Last updated 03/10/2026. Prices are in AUD and exclude GST.
Who can set up AI for a Melbourne small business?
A Melbourne business has four realistic options: do it yourself with tools like ChatGPT, hire a freelancer, engage a large consultancy, or use a managed AI provider such as On Autopilot. For most owner-run businesses, a managed provider is the practical choice: someone else builds the AI, keeps it running and fixes it when a tool changes, for a fixed monthly fee instead of a salary.
On Autopilot is that option, based in Melbourne. We are run by Boring Ventures Pty Ltd, our founder Jenn Yang (also director of the virtual assistant agency DotVA) runs every audit, and we build on Anthropic’s Claude plus the tools you already pay for: Shopify, Xero, Cliniko, ServiceM8, HubSpot, Slack, Make and n8n. If a DIY tool or a one-off freelancer job would serve you better, we will say so on the audit call. The four options are compared in more depth here.
How much does an AI consultant cost in Melbourne?
On Autopilot’s prices are fixed and published: $497 (ex GST) for one automation built and handed over, $497 to $2,000 setup plus $99 to $499 a month for a productised agent, and $1,500 to $4,000 a month for managed AI. Retainers are month to month, and the Claude API usage behind most agents (usually $3 to $15 a month) is included in the monthly fee.
| What you get | Setup | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Start: one automation built and handed over | $497 | None |
| AI Inventory Watch: daily stock checks | $497 | $99 |
| AI Front Desk: after-hours enquiries, bookings, reminders | $1,500 | $199 |
| AI Bookkeeping Assist: helps your existing bookkeeper in Xero | $1,500 | $399 |
| AI Lead Engine: fast replies and follow-up on every lead | $2,000 | $499 |
| Managed AI: Essential, Growth or Scale | Fixed quote on the audit | $1,500 / $2,000 / $4,000 |
All prices are in AUD and exclude GST. The full list, including the AI Content Engine and the Claude Code Setup Day, is on the pricing page.
Should you use a freelancer, a big consultancy, an in-house hire or managed AI?
| Option | Typical cost (AUD) | Best for | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer, for example via Upwork | About $720 to $2,890 for a single-workflow automation; $2,890 to $11,540 for an AI integration | One small, well-defined job | Support after handover depends on one person, often in another time zone |
| Large consultancy | Federal AI strategy and advisory contracts in the past year ran from $60,000 to more than $850,000 | Enterprise programs with many stakeholders | Strategy and roadmaps first; building and running the AI is usually a separate cost |
| In-house AI hire | A data scientist averages about $132,500 a year in Melbourne (SEEK), or roughly $170,000 with 12% super and on-costs, plus recruitment | Businesses with a full-time pipeline of AI work | One person and one skill set, on payroll; Victorian payroll tax starts once total wages pass $1 million |
| Managed AI with On Autopilot | $497 per single build; $1,500, $2,000 or $4,000 a month to build, run and improve, month to month | Small and medium businesses that want AI kept running without hiring | A monthly fee, so it pays once you have two or more agents worth running |
Freelancer figures are Upwork’s published US dollar ranges (automation projects, AI projects), converted at the Reserve Bank rate of 2 October 2026 (A$1 = US$0.6933); Upwork is a global marketplace, so these are not Australian rates. Consultancy figures are federal government contract notices on AusTender for AI strategy and advisory work: Quantium, A$60,000, EY, A$148,500 over about 12 weeks and Slalom, A$851,488. AusTender values usually include GST. The salary is SEEK’s Melbourne figure for a data scientist (October 2026); the all-in figure adds the 12% superannuation guarantee and other on-costs (base times 1.28, as in our AI Cost Index).
What does On Autopilot build for Melbourne businesses?
Greater Melbourne had 596,547 actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, and 67.8% of them had no employees (ABS Data by region). Most of the city’s businesses are owner-operators, so the first AI build has to take work off the owner, not add a system for them to manage. These are the builds that usually come first, by business type:
- Clinics and allied health (physio, dental, psychology, GP): an AI Front Desk that answers website, SMS and email enquiries after hours and books into the system you already use, such as Cliniko. See AI for health clinics, AI for dental practices and AI for psychology practices.
