Compare
Honestly, how do we compare?
The ways people solve the problem we solve, and where each one stops short. No strawmen, just the real trade-offs, side by side.
How we judge each one
- Who does the work after launch
- What happens to an enquiry
- How it is priced
Each comparison ends with an honest note on when the alternative is the right call.
These comparisons weigh an Autonomous Digital Branch against the usual alternatives: web agencies, DIY and AI website builders, AI receptionist and voice-AI platforms such as Smith.ai, Retell, and Synthflow, off-the-shelf chatbots, self-serve AI tools, and an in-house hire. Each lays out the honest trade-offs, what you gain and what you give up, so you can choose the front-of-house setup that fits your firm.
What to weigh
Who does the work after launch
A site you maintain yourself, or a branch we run and improve for you every month.
What happens to an enquiry
Captured in an inbox to chase, or qualified and booked the moment it lands, day or night.
How it is priced
A cost measured in deliverables, or a system priced against the work it brings in.
Side by side
Agency, in-house hire, or one branch.
| Traditional agency | In-house hire | Autonomous Digital Branch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A website, then a handover. The answering and chasing stay your problem. | One person who can answer enquiries during their working hours. | A premium site with a managed AI workforce inside it, run as one operating branch. |
| Hours covered | None. The site is live; the work is yours. | Their contracted hours, minus holiday, sickness, and lunch. | Every hour, every day. Enquiries are answered and booked at 2am on a Sunday as at 2pm on a Tuesday. |
| Typical first-year cost | A build fee, plus hourly extras for anything out of scope. | A salary, plus tax, pension, software, and the cost of recruiting. | From £3,500 to build, then £400 a month for the managed workforce on the entry tier. |
| Time to live | Three to six months, with the reveal saved for the end. | Weeks to recruit, then onboarding before they are productive. | Twelve weeks from the first call, built in stages you review every week. |
| Who owns the result | You do, once the site is signed off. | You do, including their performance and cover when they are away. | We do. The branch is judged on the work it books, and we run and improve it after launch. |
| When you scale | A new project and a new invoice. | Another salary, and another desk to manage. | Another AI employee added to the workforce, with no extra headcount. |
- What you get
- A premium site with a managed AI workforce inside it, run as one operating branch.
- Hours covered
- Every hour, every day. Enquiries are answered and booked at 2am on a Sunday as at 2pm on a Tuesday.
- Typical first-year cost
- From £3,500 to build, then £400 a month for the managed workforce on the entry tier.
- Time to live
- Twelve weeks from the first call, built in stages you review every week.
- Who owns the result
- We do. The branch is judged on the work it books, and we run and improve it after launch.
- When you scale
- Another AI employee added to the workforce, with no extra headcount.
- What you get
- A website, then a handover. The answering and chasing stay your problem.
- Hours covered
- None. The site is live; the work is yours.
- Typical first-year cost
- A build fee, plus hourly extras for anything out of scope.
- Time to live
- Three to six months, with the reveal saved for the end.
- Who owns the result
- You do, once the site is signed off.
- When you scale
- A new project and a new invoice.
- What you get
- One person who can answer enquiries during their working hours.
- Hours covered
- Their contracted hours, minus holiday, sickness, and lunch.
- Typical first-year cost
- A salary, plus tax, pension, software, and the cost of recruiting.
- Time to live
- Weeks to recruit, then onboarding before they are productive.
- Who owns the result
- You do, including their performance and cover when they are away.
- When you scale
- Another salary, and another desk to manage.
Build tiers run from £3,500. The figures above are the realistic shape of each option, not a quote; your strategy call gives you the number for your firm.
Want the number behind the comparison?
Book a call and we will turn these trade-offs into your own figures: the enquiries a slow reply is costing you, and what a branch would have to book to pay for itself. Or run the ROI calculator yourself, in two minutes.
Thirty minutes, no pitch. We will say which way we would go for a firm your size, even when the answer is not us.
The thing being compared
What is an Autonomous Digital Branch?
An Autonomous Digital Branch is a premium website with a managed AI workforce built in that answers every enquiry at any hour and takes it through qualification to a booked slot in your calendar, run and improved for you as one operating branch of the business.
Every comparison on this page weighs that one system against a different way of solving the same problem. The glossary keeps the canonical definitions.
The honest part
We are not the right answer for everyone. If you have the staff to work every enquiry, or you genuinely enjoy building the site yourself, the alternatives are the honest call, and each comparison says so.
We are built for the owner who is losing enquiries to a slow reply, has no headcount to throw at it, and wants one team to own the outcome. A thirty-minute call will tell you whether a branch is worth it, with a number to point at.
The leak is bigger than it looks, and it is measurable. The ROI calculator puts your own figure on it before you decide.
Book a strategy call
Thirty minutes. A clear plan.
Thirty minutes to say which way we would go for a firm your size, and what it would take either way.
Book a thirty-minute call
Pick a time straight from the diary. If you would rather write first, email us and a person replies, usually the same working day.