delivery workflow on real work.
Installation, licence and support
An entry configuration for around the annual cost of hiring one junior developer.
Give your team specialist AI agents covering senior engineering roles in planning, development, architecture, quality and security. They work in parallel inside your environment, with human control over delivery, so your team can build and improve more software.
The smallest one-app, licence-only configuration is approximately £47,000 in year one, including installation and quiet hosting. This budget comparison applies to that entry configuration; larger workloads and support packages cost more.
Four-week entry installation£20,000
Install, integrate, build the first agreed application and hand over to your team.
Licence£1,000 / month
£12,000 per year. One organisation’s factory, including Gallery, production and test environments, unlimited applications and users.
Fixed installation price for the agreed entry scope. Larger or more complex installations are quoted separately. Infrastructure and AI usage are paid directly by the customer. All prices exclude VAT.
What the junior-developer comparison includes
The smallest one-app, licence-only setup is projected at £47,034 in year one: £20,000 installation, £12,000 licence and approximately £15,034 for initial build AI, shared infrastructure and quiet hosting. Its following annual baseline is £26,972. Additional development and application usage add to this baseline.
Illustrative UK salaries of £30,000–£40,000 give annual employment costs of approximately £34,463–£46,263 with standard 2026/27 employer National Insurance and minimum pension contributions. Adding the same £4,603 application-hosting allowance gives £39,066–£50,866. The National Careers Service lists £30,000 as a starting software-developer salary; £35,000 and £40,000 are illustrative budgets.
The employment calculation assumes a non-apprentice employee aged 22 or over and standard contributions before Employment Allowance or other reliefs. Recruitment, equipment and management costs are excluded. This compares budgets; delivery output depends on scope, workload and human oversight.
Salary reference · Employer NI rates · Employer pension contributions
Choose how much support you need.
Every package below includes the licence. Choose the level of ongoing help your team needs to operate and develop its factory.
Essential
£2,000/month£24,000 per year · licence included
Issue triage, operating guidance and a monthly health review.
Up to 4 hours of assistance per month.
Standard
£4,000/month£48,000 per year · licence included
Essential plus priority support, governance reviews, upgrade assistance and builder coaching.
Up to 12 hours of assistance per month.
Managed support
£8,000/month£96,000 per year · licence included
Standard plus hands-on operational support, agreed remediation and delivery coaching. Your team retains day-to-day operating responsibility.
Up to 28 hours of assistance per month.
Reviews count towards the monthly assistance allowance. Additional work is agreed separately. Support operates during UK business hours; 24/7 cover is quoted separately.
Calculate your AxiaCraft costs ↑