the real cost: human vs. AI colleague.
Before we talk pricing, let's be honest about what you get — and what you don't. An AI Digital Employee is not a replacement for a human. It's a radically different kind of colleague, with its own strengths and limitations. Here are the facts.
the maths: 1 FTE vs. 1 AI agent.
- 260 working days × 8 hours = 2,080 hours/year
- Effectively often 1,700–1,900 hours (sick leave, training, meetings, breaks)
- Cost per hour: €28.85
- 24/7/365 = 8,760 hours/year
- No sick leave, no holidays, no breaks
- Cost per hour: €2.05
| Metric | Human employee | AI Digital Employee | AI advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | €60,000 | €18,000 | 3.33x cheaper |
| Available hours per year | 2,080 | 8,760 | 4.21x more hours |
| Cost per hour | €28.85 | €2.05 | 14x cheaper |
| Hours per €1,000 budget | ~34.7 hours | ~487 hours | 14x more output |
key takeaways
cheaper per working hour than a European employee
AI agents you can run for the same budget as 1 FTE (€60k)
more available hours per year — non-stop, no holidays or sick leave
honest take: where are humans better?
AI is not always the answer. Below is an honest comparison of human and AI strengths in 2026 — so you can make an informed choice.
Creativity & Innovation
Excellent at original thinking, combining unrelated ideas, and genuine innovation — new products, unique strategies, branding.
Very strong in combinatorial creativity: quickly remixing existing knowledge and generating countless variations. Brainstorming, writing code, designing campaigns at scale.
Complex Judgement
Strong in ambiguous, high-stakes, or ethically sensitive situations — decisions with incomplete data, long-term reputation, cultural and political sensitivities.
Greatly improved: multi-step reasoning, optimisation across many variables, and adapting plans when things go wrong. Excellent for structured tasks like supply chain optimisation or financial analysis.
Customer Empathy & Emotional Intelligence
Naturally reads tone, builds trust, handles frustration, shows genuine care, and de-escalates emotional situations.
Better than ever at polite, consistent responses and basic empathy simulation. Scales infinitely and never gets tired or rude.
Accountability & Legal Liability
Clear accountability — the employee can be held responsible, trained, reprimanded, or legally addressed. Contracts and employment law are clear.
No legal personality in the EU. The company (you, as deployer) bears ultimate responsibility. Under the EU AI Act and liability rules, you must ensure human oversight.
Exceptions & Unstructured Problems
Adapts quickly to strange, one-off situations, improvises, and uses intuition when rules don't apply.
Increasingly better at detecting when something deviates and escalating or reporting back. Strong in predefined exception workflows.
Physical Presence
Indispensable for on-site work, face-to-face meetings, inspections, or manual tasks.
Can in some cases control robots or IoT devices, but this is still limited and expensive.
the hybrid model: best of both worlds.
The consensus from Gartner, McKinsey, Deloitte, and leading business executives is clear:
AI agents excel at:
- Speed, scale, and consistency
- 24/7 availability
- Repetitive and data-intensive tasks
- Dramatically lower costs
- 40-60% productivity increase
Humans remain essential for:
- Strategy and vision
- Customer relationships and trust
- Ethics and accountability
- Creativity and innovation
- Complex exceptions
The winning formula:
1 human + 2–5 AI agents delivers more output than 1–2 humans alone — at comparable or lower total cost. The human keeps control, AI handles the volume.
pricing your CFO will understand.
Transparent annual costs — 40-50% of a human colleague. No hidden fees. Monthly payment available.
1 digital employee
vs. €38,000–€55,000 for a human colleague
- One specialised AI colleague
- Sovereign deployment in the Netherlands
- Human-in-the-Loop controls
- 24/7 operational
- Onboarding in < 2 weeks
- Standard SLA
team package (5+)
Build a complete digital team
- 5+ Digital Employees
- Multi-agent collaboration
- Dedicated project coordinator (Fenna)
- Security guardian (Victor) included
- Custom integrations
- Priority SLA
- Volume discount
custom digital employee
Custom built for your workflows
- Custom built for your processes
- Custom tooling & integrations
- Dedicated development sprint
- Sovereign deployment in the Netherlands
- Full team support
- Enterprise SLA
All Digital Employees include: 24/7 availability, self-healing infrastructure, CoVe-verified accuracy, Human-in-the-Loop pre-approval, EU AI Act compliance, and sovereign deployment on UNIT2 premises in the Netherlands.
frequently asked questions.
How does the contract work?
You sign a 1-year employment agreement with a 3-month trial period. Not satisfied? The contract automatically ends after the trial period — no further obligations.
Are there setup costs?
Yes, the one-time setup fee equals one month's salary of your Digital Employee. This covers configuration, integration with your systems, and onboarding.
What's included in the annual cost?
Full deployment on UNIT2 sovereign infrastructure, 24/7 operation, monitoring, updates, and standard support. No hidden costs.
Can I pay monthly?
We invoice annually by default. Monthly payment is available on request with a small surcharge.
What if I'm not satisfied after the trial period?
The contract ends after 3 months, with no further costs or notice period. You only pay for the months your Digital Employee was active, plus the one-time setup fee.
Do I get a discount for multiple Digital Employees?
Yes, for 3+ digital employees we offer volume discount. For 5+ you automatically get our team package with extra benefits.
How does the AI agent compare to a temp worker?
A temp worker typically costs €50-€80 per hour all-in. A Digital Employee costs €2.05 per hour and is available 24/7. For routine work, AI is 14x more cost-efficient.
What happens after the first year?
After the first year, the contract is automatically renewed for another year. You can of course cancel before the end of the contract period.
ready to do the maths?
Calculate your savings with the AI Workforce Scan or get in touch directly.