Guide
AI receptionist cost: real prices from vendor pricing pages
Updated · by Rosh Perera
Short answer: on the official pricing pages we checked on 18 Oct 2026, most entry plans for an AI receptionist cost between $24.95 and $99 a month, Smith.ai has a free plan for 25 calls a month, and plans for busy phones run to $299 a month and beyond. What you actually pay depends on how the vendor counts usage: by the minute, by the call or by the unique caller. Live human answering costs more per call: Smith.ai's human receptionist plans start at $300 a month for 30 calls, and Ruby's at $250 a month for 50 minutes. Prices change often, so treat every figure here as a dated snapshot of list prices, not a quote, and check the vendor's page before you buy. Any time saved is an estimate. If you'd rather not pay for a phone product yet, the same routines (missed-call text-back, intake questions, booking requests) are in our free templates, and in the One-Person AI Business Pack ($29 one-time, plus local tax where it applies) with guardrails and escalation rules.
What to hand to an agent first
Per-minute plans
You get a bundle of talk time and pay for extra minutes. Dialzara Business Lite is $29 a month with up to 60 minutes, then $0.48 a minute; Business Pro is $99 for up to 220 minutes (Dialzara pricing). Rosie Professional is $49 a month with 250 minutes and Scale is $149 with 1,000 minutes (Rosie pricing). My AI Front Desk is $99 a month, or $79 a month billed annually, with 200 voice minutes (My AI Front Desk pricing). Good fit when calls are short.
Per-call plans
You pay for a number of calls, whatever their length. Upfirst Starter is $24.95 a month for 30 calls, then $1.50 per extra call, and Premium is $59.95 for 90 calls (Upfirst pricing). Smith.ai's AI Receptionist has a free plan with 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call, and a Pro plan from $150 a month for 75 calls (Smith.ai pricing). Good fit when calls run long.
Per-caller plans
Goodcall bills by unique customer, not by minute: Starter is $79 a month for 100 unique customers, then 79 cents each, and Growth is $129 for 500. The same number calling several times in a month counts once (Goodcall pricing). Good fit when the same customers call back often.
Build-it-yourself platforms
Voice AI platforms such as Retell list pay-as-you-go pricing of $0.07 to $0.31 a minute for AI voice agents (Retell pricing). The low per-minute price assumes you or a developer build, test and maintain the agent yourselves. Only worth it if an off-the-shelf receptionist can't do what you need.
Live human answering, for comparison
Smith.ai's human receptionist Starter plan is $300 a month for 30 calls, then $11.50 a call (Smith.ai pricing). Ruby's live receptionist plans start at $250 a month for 50 minutes (Ruby pricing). Some businesses keep humans for complex calls and use AI for after-hours and overflow.
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Ready-made use cases
- 01Missed-call text-back that books the job
Every missed call gets a short text drafted for you to approve, asking what they need and offering a booking link. Instant sending is an optional upgrade later.
~6h/week · estimate - 02Book plumbing jobs by SMS, with your OK on every reply
An agent drafts replies to inbound texts, quotes standard jobs from your price list, checks your calendar and drafts the booking confirmation. You approve each one before it sends. Auto-confirming is an optional upgrade once you trust it.
~12h/week · estimate - 03Appointment reminders that cut no-shows, with your OK on each day's list
Each afternoon the agent drafts reminders for tomorrow's appointments. You approve the list in one go (approve all, edit or remove), then it sends. Reschedule replies wait for your OK too. Sending without review is an optional upgrade.
~3h/week · estimate - 04FAQ support in your voice, with your OK on every reply
The agent drafts replies to common customer questions from your docs and hands off anything tricky. You approve them one at a time or in a batch. Auto-sending simple FAQ answers is an optional upgrade.
~8h/week · estimate - 05Ask every customer for a review, with your OK on each day's list
After each completed job the agent drafts the same friendly review request, with your Google link, for every customer. You approve the day's list in one go, then it sends. It flags any complaint that comes back to you.
~2h/week · estimate
Example: Grok Bot setup
Grok Bot routine: Missed-call text-back that books the job Schedule: Always on (missed calls) When I miss a call, draft a short text to the caller: apologize, ask what they need, and offer two booking times from my calendar. Send me the draft to approve, and only send it to the caller after I approve it. (Instant sending is an optional upgrade once you trust the wording.) Log the lead and notify me with a summary. Rules: draft first, never send or post anything external without my approval. Keep summaries short.
Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude and n8n versions: all templates
Setup steps
- Pull last month's call log: total calls, unique callers, average length and how many you missed.
- Price that volume on three plans that bill differently (per minute, per call, per caller), including overage.
- Write your script: greeting, top FAQs, booking rules and the emergency words that ring through to you.
- Start a free plan or trial on no-answer and after-hours calls only, not your whole line.
- Review every transcript for two weeks, compare the bill with your estimate, then keep it, switch plans or go back to text-back.
Keep these human
- Prices change. Every figure here is a list price from the vendor's own pricing page, checked 18 Oct 2026. Check the page before you buy, and confirm exactly what counts as a minute, a call or a customer.
- Work out your own bill before you compare: last month's calls, average call length and repeat callers, priced on each plan's included usage and overage rate. Headline prices alone mislead.
- Callers must always be able to reach a person, and emergencies should ring through to you, not wait in a message queue.
- Final prices, discounts and anything that commits your calendar to a paid job stay with you until you trust the routine.
- Start in draft mode: the agent prepares, you approve, then you loosen the leash routine by routine.
Want the whole system pre-written?
The One-Person AI Business Pack: CEO agent + workers, all 46 routines in 4 formats, your role pack.
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Built by Rosh Perera, who has set up AI automations for more than 40 businesses over about 3 years.
FAQ
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
On official vendor pricing pages checked 18 Oct 2026, most entry plans cost between $24.95 a month (Upfirst Starter, 30 calls) and $99 a month (My AI Front Desk, 200 voice minutes). Smith.ai has a free AI plan for 25 calls a month. Plans for busy phones ran to $299 a month (Rosie Growth, Goodcall Scale) and beyond. Prices change, so check each vendor's page.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human answering service?
Per call, usually yes on list prices. Smith.ai's AI Pro plan is $150 a month for 75 calls, while its human receptionist Starter plan is $300 a month for 30 calls (Smith.ai pricing, 18 Oct 2026). People still handle complex or upset callers better, so many businesses keep a human path. Compare on your own call volume.
Which billing is best: per minute, per call or per caller?
Per minute suits short, frequent calls. Per call suits long calls, because a nine-minute booking costs the same as a short one. Per caller suits businesses where the same customers ring back often: Goodcall, for example, counts each number once a month.
What costs come on top of the monthly plan?
Overage beyond the included minutes, calls or customers, paid add-ons (Rosie's website texting add-on is $50 a month, for example), and your own time to write the script and check transcripts, which is often the biggest cost in the first month (an estimate). Annual billing lowers some prices: My AI Front Desk is $79 a month billed annually instead of $99.
Do I need to buy a phone product to start?
Not always. If you mostly lose calls while you're on a job, a missed-call text-back is a cheaper first test, and our free templates include one. The One-Person AI Business Pack ($29 one-time, plus local tax where it applies) adds guardrails, escalation rules and all 46 routines in Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude and n8n format. It doesn't include a phone line or receptionist software.