What does an AI customer service bot cost? Setup from NT$50,000, then about NT$1,500–4,000 a month
A custom AI customer service bot costs money in two ways: a one-time setup from NT$50,000, then about NT$1,500–4,000 a month (optional maintenance plus AI usage). This article breaks down every line item, compares three-year total cost against SaaS and against a full-time agent, and even counts the time you'll spend yourself.
The short answer:A custom AI customer service bot costs money in two ways. The one-time setup starts at NT$50,000; after launch, expect about NT$1,500–4,000 a month, covering optional maintenance plus AI usage. Your LINE Official Account plan fee is paid separately, directly to LINE.
Over three years, that adds up to roughly NT$104,000–194,000. Over the same three years, a mid-tier SaaS subscription runs about NT$288,000.
Below, we break down every line item: what the setup fee buys, what you pay each month, how it compares with SaaS and a full-time agent, and how much of your own time it takes.
Why publish our prices?
Most custom-build vendors hide their pricing and only share it after a demo. Their reasoning: "Competitors might copy us, and prices might scare clients off」。
We publish ours for the opposite reasons:
- It filters clients: if the budget doesn't fit, you see the price and move on,saving your demo time and our briefing time
- Clients with the budget trust us more: with transparent pricing, they know we won't "jack up the price for big clients」
- The quote is the total: once confirmed, no extra hours get added and there are no hidden fees
First, figure out which kind you need
Not everyone needs a custom build. Things all called "AI customer service" vary widely in price:
| Approach | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| LINE Official Account keyword auto-reply | Free | Fewer than ten question types, fixed answers |
| LINE Official Account built-in AI chatbot | NT$100/month (beta, with reply limits) | More questions, but all information lookups |
| Custom AI customer service | Setup from NT$50,000 + about NT$1,500–4,000/month | Answers by your rules, hands off to a human with the conversation attached, shared with your website |
| Bots that get things done (orders, dispatching, payments, CRM integration) | Quoted by scope | High support volume or workflows that need automating |
You don't need to outsource the first two. This article prices the third; the fourth requires reviewing your existing systems before we can quote.
What NT$50,000+ in setup buys you
Live in 3–5 weeks, in four steps:
第 1 步:盤問題(30 分鐘,當天報價)
- 看你現在的客服訊息長什麼樣、哪些問題最常重複
- 這一關會判斷你需不需要 AI——關鍵字回覆就夠的話,我們直接講
第 2 步:知識庫整理(1–2 週)
- 你丟現有資料:產品說明、價目表、常見問答、退換貨規則、舊客服對話
- 格式不拘,Word、Excel、網頁、LINE 截圖都可以
- 我們整理成 AI 讀得動的知識庫,拿你真實的舊問題做離線測試,看答對幾成
第 3 步:開發與試跑
- LINE 官方帳號設定、圖文選單(Rich Menu)與引導
- 只照知識庫回答(RAG),查不到就說不知道、轉真人
- 價格、庫存、時段這類會變的數字由程式查即時資料,不給 AI 自己講
- 一句話轉真人:對話即時轉到你的 Telegram,前面聊過的一起帶過去
- 用量上限寫進系統,不會有爆量帳單
- 官網整合:同一套知識庫,LINE 和官網共用
- 先給測試帳號,你自己當客人問幾天,答錯的當場調知識庫
第 4 步:交付
- 官方帳號、知識庫、原始碼、後台全部交給你
- 上線後 30 天免費微調
When the starting price goes up: a large knowledge base, integration with existing systems, or multiple platforms. We spell it out when quoting, and once confirmed, that's the total.
After launch: what you pay each month
Three items, paid separately:
| Item | Monthly | Paid to | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| LINE Official Account plan fee | Tiered by broadcast volume; free plan available | Paid directly to LINE | Replies to customers don't count toward broadcast quota. Required whichever AI customer service you use |
| AI model usage | About NT$500–1,000 for a mid-sized brand | Paid directly to the AI provider, or bundled into maintenance | Billed by message volume, with a hard cap built into the system |
| Maintenance plan (optional) | NT$1,000–3,000 | Satsuma | Hosting, uptime monitoring, daily backups, certificate renewal, routine content changes done for you |
How we estimate AI usage: assume 3,000 replies a month, each reading in about 3,000 tokens (tokens are the word-like units AI services bill by). At current mainstream model prices, that's about NT$500–1,000 a month. Longer messages and larger models cost more; in our proposal, we estimate using your actual message volume.
Maintenance is optional, with no lock-in; cancel anytime. If you stop, the bot keeps running—only backups and monitoring stop. If you edit the knowledge base yourself in the admin panel, there's no extra charge.
