# Best AI Development Agencies for Project-Based Work

> 88 agencies. Top-ranked: Square Root Solutions, Storm Technology, Merantix Momentum.

Canonical page: https://www.aiagencies.eu/services/ai-development/for/project-based
Generated: 2026-09-28 · Curated by Gabor Kiss · No paid placements — inclusion, score, and rank are never sold.

## Ranked roster
Top 30 of 88 agencies on this page.

1. **Square Root Solutions** — Dublin, Ireland · €20-40/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2018 · services: AI Development, Generative AI · 10 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-16 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/square-root-solutions
2. **Storm Technology** — Dublin, Ireland · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 1995 · services: AI Consulting, Generative AI, AI Development · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-03 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/storm-technology
3. **Merantix Momentum** — Berlin, Germany · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2019 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 12 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/merantix-momentum
4. **Preste** — Paris, France · €45-85/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2019 · services: AI Development, Generative AI, AI Consulting · 12 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/preste
5. **Lexunit** — Budapest, Hungary · €45-85/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2017 · services: AI Development, AI Automation, AI Consulting · 9 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-03 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/lexunit
6. **ontolux** — Berlin, Germany · rate not published · team 10-49 · services: AI Development, AI Consulting, Generative AI · 11 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/ontolux
7. **Pixelette Technologies** — London, United Kingdom · €20-40/hr (directory-listed) · team 250+ · founded 2018 · services: AI Development, AI Agents, AI Consulting, Generative AI · 7 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-23 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/pixelette-technologies
8. **Instituto de Ingeniería del Conocimiento** — Madrid, Spain · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 1989 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 10 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/instituto-de-ingenieria-del-conocimiento
9. **b.telligent** — Munich, Germany · rate not published · team 250+ · founded 2005 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development · 9 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-20 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/b-telligent
10. **Babel** — Madrid, Spain · rate not published · team 250+ · founded 2003 · services: AI Consulting, Generative AI, AI Development · 9 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/babel
11. **Datatonic** — London, United Kingdom · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2013 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/datatonic
12. **Fast Data Science** — London, United Kingdom · €175-260/hr (directory-listed) · team 2-9 · founded 2018 · services: AI Development, AI Consulting · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/fast-data-science
13. **Zühlke** — Zurich, Switzerland · rate not published · team 250+ · founded 1968 · services: AI Development, AI Consulting · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-08-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/zuehlke
14. **Kortical** — London, United Kingdom · €85-130/hr (directory-listed) · team 2-9 · founded 2016 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/kortical
15. **Hiflylabs** — Budapest, Hungary · rate not published · team 250+ · founded 2015 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, AI Automation · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-03 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/hiflylabs
16. **Lautmaler** — Berlin, Germany · rate not published · team 10-49 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 8 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-08-05 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/lautmaler
17. **Hybrid Heroes** — Berlin, Germany · €85-130/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2015 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI, AI Agents · 7 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-08-05 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/hybrid-heroes
18. **QED Software** — Warsaw, Poland · €85-130/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 1999 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 7 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-23 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/qed-software
19. **Satalia** — London, United Kingdom · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2008 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, AI Agents · 6 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/satalia
20. **elunic** — Munich, Germany · rate not published · team 10-49 · founded 2013 · services: AI Development, AI Consulting, AI Agents · 6 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-20 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/elunic
21. **Datasparq** — London, United Kingdom · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2018 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, AI Agents · 6 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/datasparq
22. **Bismart** — Barcelona, Spain · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2009 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 6 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/bismart
23. **MS iHub** — Ljubljana, Slovenia · €45-85/hr (directory-listed) · team 2-9 · founded 2018 · services: AI Consulting, AI Automation, AI Development · 7 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-24 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/ms-ihub
24. **Mercury Labs** — London, United Kingdom · €85-130/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2018 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 6 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-23 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/mercury-labs
25. **Unit8** — Lausanne, Switzerland · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2017 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, Generative AI · 4 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-08-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/unit8
26. **Visium** — Zurich, Switzerland · rate not published · team 50-249 · founded 2018 · services: AI Consulting, Generative AI, AI Development · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-08-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/visium
27. **Siili Solutions** — Helsinki, Finland · €45-85/hr (directory-listed) · team 250+ · founded 2005 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development, AI Automation · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/siili-solutions
28. **In The Pocket** — Ghent, Belgium · rate not published · team 250+ · founded 2010 · services: AI Development, Generative AI, AI Consulting · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/in-the-pocket
29. **Sparkbit** — Warsaw, Poland · €85-130/hr (directory-listed) · team 10-49 · founded 2014 · services: AI Consulting, AI Development · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-23 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/sparkbit
30. **craftworks** — Vienna, Austria · rate not published · team 10-49 · founded 2014 · services: AI Development, Generative AI · 5 documented client engagements with source URLs · reviewed 2026-09-07 · https://www.aiagencies.eu/agency/craftworks

