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#44 · Do I Charge AI Automation Agency Clients for Usage?

youtube ↗AI & Automation

How do I connect people's accounts to services like Google Calendar without making them create a Google Cloud account?

I use make.com for the vast majority of my clients; it’s simple—just connect the account, click a button, and you’re done. For Google Calendar specifically, you don’t need to go through the full process of connecting a calendar to see events. If your goal is just to view events on a calendar, you can share that calendar with another calendar in the same organization, and the other calendar will see all events (and sometimes edit them) without needing the client’s Google Calendar. Instead, you can share your own Google Calendar, handling all the Google Cloud setup yourself. If that doesn’t work for your app, note that self‑hosted n8n will encounter more issues than cloud‑hosted n8n, requiring more frequent Google Cloud account handling. Cloud‑hosted n8n has built‑in direct OAuth integrations, making it easier (though slightly more costly). Overall, I think your mobile app idea is awesome and could be very valuable; just consider whether you can realistically invest the time and energy without immediate return, as SaaS apps often require that, whereas a service business lets you earn while you build, then later productize the solution.

google calendarmake.comoauthautomation

Related answers

youtube ↗Agency Operations

How do you deliver n8n workflows to clients who aren't familiar with them? Do they self-host their own account or pay a monthly subscription for cloud hosting? How do you get their credentials/API keys — do you get access on the call and set it up on their n8n account yourself, or do you guide them through it?

They pay for cloud hosting on a monthly subscription and sign up themselves — I get them to create the account, guide them through it, and then they hand me the account access, since it's tied to their card. That's the 80/20 approach: guide them to create it, get access, but they own and pay for it.

client deliveryn8nhostingcredentials
youtube ↗Agency Operations

How does your onboarding process work for gathering clients' Google Calendar access and other needed platforms?

Thanks for the question. On crushing tasks fast: I've been imperfect lately, but the key is to prioritize distribution over perfection—build a minimal viable version quickly, sell it, then improve based on user feedback. For onboarding, I hop on a kickoff call right after signing the deal. We go over timelines, expectations, answer any questions, then walk through the list of platforms (like Google Calendar) and sign up for everything live so I have all access up front. This avoids chasing passwords later. I've refined this into a simple SOP covering timelines, availability, platforms, and wrap-up, which gives the client full access by the end of the call.

onboardinggoogle calendarclient accesssop
youtube ↗AI & Automation

Can you help me understand when businesses choose to self-host n8n versus using the cloud version? I believe self-hosting for anything beyond personal use requires being an Enterprise client—is that generally true? And how should I work through this with clients?

Honestly, nobody really knows for sure, and there hasn’t been any backlash yet. Many people using n8n to make money are on the self‑hosted version, but they usually just run the executions through their own endpoint rather than setting it up for the client, which adds nuance. If you want to play it safe, I’d recommend the cloud‑hosted offering: it’s easier, faster, you don’t have to mess with webhooks, and the platform handles reliable updates and server uptime for you. Yes, it costs more—around $50 a month for five workflows and 5‑10k executions—but when you’re delivering $5k‑$15k of value per client, that fee is negligible. So my recommendation is to go with cloud hosting.

self-hostcloudn8nautomation
youtube ↗AI & Automation

How do you connect Google accounts to AnyTrack for customers, given the need to use Cloud Console and set up authentication? Should I create a new Gmail account for them or set it up on a video call?

I recommend that if you're self‑hosting AnyTrack, you actually shouldn't self‑host because the authentication steps become a pain. Most of the Google Cloud Console work you’re doing manually can be avoided by using the cloud‑hosted version, which provides a one‑click OAuth connection. You simply click “Connect with Google” and it signs in for you. If you do need to handle the Cloud Console steps, schedule a kickoff call with the client after you receive payment. During the call walk them through the process, have them share their credentials, and complete any two‑factor authentication live. Doing it live ensures that even if the OAuth token or 2FA expires, the integration remains in AnyTrack. By the end of the call you should have everything set up so you can start the client project without having to ask for additional access later, which keeps the process professional.

anytrackgoogle oauthintegrationcloud console