Service pricing updated October 1, 2026. Other material reviewed September 12, 2026.
For one person, Sidekick Solo is CAD 1,800 once: AI set up on your own work and 30 days of coaching. For a leader who also decides how staff use AI, Solo for Execs is CAD 2,900 once, instead of Solo. For a team, Fractional AI Leadership starts at CAD 6,000 a month, with a 90-day minimum. Most engagements run $6,000 to $12,000 CAD a month, depending on how many people we support and how fast you want to move. Companies can start with the free AI assessment, which takes about 10 minutes. AI subscriptions are separate. These are Sidekick's service prices, not an estimate for every AI project. Solo details · Solo for Execs details · Fractional details.
You may be able to solve the problem yourself. You may need someone to configure the work with you, help a team change how it operates, or build software. The useful comparison is what each route asks you to pay, learn and keep running.
Choose the level of help the work needs
Our recommendation is to start with the least complicated route that can do the job reliably.
| Route | When it makes sense | What you need to budget |
|---|---|---|
| DIY with an existing tool | The task is contained, you can judge the answer, and you have time to experiment. | Any necessary licence, your setup time, checking, and repairs when the process changes. A saved template may be enough. |
| Training | Your team has suitable tools and a clear process but needs practice using them well. | Training fees and staff practice time. Confirm whether the trainer also builds your workflow or only teaches the tools. |
| A configured workspace | The work centres on one person who repeatedly gathers context, prepares documents or follows up. | Setup, platform costs, onboarding, review time and a defined support window. Sidekick Solo fits this route. |
| Fractional AI Leadership | The change needs coordination across leaders, staff, IT or several workflows. | The agreed engagement, software and usage, internal staff time, and any separately scoped specialist work. Someone inside the business must own the workflow. |
| Custom software | The job needs an interface, connection or repeatable behaviour that suitable existing tools cannot provide. | Design, engineering, testing, hosting, usage, security and continuing technical ownership. Get a scoped quote before comparing it with a setup service. |
| An internal hire | The business needs continuing daily ownership and has enough work to sustain the role. | Compensation, employer costs, recruitment, management, tools and specialist support the person may still need. Name the job before choosing the title. |
If the underlying task has no clear owner, uses unreliable source information, or produces work nobody needs, fix that first. A new AI subscription will not settle those problems.
For the software decision, use when your business needs custom AI software. If you want to try a contained task independently, the meeting follow-through playbook gives you a place to begin.
What Sidekick's fee includes
Sidekick is the hands-on service. The AI platform is a separate purchase.
| Service | Published fee | Included support |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | CAD 1,800, one time | A kickoff call, a setup on your own work ready about 48 hours after your files arrive, four weekly 30-minute coaching sessions with messages to Chase in between, and a day-30 review of what to add next. You keep everything built. |
| Solo for Execs | CAD 2,900, one time, instead of Solo | Everything in Solo, plus a strategy brief, a staff AI-use policy, talking points and a rehearsal before your meeting, a 90-day roadmap, and 90 days of advice after. About 5 hours of your time in all. |
| Fractional AI Leadership | From CAD 6,000 a month; 90-day minimum. Most engagements run $6,000 to $12,000 CAD a month. | In the first two weeks, Chase meets your leaders (up to six), shows AI working on your firm's own templates and past work (not client files), and presents what he found to your leadership team. Then a 90-day plan with measures agreed up front and reviewed every 30 days. |
| Free AI assessment | Free | About 10 minutes, self-serve. A report with suggested uses and the risks to check, then an optional 30-minute fit call. |
The service pages carry the current Solo and Solo for Execs inclusions and Fractional scope and terms. Confirm applicable taxes, delivery timing and the written scope before purchase.
The Solo and Solo for Execs fees do not include your AI subscription or unlimited future support. Further coaching after the included programme and new workflows can be discussed when there is a clear next outcome. Custom engineering and specialist integrations need their own agreed scope. A list of possible uses is not a promise to build all of them.
Add software and usage costs
Check the plan that supports the actual work, rather than choosing by its headline price alone. The information it may access, available connections, usage limits and required business controls can change the choice.
Use the provider's current pricing page when preparing the budget:
- ChatGPT plans distinguish individual, business and enterprise use, with different access and limits.
- Claude plans have different usage allowances and billing options. An annual plan can require payment up front even when the price is displayed per month.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot plans include different bundles and add-ons. The Copilot add-on requires an eligible Microsoft 365 plan; the comparison also identifies metered Cowork usage.
For each paid tool, record the number of users, billing currency, billing period, minimum commitment and any usage charges. Include related tools only if the workflow needs them, such as a meeting recorder or a connection to another system. Check what you already pay for so the budget does not count the same licence twice.
Your time belongs in the budget
You will need to explain the work, approve the information the system may use, supply useful examples and check the result. With Solo, that can mean a few writing samples, relevant files and a real task to start with. A team rollout also needs time from its sponsor, workflow owner and IT provider where access or security decisions are involved.
The included sessions are only part of that effort. There is no standard client-hours estimate that fits every setup. Ask which inputs are needed, who must attend, and which decisions could hold up the work. Before you say yes: how working with us works explains the start in more detail.
Keep review time in the comparison after launch. A brief that takes less time to produce may still need careful reading. A draft that regularly needs extensive correction may not improve the work at all.
Compare the first 90 days
Use one period for both options. Separate cash you expect to pay from your own time.
For each option, fill in the same lines with your own figures:
| Item | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Service fee | The published fee for the route you are pricing, or the quote you received. |
| Software and usage for three months | Your actual plans, number of users and expected usage, from each provider's pricing page. |
| Separately scoped work | Any agreed specialist or engineering costs. Leave it at zero only if none is needed. |
| Your time | Setup, learning, review and maintenance hours, kept beside the cash figures, not added to them. |
Check payment dates too, especially for annual subscriptions.
Then compare a few normal examples of the same task. Count preparation and correction time, how often the output was useful, and what you could do with any capacity released. Keep estimated time savings separate from cash savings. Freeing an hour does not automatically reduce payroll or create an hour of billable work.
Know what happens after handover
Agree who will update instructions when the work changes, replace stale examples, review access and deal with a failed connection. State what support is included, when it ends and how later work would be scoped.
Ask what you receive at handover: the workflow, configuration, instructions, relevant context and a clear way to operate it. Confirm the rights to keep using those materials and any dependencies that continue to cost money. Sidekick's public Fractional terms provide an internal-use licence for delivered workflows, configurations and documentation after the engagement; third-party platform terms still apply. Fractional handover details.
A sensible starting budget covers a task worth improving, the tools it needs and the people who will use it. Choose one recurring piece of work and compare those costs before committing to a larger programme.
If you want help judging the scope, book a 30-minute fit call. Bring the task, the tools involved and what makes it difficult today. The first conversation establishes whether Solo, Fractional, another route or no project makes sense.
