Prices change often, so this post explains what you pay for and how each service bills. For current numbers, check each vendor's own pricing page.
What are the cost pieces of AI automation?
Most small-business AI setups combine up to four services, and each bills differently:
| Piece | What it does | How it bills |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | You chat with AI to write and summarize | Free plan to start; paid and business plans add more |
| n8n | Runs workflows: triggers, sheets, email | n8n Cloud is paid after a free trial, or self-host it |
| OpenAI API | Lets n8n call an AI model | Pay-as-you-go per request, billed separately from ChatGPT |
| Lovable | Builds web pages like forms from a prompt | Free and paid plans |
Google Sheets and Gmail work with a regular Google account in every lesson. The Stepthrough lessons themselves are free and run in practice copies, so nothing is published, sent or billed while you learn.
How much does ChatGPT alone cost?
ChatGPT can cost nothing to start: any plan works for the ChatGPT lessons, including the free one, within its limits. Paid and business plans add more use and features.
ChatGPT alone covers a lot: writing customer emails, summarizing meeting transcripts, checking a draft's promises. Nothing runs in the background, and you copy and paste the results yourself. For a business that handles private client data, a business plan is the safer choice, because OpenAI doesn't use business plan data to train its models by default.
How much does an n8n workflow without AI cost?
An n8n workflow with no AI costs only your n8n plan (or your own server if you self-host). There are no per-request AI charges because no model is involved.
The Daily Job Alerts lesson is the clearest example. Every morning at 7, the workflow reads a jobs sheet, skips rows with no tech, and emails each job to the tech assigned to it. Schedule, Google Sheets, Filter and Gmail: no AI anywhere. If a task follows the same steps every time, this is the cheapest kind of automation to run.
How much does an n8n AI agent cost to run?
An n8n AI agent adds OpenAI API charges on top of n8n: you pay per request from a prepaid credit balance, not per month. The lessons suggest about $10 of credit to start.
The AI Social Media Idea Agent lesson walks through it at platform.openai.com: add credit under Billing first, because a key with no credit behind it just returns errors, then create the key. The lesson's voice-over notes that $10 goes a long way and that generating social media ideas costs fractions of a cent per request.
What you spend depends on three things:
- The model. The lessons use gpt-5-mini, which they call fast and cheap, for text, and gpt-4o for reading receipt photos.
- How much text goes in and out. A short email costs less than a long document.
- How often it runs. An inbox agent that drafts a reply to every new email runs far more often than a weekly planning agent.
The API is billed separately from ChatGPT. A ChatGPT Plus plan doesn't include API credit, and API credit doesn't upgrade your ChatGPT. OpenAI API vs ChatGPT Plus explains the difference in detail.
Try it free, step by step
n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets. Build an AI agent for BrightPath Marketing that generates social media post ideas and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model, memory, and the Sheets tool. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Start the free lessonHow much does a Lovable form with an AI backend cost?
A form built in Lovable with an n8n AI agent behind it combines three bills: a Lovable plan, an n8n plan and OpenAI API usage. Lovable has free and paid plans.
The Build a Web App with an AI Backend lesson builds exactly this: a contact form in Lovable, an n8n webhook, an AI Agent on gpt-5-mini, a Google Sheets Tool to save each lead and a Gmail Tool to reply. Each submission makes the agent run once, so API costs grow with the number of submissions, not with time.
What does the time to build and maintain cost?
Time is often the biggest cost, and it comes in two parts: building and upkeep. The lessons give a feel for building: 10 minutes for the job alerts workflow, 12 for an AI agent, 15 for a Lovable form plus agent. A first real build takes longer, because you're making your own sheet, writing your own facts and testing with real data.
Upkeep is smaller but ongoing:
- Updating facts in a system message when prices, hours or service areas change.
- Topping up API credit before it runs out, since a zero balance means errors.
- Reading the output, like AI drafts in Gmail, before they go out.
- Fixing a broken step when a sheet is renamed or a credential disconnects.
Budget a little time each month, and name one person who owns each workflow.
Which AI setup gives a small business the most for the least?
Start where the cost is lowest and the task repeats most. A simple order:
- ChatGPT for writing and summarizing, starting on the free plan.
- An n8n workflow without AI for the most repetitive task with fixed steps, like the morning job emails.
- An n8n AI agent when a repeated task needs judgment, like drafting replies, with a small API balance.
- A Lovable form when you need a page your customers fill in.
Each step adds one new bill, so you can stop at whichever one covers your needs. AI Agent vs Chatbot vs Automation helps you match each task to the right setup. More lessons are in the AI Automation for Beginners course.
Key takeaways
- ChatGPT can start on a free plan; paid and business plans add more, and a business plan doesn't train on your data by default.
- An n8n workflow with no AI, like emailing each tech their jobs at 7am, costs only the n8n plan or your own server.
- An n8n AI agent adds OpenAI API charges, billed per request from prepaid credit; the lessons suggest about $10 to start.
- A Lovable form with an AI backend combines a Lovable plan, an n8n plan and API usage that grows with each submission.
- Time to build and maintain, such as updating facts and topping up credit, is often the biggest cost.
Frequently asked questions
- Is n8n free?
n8n Cloud has a free trial and then paid plans. You can also self-host n8n on your own server. Check n8n's pricing page for current plans.
- Does ChatGPT Plus include the OpenAI API?
No. The OpenAI API is billed separately, per request, from a credit balance you add at platform.openai.com.
- How much OpenAI credit do I need to start?
The lessons suggest about $10. You're charged per request, and short text tasks on gpt-5-mini cost very little each.
- Can I automate without paying for AI at all?
Yes. A workflow like the daily job emails uses no AI, so it only needs n8n and a Google account.
- Do the Stepthrough lessons cost anything?
No. The lessons are free and run in practice copies, so nothing is published, sent or billed.
