Doing it yourself, a freelancer, an assistant, an agency, or us?
Set it up yourself if the job is a couple of steps and you enjoy that kind of thing. Hire a freelancer if you know exactly what you want built. Use an assistant or a receptionist service if the work needs a person every week. An agency makes sense for a larger project across the whole company. We fit when one repeating job is eating hours and you want it built properly, in your own accounts, at a fixed price.
Side by side
| Option | How you pay | Good for | Worth checking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself (Zapier, Make) | A monthly tool plan, plus your own time | Quick hand-offs between two apps | Who fixes it when an app changes and it quietly stops |
| Freelancer | By the project or by the hour | A clearly defined build, when you already know what you want | Whether they test the awkward cases, and who looks after it afterward |
| Virtual assistant service | A monthly plan for a set number of hours | Varied work that needs a person's judgment | You keep paying for the repetitive hours too |
| Receptionist service | A monthly plan, sized by calls or minutes | Answering the phone live | It covers the call. The work after the call is still yours |
| AI agency | Usually a project fee or a monthly retainer | Larger projects across a whole company | Whether it's set up for a business of a few people |
| Fiveafter | Projects start as low as $250. An optional retainer starts as low as $25 a month | One repeating job, built in your own accounts, with a person approving what goes out | We build one project at a time, so it isn't the fastest route to a company-wide rollout |
Side-by-side pages
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How we work
We start with a free 30-minute intro call and a free look at the real work. If a build makes sense, we agree the scope and the price first, then build it in your accounts, test it on the awkward cases and walk you through it. Our prices are on the pricing page. If something else on this page is the better fit for you, we'll say so.