ZenGrants vs Traditional Grant Consultants
Stop paying £3K-£15K for a grant application.
Grant consultants offer deep expertise but at a steep price. Industry rates for SMART grant applications typically range from £3,000-£15,000 upfront, plus 5-15% success fees. For early-stage startups, this can consume a significant portion of your grant value before you've even started the project.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Grant Consultants | ZenGrants |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront Cost | £3,000-£15,000 | £XX/month (50% off launch) |
| Success Fee | 5-15% of grant | None |
| Total Cost (£150K grant) | £10K-£38K | ~£XXX |
| Turnaround Time | 1-2 weeks | Hours to days |
| UK Grant Expertise | ✅ Expert-level | ✅ AI-powered |
| Guided Discovery Process | ✅ 15+ years experience | ✅ Codified expertise |
| Customisation | ✅ High | ✅ High |
| Revisions Included | ⚠️ Limited (2-3) | ✅ Unlimited |
When to Use Each Option
- Multi-million pound EIC Accelerator applications (€2.5M+)
- First-time applicants with zero grant experience
- Highly specialised sectors requiring niche expertise (e.g., nuclear, aerospace)
- Applications where equity dilution is more expensive than consultant fees
- SMART grants (£50K-£500K range)
- Founders with domain expertise who need writing assistance
- Tight budgets (<£5K for grant support)
- Multiple grant applications per year (better ROI with subscription)
The Verdict
ZenGrants delivers expert-quality grant applications at a fraction of the cost of traditional consultants.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much do grant consultants cost in the UK?
Grant consultants typically charge £3,000-£15,000 upfront for SMART grant applications, plus 5-15% success fees. For a £250,000 grant, total costs can reach £15,000-£53,000. This makes them unaffordable for many early-stage startups who need the funding most.
What's the secret to a consultant's success?
It's not the writing—it's knowing what questions to ask. Experienced consultants spend the first few meetings extracting information you didn't know was relevant: proprietary datasets, unfair advantages, specific UK supply chain benefits. ZenGrants codifies this discovery process into interactive workflows, so you get consultant-quality insights at a fraction of the cost.
Won't a human consultant always be better than AI?
For extremely high-stakes applications (£5M+ EIC grants), a specialised consultant may be worth the cost. However, for SMART grants (<£500K), AI-assisted writing combined with your domain expertise often produces comparable quality at a fraction of the price. You know your business better than any external consultant.
What's the alternative to hiring a grant writer?
You have three options: DIY (time-consuming, steep learning curve), hire a consultant (expensive), or use AI-assisted tools like ZenGrants (affordable, compliance-focused, efficient). Many successful applicants choose the third option to get expert-quality structure without the consultant price tag.