FAQ
Straight answers
Everything buyers ask before the first call — scope, price, timeline, data, lock-in, and when we tell you not to build.
What does ZSTronics actually build?
15 services across four clusters: workflow automation (n8n, Make, Zapier), AI agents, chatbots, voice agents, lead-gen pipelines, email triage, P&L and finance automation, SOP automation, Company Brain knowledge systems, RAG and document AI, plus custom software, ERP, DevOps, and business websites. If a task is repetitive, rule-based, and eats hours every week, it’s probably in scope — and the matching service page has a working demo of it.
What does automation cost?
Published bands, on the pricing page: single workflow $2k–$6k, multi-system project $6k–$20k, custom software $15k+, care plan from $500/mo, and a $950 audit credited in full to your build. Every build gets a fixed written quote after a free audit — the number doesn’t move unless the scope does. After handover, ongoing cost is tool fees only, typically $40–$180/mo.
How long until something is live?
Your first automation is live within 30 days of build kickoff — guaranteed, or you don’t pay for it. A typical single workflow is scoped in a week and built in 2–4 weeks. Multi-system projects roll out in stages over 4–8 weeks, with the first stage live inside the 30 days.
Where does our data go — and is it used to train AI?
It is not used to train anything. LLM calls run through commercial APIs (Claude by default) that don’t train on API traffic. Automations run on self-hosted n8n on infrastructure you control, credentials stay in your vaults, and we sign an NDA on request. Before anything runs, the Blueprint step gives you a data-flow spec showing exactly which system touches which field — you approve it first.
Which tools do you use — and are we locked in?
Right tool for the job: self-hosted n8n by default (no per-task fees), Make or Zapier where they’re genuinely cheaper to run, custom code where they aren’t, Claude for language tasks, Postgres for state. No lock-in by design — everything ships with documentation and runs in your accounts, so replacing us is a config change, not a migration.
You’re a US LLC — do you work with international clients?
Yes. Contracts and invoices come from the US LLC, in USD. UK, EU, and Australian clients are welcome; for EU work we keep data on your EU infrastructure where GDPR requires it — self-hosted n8n makes that straightforward, since the automation runs where you say it runs.
What’s the 30-day guarantee, exactly?
Your first automation is live in production — processing real data in your systems, not a demo on ours — within 30 days of build kickoff, or you don’t pay for that build. The clock starts after Blueprint sign-off, and we need system access in week 1 plus feedback within 2 business days of each review. Full terms are on the process page.
What if automation isn’t worth it for our business?
Then we tell you — the walk-away clause is written into the audit terms. If the payback isn’t there, you hear “don’t build this yet,” you keep the roadmap, and we point you at the cheaper fix: a template, a process change, a $30/mo off-the-shelf tool. An agency that never says no to a build is selling builds, not results.