DIY connectors (Zapier, Make)
You wire it yourself: one trigger, an action or two, no code
Typical cost at small business volume$20–$100 / month
Time to a working automation~20 minutes
Who builds and maintains itYou (or your office manager)
When it breaksStops silently
Pricing as you growPer task, climbs with volume
Right answer whenThe workflow fits in one sentence
Genuinely enough for
- Website form → CRM → text alert
- Paid invoice → spreadsheet row
- Five-star review → Facebook post
- Any A-to-B handoff with no judgment in the middle
Start here if you're starting from zero. The pain you feel later tells you exactly what's worth building properly.
Custom-built automation
Designed, built, and monitored for how your business runs
Typical cost for a focused buildLow thousands, one-time
OngoingSmall monthly for hosting + upkeep
Who builds and maintains itThe people you hired to
When it breaksSomeone's alerted that day
Pricing as you growFlat, volume doesn't punish you
Right answer whenThe workflow reads, decides, or replies
What the price buys
- AI in the middle: sorts emergencies from price-shoppers
- One planned system, not fifteen mystery zaps
- Monitoring, so failures are loud instead of silent
- Stop rules and human handoffs built in
Worth it when a missed run costs a job, not when it costs a spreadsheet update.