Deployment Options

Cloud vs On-Site vs Ship-In —
Which AI Operator Deployment Actually Works for Your Business

Most founders choose the wrong deployment model because they never see a side-by-side comparison. Here's the honest breakdown.

Side-by-Side Comparison

What You're Actually Choosing Between

Three deployment paths, three different tradeoffs on privacy, speed, and total cost of ownership.

Factor Cloud On-Site Ship-In
Setup Time 72 hours or less 2–6 weeks 1–2 weeks
Monthly Cost $29–$89/mo $29–$89/mo + infra $29–$89/mo + one-time hardware
Hardware Ownership None — Mercury owns You own You own
Data Stays on Your Network No — on Mercury infra Yes — fully local Yes — hardware at your site
HIPAA / Data Residency Ready With BAA / DPA Yes — no extra contracts Yes — no extra contracts
Handles Spikes in Volume Auto-scales Limited by server capacity Limited by hardware spec
Maintenance Burden Zero — Mercury handles Your IT team manages Firmware updates via remote
Remote Support Included Yes Yes Yes
Best For Most founder-led service businesses Businesses with existing IT infrastructure Businesses wanting hardware ownership without IT overhead
Migration Between Plans Anytime Anytime Anytime
Choose Your Path

Three Plans, Three Tradeoff Profiles

No bait-and-switch. No hidden fees. Pick the deployment model that matches your business reality.

Cloud
Starter / Pro / Business
Fastest path to an always-on operator
$29–$89/mo
No setup fee. No hardware needed.
  • Full AI operator capabilities
  • 24/7 uptime and monitoring
  • Automatic model updates
  • Encryption at rest and in transit
  • Data never used for training
  • Switch to on-site or ship-in anytime
Take the Assessment →
On-Site
Dedicated Server Deploy
Your server. Your network. Your data.
$29–$89/mo
+ Your server costs (~$40–80/mo)
  • Agent runs on your dedicated hardware
  • No data leaves your infrastructure
  • Your IT team has full control
  • Mercury manages the software layer
  • HIPAA / data residency — no extra contracts
  • 1-hour migration from cloud included
Talk to an Engineer →
Ship-In
Pre-Configured Hardware
Own the box. We manage the brain.
$1.5K–3K one-time
+ $29–89/mo software
Hardware ships to you. Stays with you forever.
  • Pre-configured server delivered to your door
  • All data stays on the hardware on-site
  • Firmware and software managed remotely
  • You own the asset — depreciation benefit
  • Swap to cloud software license anytime
  • 30-minute remote onboarding included
Request a Quote →
ICP Fit

Which Deployment Fits Which Business

🏥 Healthcare & Wellness

On-site or Ship-in recommended. HIPAA compliance with BAA on cloud; on-site removes the contract question entirely for medical billing companies, PT practices, and dental offices handling PHI.

⚖️ Legal & Professional Services

On-site or Ship-in for law firms and accountants with strict data residency requirements. Cloud with DPA for firms comfortable with modern privacy contract structures.

🏠 Home Services & Trades

Cloud recommended. Fastest to deploy, auto-scales with seasonal lead volume, no IT overhead. Ship-in for larger operations wanting hardware asset treatment.

🏨 Hospitality & Real Estate

Cloud recommended. Multiple properties, high after-hours intake volume, and seasonal spikes all favor elastic cloud capacity. On-site for enterprise property groups.

💼 Consulting & Freelance

Cloud starter plan. Fastest path to an always-on intake operator, appointment scheduler, and client follow-up system. No hardware investment needed.

🏭 Light Manufacturing & Trades

Ship-in or On-site. Operations in facilities with air-gapped or restricted network policies benefit from dedicated hardware that never touches external networks.

Capabilities

Every Deployment Runs the Full Operator

The deployment model changes where the agent runs — not what it can do.

Lead Intake & Qualification Appointment Scheduling Client Follow-Up Sequences After-Hours Response FAQ & Info Triage CRM Updates Inbound / Outbound Routing Proposal Drafting Assistance Review & Referral Automation Internal Team Q&A Custom Workflows by Industry
By the Numbers

What Founders Report After 90 Days

14hrs
Average weekly admin time recovered per founder
89%
Of inbound leads responded to within 2 hours — automatically
72hrs
Average time from sign-up to live cloud operator
<3%
Monthly churn — founders keep the operator once it's working
FAQ

Common Questions About Deployment Options

What is the difference between cloud, on-site, and ship-in AI agent deployment?
Cloud deployment runs your AI operator on Mercury-managed infrastructure — fastest setup, zero maintenance, scales on demand. On-site deployment runs on a dedicated server at your location — your hardware, your network, your data never leaves the building. Ship-in deployment sends pre-configured Mercury hardware to your location that stays there — you own the physical asset, Mercury manages the software layer.
Which deployment option gives the most privacy for client data?
On-site and ship-in both keep all data inside your network. Cloud keeps data on Mercury-managed infrastructure with encryption at rest and in transit. For most service businesses, cloud privacy is sufficient — your data is never used for model training and is isolated per customer. On-site and ship-in matter most for healthcare, legal, or regulated industries with strict data residency requirements.
How long does each deployment option take to get running?
Cloud: 72 hours or less — most businesses are fully operational within three days. On-site: 2–6 weeks depending on your IT setup, procurement, and network configuration. Ship-in: 1–2 weeks for hardware provisioning and shipping, plus a 30-minute remote onboarding session once it arrives.
What does each deployment option cost?
Cloud plans start at $29/month for Starter, $49/month for Pro, and $89/month for Business — no upfront hardware cost. On-site requires your own server (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM minimum, ~$40–80/month in colocation or on-prem hosting) plus Mercury software at $29–89/month. Ship-in is a one-time hardware cost of $1,500–3,000 depending on configuration, then $29–89/month for the software license.
Can I switch deployment options later if my business needs change?
Yes. You can migrate between cloud, on-site, and ship-in at any time. Your agent configuration, workflows, and learned context transfer with you. The migration process for cloud-to-on-site or cloud-to-ship-in takes approximately one hour of remote setup time with a Mercury engineer.
What happens to my data if I cancel the cloud plan?
When you cancel cloud service, Mercury retains your agent configuration for 30 days so you can export or migrate it. After 30 days, all customer data is deleted from Mercury-managed infrastructure per our data retention policy. On-site and ship-in deployments are not affected by cancellation — you retain all data on your own hardware.

See Also

vs Lindy
Managed AI assistant — cloud SaaS vs CrewAI
Agentic framework — developer-focused vs n8n
Self-hosted workflow automation
Calculate Your ROI → See Pricing →

Not Sure Which Deployment Fits?

Take the 3-minute operator readiness assessment. We'll tell you which model makes the most sense for your business type, volume, and privacy requirements.

Take the Assessment → Or talk to a human →