- Trades and home services: missed enquiries while you are on the tools are the main leak, so the first build is usually an AI Front Desk wired into ServiceM8, with the AI Lead Engine added for marketplace leads and quote follow-up. See AI for trade businesses.
- Cafes, restaurants and venues: function enquiries answered from your packages and followed up, guest questions handled, and review replies and stock alerts drafted for a manager to approve. See AI for cafes and hospitality.
- Shopify and online brands: AI Inventory Watch, a smaller, read-only version of the system we run for our own skincare brand. See AI for Shopify operators.
- Professional services and agencies: lead follow-up and admin. See AI for bookkeepers and accountants and AI for marketing agencies.
What proof is there that it works?
We will not show you client logos we do not have. What we can show is the same stack running inside our own businesses, every day:
- Hey Bud Skincare, our own Melbourne skincare brand, runs an inventory system that syncs warehouse stock and Shopify sales at 6am every day, raises stock and reorder alerts, drafts purchase orders for a person to approve and puts a Claude-written daily brief on the dashboard. Ollie Watts, who is not a developer, built it with Claude Code. The inventory system case study walks through how it works. It is the basis of AI Inventory Watch.
- DotVA, our virtual assistant agency, takes enquiries through a website lead pipeline we built: the form, a Cloudflare Worker, spam and job-applicant scoring, a lead database, a dashboard and the hand-off into its sales pipeline. That is the pattern behind AI Lead Engine.
- DotVA HQ, the internal platform that runs DotVA’s invoicing, payroll and client onboarding, was built with Claude Code.
- Lead Gen Empire, our network of 20 Australian comparison sites, is built and maintained with Claude Code (case study).
Which Victorian rules matter for an AI project?
Three rules come up in almost every Victorian AI project. As at October 2026:
- Health information in Victoria. The Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) applies to private as well as public organisations that handle health information, including sole practitioners and companies. A clinic’s AI front desk that records why someone is booking is handling health information, so it has to meet this Act as well as the federal Privacy Act. Complaints go to the Health Complaints Commissioner.
- The federal Privacy Act. Businesses with turnover of $3 million or less are mostly exempt, but health service providers are covered whatever their size (OAIC). From 10 December 2026, businesses covered by the Act must explain in their privacy policy any automated decisions that significantly affect people (OAIC). We keep our agents out of decisions like that and document what each one does.
- Payroll tax, if you hire instead. Victorian payroll tax applies once your annual Australian wages pass $1,000,000, at 4.85% (State Revenue Office Victoria). Most small businesses sit under that, but an in-house AI hire can push a growing business over it. A managed AI fee is a supplier invoice, not wages.
For the wider picture, see our guide to the Australian AI compliance landscape.
How does a Melbourne AI build work, step by step?
- Free 30-minute audit. A video call with Jenn about where your week goes, what you already pay for and what you have tried. Book it here.
- A written plan and a fixed quote within one business day: what we would build first, why, and the AUD price. Sometimes the answer is that you do not need AI for this yet.
- The build. Productised agents go live in 5 to 14 working days, depending on the agent. You see progress during the build and test it before it touches a customer.
- Go-live and handover. You own the code, prompts and settings, and your team gets a short walkthrough.
- Running it. Either your team runs it, or we do on a managed AI retainer, month to month.
Where else can Melbourne businesses get free help?
Not every first step needs a consultant. As at October 2026:
- Digital Jobs program (Business Victoria). Free training vouchers, including for AI and machine learning courses, for Victorian construction and advanced manufacturing businesses with fewer than 200 staff. Round 3 closes at the end of 2026 and a final round starts in February 2027 (Business Victoria).
- Victorian Small Business Commission. Free first-stage help if a dispute with a supplier, including a technology supplier, goes wrong, with subsidised mediation after that (VSBC).
- National AI Centre guidance. The federal Guidance for AI Adoption sets out six practices for using AI responsibly, with a “Foundations” version written for businesses just starting out.
- Events. The AI Summit Australia runs at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 23 to 25 August 2027 (organiser), and Open Summit AI comes to Melbourne Town Hall on 29 April 2027 (organiser). Both are paid events.
When you want the work done rather than learnt, book a free 30-minute AI audit.