Choose Ferrous Labs if you're a deep-tech or product business, world-class at something hard, with more opportunity than capacity and the budget for an ongoing strategic partnership. Choose ainativ.es if you run a UK service business of 10 to 150 staff, have a short list of jobs eating your team's week, want to know the price up front (ours typically land at around £10,000 per project), and want to own the result outright with no lock-in.
Ferrous Labs and ainativ.es at a glance
| What matters | Ferrous Labs | ainativ.es |
|---|---|---|
| Best-fit client | Deep-tech and product businesses with big AI ambitions | Owner-led UK service businesses, 10 to 150 staff |
| Price shown up front | No (they say they're not the cheapest, by design) | Yes, around £10,000 per project |
| Typical engagement | An ongoing strategic partnership | One defined job, shipped in weeks |
| You co-own it, no lock-in | Varies by model (some white-label and shared-product work) | Yes, always |
| Your data stays in your systems | Case by case | Yes, by default |
| Named founder with company exits | Founders named, deep AI background | Jim Beattie, three exits |
| Will tell you what not to build | Yes | Yes |
What Ferrous Labs do well
Plenty. Their pitch is "build a competitive advantage with AI", and they mean it for businesses that already have deep domain expertise and want to turn it into new products and capabilities. The people who scope your problem are the people who build the solution, which is exactly right and rarer than it should be. They run live systems for the long term, and they work with serious organisations. On their own site they're refreshingly honest that they're "probably not your team if you want a quick off-the-shelf chatbot, the cheapest possible quote, or a supplier you hand a brief to and never speak to again." That's a clear, mature positioning, and if it describes what you want, they're a strong choice.
Where ainativ.es is the better fit
We serve the business Ferrous politely wave away: the owner-led service company that isn't a tech firm, has a few expensive jobs worth automating, and needs a clear answer, not a research programme.
You know the price before you commit. Ferrous don't publish pricing, which suits a bespoke partnership but leaves an owner guessing. Our builds typically land at around £10,000 per project, quoted after a fixed-fee mapping phase, and the number is on our pricing page.
You own it outright. Some of Ferrous's work turns client expertise into co-owned or white-label products, which can blur who owns what. We keep it simple: you co-own what we build, your data stays in your own systems, and there's no lock-in.
One job, done in weeks. A strategic partnership is the right shape when AI is your whole direction. When it's one report eating eight days a month, you want that fixed, shipped in two-week sprints, and off your plate.
An operator on the build. Ferrous name their founders and have real AI depth. Our edge is a different one: Jim has taken three companies to exit and spent 18 months rebuilding a private-equity-backed business around AI (engineering headcount from 80 to 25, more than £6M saved a year). That's the judgement of someone who's run the P&L, not just the model.
When Ferrous Labs is the right choice
We'd rather you picked well than picked us. Go with Ferrous if any of these are you:
- You're a product or deep-tech business turning hard-won expertise into new AI products.
- You want a long-term partner to run and evolve live systems, not a one-off build.
- Budget isn't the deciding factor and depth of AI research is.
If instead you're an owner who wants one expensive job fixed, for a price you can see, that you own at the end, that's us.
What it costs with us
Most custom AI builds with ainativ.es land at around £10,000 per project, with a fast return. Every engagement starts with a fixed-fee mapping phase that ends in a firm quote, and if the numbers don't stack up we tell you not to build. The full detail is on the pricing page and in our guide to how much custom AI costs.