## Compared head-to-head
Curated comparison pages (published rates, team size, coverage, projected 12-week engagement cost, and the curator's verdict on both sides — pairings are never sold):
- Datatonic vs Merantix Momentum: https://www.aiagencies.eu/compare/datatonic-vs-merantix-momentum
- Datatonic vs Satalia: https://www.aiagencies.eu/compare/datatonic-vs-satalia
- Visium vs Zühlke: https://www.aiagencies.eu/compare/visium-vs-zuehlke

## About this market
A development project leaves something behind, and the documented work here sorts by what that is. Datatonic's Vodafone AI Booster, an 18-month build live in more than eight markets, left reusable MLOps templates released as open source. Fast Data Science's Clinical Trial Risk Tool for the Gates Foundation left a public deployment, an MIT-licensed codebase and a paper in Gates Open Research. Merantix Momentum's rail-noise-barrier detector for DZSF was delivered as an open-source plugin, its KRASS Optik recommender left an automated retraining loop running since 2021, and its Bundeskanzleramt proof of concept was handed over for integration. Preste's 17 project cards name client, stack and build time, from a Jetson pipeline inside Greenbig's recycling machine to a 120 FPS model for Tecbak, and no card says whether the system still runs. b.telligent's KUKA assistant publishes latency and nothing else, and Babel's GACM and ENAIRE pages still carry placeholder results.

The sorting question for a development project is what the client can run without you. Ask for the handover package: the retraining pipeline, the evaluation set, the monitoring, the documentation, and whether the model runs outside the firm's platform. Then ask whether it still runs, because a build time is not a production status: the curator asks Preste for references whose systems are running today, notes that KRASS and Boehringer Ingelheim run as open-ended Merantix Momentum engagements with retraining costs unpublished, and that Instituto de Ingeniería del Conocimiento's SERMAS and La Princesa work are pilots.

## Questions buyers ask

### How many AI agencies work with project-based on ai development?
88 agencies in our directory combine verified project-based client evidence with documented AI Development work. The current top-ranked are Square Root Solutions, Storm Technology, Merantix Momentum — ordered by depth of documented client evidence, then our editorial scoring (portfolio quality, credibility, completeness); placement is never paid.

### How much does an AI agency cost for ai development?
Published rates across this page's agencies run €20–260 per hour (median ~€65). Project totals depend on scope — the rate index at /rates breaks the computed bands down by region, country and team size.

### How is the project-based model verified?
Every agency here documents project-based work on its own site or in a published case study, describing the engagement structure rather than a service-list claim. We never infer the model from portfolio tone, so this list only contains agencies that operate project-based engagements deliberately.

### Can these agencies embed consultants with our team?
18 of the agencies on this page document an embedded / team-extension working model. See the team-extension page for the full verified list, or check the engagement chips on individual profiles.

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Source: AIAgencies.eu — the curated register of European AI agencies. Rate provenance: "agency-confirmed" = disclosed via submission or claimed profile; "directory-listed" = Clutch or two agreeing B2B directories (lone unverified sources are never written). Full method: https://www.aiagencies.eu/methodology · Rate index: https://www.aiagencies.eu/rates