Accounts and data are all in your name: the Official Account, the AI API account, the knowledge base, conversation logs, and source code. If you ever switch maintainers, you won't find everything stuck with the previous vendor.
Add-ons
| Add-on | Price | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-platform (Instagram, Facebook, Telegram) | Priced by number of platforms | You have overseas customers. Same backend |
| Subscription payments (ECPay, MyCard) | Quoted by scope | The bot itself is a product that takes payments |
| Booking flow | See LINE booking system, from NT$45,000 | You want scheduling inside the same bot |
| Integration with existing systems (CRM, POS, membership) | Quoted after review | Membership tiers and purchase history need to feed into conversations |
Comparison 1: three-year total cost vs. SaaS
Mid-sized brand scenario (3,000 interactions/month, LINE + website, long-term operation):
| Option | Setup | Monthly | Three-year total | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-tier SaaS only | 0 | 8,000 | 288,000 | Template features, knowledge base uploaded yourself |
| OpenAI + DIY integration (hire an engineer) | 80,000 | 6,000 | 296,000 + your time | Semi-custom, self-maintained |
| Satsuma custom AI customer service | From 50,000 | About 1,500–4,000 | About 104,000–194,000 | Knowledge base curated by us, answers strictly from your data, human handoff with conversation attached, shared with your website |
Over three years, you save 30–60% versus mid-tier SaaS, breaking even with SaaS subscription fees in about 8–13 months. All three options still require the LINE Official Account plan fee, which isn't included in the table.
Comparison 2: vs. one full-time agent
One full-time customer service employee: - Monthly salary: 35,000 - Labor/health insurance + pension contributions: + ~5,000 - Benefits (one-month year-end bonus, paid leave, health checkups), monthly share: + ~3,500 - Training + recruiting + turnover costs (annualized): + ~2,000 - True monthly cost: about 45,500 - Hours: Mon–Fri, 9–6,40 hours/week
Custom AI customer service: - About NT$1,500–4,000/month after launch (setup fee separate; spread over three years, about NT$1,400/month) - Available 24/7—no leave, no resignations - It can't fully replace a human: heated complaints, exceptions that require judgment, and legal questions still need to go to a person
→ AI isn't there to replace that person. It's there totake over the repetitive, standard questions, so people can handle what genuinely needs a human. If your agent spends half the day answering the same questions, that half is what you save.
Hidden costs (that most people overlook)
The numbers on a quote are only the "visible cost." You also need to count your own team's time:
Hidden costs of SaaS
| Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Learning the tool (onboarding) | 1–2 weeks of internal time |
| Maintaining the KB yourself (4–8 hours/month) | 36 months × 6 = 216 hours |
| Handling complaints caused by wrong answers | ~30 minutes each, ~5 times a month = 150 minutes |
| Major overhaul every six months (KB restructuring) | About 8 hours each |
| Three-year hidden cost total | ~280–350 hours of internal time |
Hidden costs of a custom build
| Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Mapping questions + confirming requirements | One-time, ~2–5 hours |
| Providing materials | One-time, ~3–5 hours |
| Testing as a customer during the trial run | One-time, ~3–5 hours |
| Weekly check of the admin panel | About 30 minutes × 52 × 3 = 78 hours |
| Three-year hidden cost total | ~85–95 hours of internal time |
The difference is the knowledge base: with SaaS, you organize and maintain it yourself; with a custom build, we organize it and hand it over. After that, you can make routine changes yourself or bundle them into maintenance and let us handle them.
Who this isn't for
Look elsewhere if: - You get fewer than 100 inquiries a month → a custom build won't pay off.Reply manually, or turn on LINE's built-in AI - You run standard e-commerce support (orders / returns / shipping) → BotBonnie or Crescendo Lab's entry tiers are enough - You're unwilling to spend time providing materials → there's no shortcut for a knowledge base; if the data doesn't go in, no AI will help - You just want "a chat box so we look on-trend" → we don't take these projects
Turning away projects that aren't a fit is a discipline at our company. When expectations are misaligned, the finished project ends in arguments—everyone loses.
How to get started
- Want to try it first:Xiao Ai is exactly what this article describes—ask it directly in the bottom-right corner of our homepage
- See the details:LINE bot development and AI customer service builds — approach, timelines, case studies
- Talk to us directly:Fill out the project form; 30 minutes, free of charge, with a quote the same day
- Still comparing: read:
- AI customer service: SaaS or custom? — 3 questions to decide
- Why does AI customer service SaaS go unused within six months? — 5 structural reasons
Satsuma Creative
An integrated marketing creative agency. Our pricing is public, because finding the right clients matters more than keeping every client.