It depends on the type of edit and how long your novel is, but here's a rough ballpark (using a 100,000 word novel as a base-line) to help you get a good idea of timeframes:
Developmental Edit: a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks (and less than this, and you're not getting your money's worth). You want an editor who will spend careful time and attention with your novel so they can provide detailed, helpful feedback.
Line Edit: a minimum of 4 weeks depending on how heavy handed you'd like your edits to be (they can range from light to heavy and it's all about preference and what the novel needs).
Copyedit: a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks. If you've already had this novel developmental edited or line edited, this might go quicker depending on how much attention the novel needs.
Proofread: around 3 to 4 weeks (again, depending on how many levels of edits this has already been through). I've done them in less time, but I've found that a full 3 weeks or more gives me the opportunity to go over the novel multiple types.
I'm definitely not discounting your abilities. It is, however, a fact that editing and proofreading our own work as authors is infinitely more challenging than editing someone else's work. Why? Because our brain knows what's going to happen (since we wrote it) and fills in the blanks. There are certainly creative ways around this (change the margins, the font, read it out of order, etc), but the best way to get your work as close to error free as possible is to hire an editor. The more eyes on your work, the better.
Absolutely send your novel to your friend. And your family (if you're so bold) and your partner if you have one. You want a range of audiences to read your work, including those who aren't writers themselves.
The benefit you get to paying someone experienced like myself to beta read your novel is that I have a trained eye and will give you in depth feedback. You won't get a simple thumbs up or thumbs down from me. You'll hear about how the pacing could be improved or whether or not the decision that character makes in Act 3 is in keeping with their character development or if the dialogue between love interests sounds realistic. These are all things I pay close attention to and, in the long run, a good beta reader (and good feedback in general) can make a world of difference to your writing.
Yes! I'd love to chat over email, phone, or zoom about your novel. We can chat through where your novel is currently at, what your publishing goals are, and what your needs are as an author.
I also offer free sample edits (as all good editors should) so you can get a good feel for my style of editing and whether or not we would work well together.
In all of my contracts, I include a no AI under any circumstances policy. You can trust that I will never run your creative work through AI, and I actively avoid using any software that would potentially scrub your work, as well.