Comparison updated · Newest review
Side by side
Published data on both agencies. Where one side measurably differs, the dot marks it: the higher score, the lower published rate, the larger team, the more recent review. Which of those is an advantage depends on your brief.
| Attribute | element61 | ML6 |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score | 65.8/100 | Higher score: 74.8/100 |
| Hourly rate | Contact for rates | Contact for rates |
| Team size | 50-249 | 50-249 |
| Location | Ghent, Belgium | Ghent, Belgium |
| Founded | 2007 | — |
| Last reviewed | More recent review: Sep 10, 2026 | Aug 4, 2026 |
What we said about each
Our take on element61
This is a large analytics consultancy with an AI practice inside it, and the firm publishes the numbers most agencies leave out: more than 145 consultants averaging nine years of experience, over €28 million of 2025 revenue, individual consultant CVs on the site, and group ownership under Moore Belgium since 2016. The AI delivery evidence is narrower than that footprint suggests but it is real and dated. At the roofing and cladding company Modde, machine-learning models rank prospects, predict…
Reviewed Sep 10, 2026
Read the full assessment →Our take on ML6
The published case library runs to 34 studies, and the ones read in full carry before-and-after numbers rather than adjectives—Scout24's HeyImmo assistant moved user satisfaction from 68% to 75% and first-token latency from 8 seconds to under 5, and Syngenta's lab-inspection vision model doubled analysis speed across half a million wells a year. Studies name the stack down to the component (OpenAI direct API, Pydantic agents, DataDog on Scout24's own AWS; Vertex AI for Syngenta) and describe…
Reviewed Aug 4, 2026
Read the full assessment →Best for
Where each agency measurably leads on the published data — team capacity, declared specializations, editorial scoring, and rates where both publish them. Use these to match an agency to your project priorities.
Choose element61 if you need
- an overall editorial score of 65.8/100
Choose ML6 if you need
- broader service offering — also covers AI Agents
- a higher overall editorial score
Strengths and watch-outs
Both upsides and risks, straight from our editorial assessments.
element61
Strengths
- Verifiable at an unusual level for this category: published headcount, average consultant experience, annual revenue and named CV pages for individual consultants
- Vendor coverage spans IBM, Microsoft, Databricks, SAP, CCH Tagetik, Vena and Qlik, so an architecture recommendation is not forced by a single partnership
- The Modde build shows AI landing where the business already works—models feeding a reporting app with write-back, rather than a separate tool nobody opens
Watch-outs
- The published project library is dominated by business intelligence and performance management; ask specifically for AI engagements from the last two years and what each one does today
- AI case studies name the technique but not the result—ask what changed commercially at Modde since go-live and who maintains the models now
- Delivery is described as coaching and co-development, so budget for your own people's time; this model assumes your team takes the system over
ML6
Strengths
- Case studies publish client-side quotes from named engineering managers, not marketing testimonials
- Published outcomes at the national cyber security center include 3x faster vulnerability handling and 70% faster NIS2 response
- Both major clouds are in evidence—AWS and Google Vertex AI appear in separately documented builds
Watch-outs
- Two energy studies run anonymized as "Energy Company"—ask for a speakable reference if you need one in that sector
- No published rates, team size, or founding year; anchor with the European range on our rate index and ask who staffs the work
- Delivery sits across four offices—confirm which one your team would come from
Service coverage
Where the two overlap, and where each covers ground the other does not.
Industry coverage
Both agencies cover the same industries — on this axis there is nothing to separate them, so decide on the evidence behind the work rather than its labels.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has more FinTech experience, element61 or ML6?
- Both agencies show documented FinTech work and have similar industry breadth. Compare directly on the agency profiles: element61 and ML6.
- Which scores higher overall, element61 or ML6?
- ML6 scores 74.8/100, 9 points higher than element61 at 65.8/100. See our methodology for how scores are calculated.
- When should I consider both element61 and ML6?
- Consider running parallel discovery briefs with element61 and ML6 if your project spans multiple workstreams, you want competitive proposals to compare scope and approach, or you're undecided between the specialization angles each brings (see the Best for cards above). Most engagements ultimately go with one — but the parallel-brief phase is a low-cost way to validate fit.
Read the full reviews
A side-by-side is a starting point. The full assessments carry the portfolio analysis, documented engagements, and the evidence behind every strength and watch-out above.