Owners shopping AI workers often ask the same cash-timing question: when does the monthly bill start, and what are they paying for before anything is live?
This post is for the owner of a 20–80 person shop clarifying Leverwork’s two-part partnership before the 20-minute assessment. It is not a public price list.
Two clocks, one engagement
Leverwork engagements are fixed-price in two parts:
- One-time setup — build and deploy the custom AI worker(s) on your systems.
- Monthly retainer — run and optimize after production.
Fees for your engagement are set in your SOW.
When each clock starts
- Setup fee is due on the schedule in your SOW, which starts at signing (in full, or split between signing and go-live).
- Monthly retainer starts at go-live — when the worker is in production on your systems, not on the first discovery call and not on a sandbox demo.
Target go-live: about 30 days from kickoff. Your timeline is set in your SOW.
What you are (and are not) paying for before go-live
Before go-live you are funding architecture, integrations, documentation, QA, and the path to production. You are not paying a per-seat SaaS meter. Any third-party model, API or software usage costs are listed in your SOW.
After go-live the retainer covers optimization, monthly performance reports, maintenance, support at the level set in your SOW, and quarterly reviews.
Do not blend this with the fee/work pause
If an SOW defines fees, work, metric, and end condition, Leverwork’s 90-day fee/work pause can pause those named fees and work when the metric is missed. That is not “work free,” not a warranty of savings or results, and not the same clock as retainer start. Post-launch hypercare is an included delivery window after go-live — also not the pause.
Ownership does not change with the billing clock
You own your data, accounts, and tools. Leverwork retains platform and AI intellectual property. Client-specific customizations transfer only if assigned in a signed SOW schedule. Retainer start does not mean Leverwork owns your stack.
Book the assessment
If you want roles mapped and cash timing made explicit for your seats, book the 20-minute assessment: leverwork.com/book/.
Related: Setup fee vs retainer · Three clocks: pause vs hypercare vs support · What the 20-minute assessment maps