Guide · Cost
How much does an AI consultant cost in the UK? (2026)
Published UK day rates for AI consultants run from about £450 to £2,200 a day for contractors and independents, £900 to £5,500 for boutique firms, and £2,000 to £8,500 for the Big 4 and large consultancies. The sources disagree a lot, so treat any single figure with care. Niddy doesn't charge day rates: our AI Audit is £1,495 fixed and each workflow we build is £2,950.
UK AI consultant day rates in 2026
| Type of provider | Published day rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AI consultant contracts (roles advertised through agencies) | Median £575. Middle 80% from £443 to £717 | ITJobsWatch, 68 rates quoted in the 6 months to 8 Oct 2026 |
| Independent consultants | £600 to £1,200 | Lilach Bullock, Aug 2026 |
| Independent consultants and contractors | £500 to £2,000 | We Call Shotgun, Aug 2026 |
| Independent consultants | £1,200 to £2,200 | Whitehat, Mar 2026 |
| Boutique and mid-tier firms | £900 to £1,600 | We Call Shotgun, Aug 2026 |
| Boutique AI specialists | £2,500 to £5,500 | Whitehat, Mar 2026 |
| Big 4 and large consultancies | £2,000 to £5,000 | We Call Shotgun, Aug 2026 |
| Big 4 (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC) | £4,000 to £8,500 | Whitehat, Mar 2026 |
Why the figures disagree
They measure different things. ITJobsWatch counts contract roles advertised through recruiters, which are usually for one person working inside a larger team. The consultancy guides quote what firms charge clients directly, and some of those guides are written by firms selling the service. A day rate also tells you little on its own: what matters is how many days the work takes and whether anything gets built at the end.
What AI consulting projects cost
| Piece of work | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AI audit for a business under 10 staff | £750 to £2,500 | Lilach Bullock |
| AI audit for 10 to 50 staff | £2,500 to £8,000 | Lilach Bullock |
| Standard AI readiness audit or opportunity assessment | £3,500 to £15,000 | We Call Shotgun |
| Strategy and assessment, 4 to 8 weeks | £8,000 to £25,000 | Whitehat |
| Big 4 readiness audit | £50,000 or more | We Call Shotgun |
| Large-firm programme minimum | Around £100,000 | We Call Shotgun |
| Niddy AI Audit | £1,495 fixed | Our pricing |
| Niddy Sprint, one workflow built | £2,950 fixed | Our pricing |
Day rate or fixed fee?
A day rate suits open-ended work where nobody can say up front how long it will take. The risk sits with you: if it takes longer, you pay more. A fixed fee puts that risk on the consultant and makes it easy to compare against what the work should save. For a small business buying its first piece of AI work, a fixed price for a defined result is usually the safer buy.
We price fixed because our clients need to know the number before they start. Niddy's AI Audit costs £1,495 fixed, takes five days with minimal client time, and carries a guarantee: ten times the fee in estimated annual value identified, or the fee back.
What drives the cost
- Advice or build. A report costs less than a working system, but only the system saves you time.
- Access to your data. Work that uses your real sales, stock and marketing numbers takes longer than a questionnaire, and it's worth more.
- How many workflows. One inbox or one report is a small job. Rebuilding a whole operation isn't.
- Ongoing support. Monthly retainers cover changes, new builds and keeping things running.
How to keep the cost down
- Start with an audit of your own numbers before buying any tool.
- Build one workflow at a time and check what it saves before the next one.
- Use the software you already pay for wherever it can do the job.
- Ask for a fixed price per workflow, not an estimate of days.
- Ask what the consultant has built before, what it cost and what it measurably saved.
Want a fixed price for your business, not a day rate?
or email hello@niddy.co.uk
Questions we get asked
How much does an AI consultant charge per hour in the UK?
At the published day rates above, roughly £60 to £295 an hour for contractors and independents on a seven-and-a-half-hour day (our arithmetic), and far more at large firms. Most consultants quote by the day or the project rather than the hour.
How much does AI cost for a small business?
The consulting part ranges from a few hundred pounds for advice to tens of thousands for a programme. On top of that come the tools themselves, often a monthly subscription. Our AI Audit is £1,495 fixed and tells you which, if any, are worth paying for.
Is an AI consultant worth it for a small business?
It is if the work pays back more than it costs, and you can measure that. Ask for a fixed price and a clear statement of what the work is expected to save before you start.
Why are Big 4 AI consultants so expensive?
Large firms staff projects with teams and carry large overheads. Published Big 4 day rates run from £2,000 to £8,500 depending on the source, and large-firm programmes often have minimums around £100,000.