When setting up an automation flow, who pays for the specific subscriptions?

#114 · $350K/M AI Automation Expert Answers Questions For 80Mins

When setting up an automation flow, who pays for the specific subscriptions?

Most of the time the client pays for services like Apollo, Appify, OpenAI, and NAN. You can use your affiliate links so you get a cut, but the client is the one covering the subscription cost. They enter their payment details directly into the platform, so you never handle their credit card info. The risk is low, and as a beginner you generally don’t charge the client for those recurring costs directly.

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Who should pay for software subscriptions (like Apollo, Appify, OpenAI, Make.com) when delivering automation services to clients — the agency or the client? If the agency pays, do they need separate subscriptions per client? If the client pays, how does payment and trust work?

If you're building a system that generates $5,000 a month in value for a client, having them pay a small percentage fee is not a big deal; they care about the upside, not the tiny downside. As the service provider, you might worry about subscription costs, but the AI and automation field attracts technical people who overthink this. Get the client to pay for everything. On a kickoff call, walk them through exactly which platforms they need to sign up for. This builds perceived value because they see the technical setup and appreciate you handling it. You can also use your affiliate links—being a Make.com partner, for example—to earn 3–5% kickback or give clients discounts. If a client stays for a year, you earn recurring affiliate fees; e.g., 40% on a $100/month plan yields $40/month, or $480–$500 per year per client even if they stop working with you. This approach also minimizes your liability since you’re not making monthly payments on their behalf. It’s the best way to handle software costs. If you’d like a kickoff call SOP, I have a document that outlines how to run the call and get clients signed up on the platforms.

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How do you monetize workflow‑automation services? Should I use subscriptions, Stripe, or other payment methods?

There are several ways. One is to sell courses that teach specific enterprise tools—think Airtable or Zapier for large companies—usually priced around $100. Another is affiliate revenue: by embedding affiliate links you can earn an extra 5‑10 % on each client you refer, which can boost agency margins from about 30 % to 40 %. Over a client’s lifetime that can add roughly $10‑$15 per month per client, scaling to several hundred dollars per year per client. You can also run monthly subscription models on a cloud server, using payment processors like Stripe to handle recurring billing. I’m planning a video that walks through setting up an AI‑automation agency from day one, covering all these monetization streams.

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If the client is the one paying, how do the specifics work? For example, how would they trust me to handle their payment details?

You don’t actually take their payment details or sign up to the platform yourself. The client enters their payment information directly into the platform, so you never have access to their credit card. In practice there’s very little risk: the client can always get a refund if you upgrade their plan without notifying them, and you can check the logs to see who accessed the account. As a beginner you don’t need to charge clients large monthly fees; the subscription cost is usually only about 1% of the total problem you’re solving for them, so it’s not a big deal.

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Do clients who pay a one‑time plus monthly fee for custom automation own the automation outright?

I’ve already covered this, but since it’s the last question I’ll be crystal clear: I give my clients full access to everything because I don’t believe intellectual property is that important nowadays. I prefer they have access to all the systems and own the intellectual property in case we ever stop working together. This avoids extra hand‑off work for me, and I don’t want to gate‑keep my automations or make clients feel they must keep paying me for their business to run. That would be a dark pattern, maladaptive, and it harms my reputation.

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