How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost?

AI receptionist cost starts around $25 to $80 a month for most entry plans and runs $250 to $800 a month at higher call volumes, based on vendor pricing pages we checked in September 2026. Calls beyond a plan's allowance are billed per minute, per call or per caller, so volume and call length move the bill most.

Those are list prices for software you configure yourself. A managed setup adds call-flow design, integration and testing on top; ours typically costs $150 to $300 a month. This guide covers the pricing models, what moves the cost and a worked example. For what the service does and how we pilot it, see our AI receptionist page.

How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?

These are the published small-business plans at five vendors, on monthly billing. Annual billing is cheaper at several of them: Upfirst takes 20% off, Goodcall 15%, and Rosie gives two months free.

List prices come from each vendor's own pricing page, checked September 2026 and linked under sources below. Features differ by tier, so compare what a plan includes as well as what it costs.

What pricing models do AI receptionist vendors use?

AI receptionist pricing comes in four shapes:

• Per minute. You pay for talk time beyond an allowance. RingCentral charges $0.50 a minute over its included 100 and rounds each call up to the next 30 seconds. Developer platforms bill every minute: Retell AI lists $0.07 to $0.31 per minute for voice agents, depending on the voice and model.
• Per call. Each answered call counts once, however long it runs. Upfirst and Smith.ai price this way, and Upfirst says it blocks spam so junk calls are not billed.
• Per caller. Goodcall counts unique customers: a client who calls ten times in a month from the same number counts once, and robocalls and silent callers do not count.
• Flat monthly with an allowance. Rosie sells minute bundles at a fixed monthly price, and nearly every plan above works this way until the allowance runs out.

Three costs sit around the software:

• Setup. None of the self-serve plans we checked lists a setup fee, but hands-on help sits in higher tiers: white-glove onboarding on Upfirst's Pro and Scale plans, dedicated onboarding on Smith.ai Pro and full-service setup on Smith.ai Enterprise.
• Integrations. Rosie books directly into your calendar from its $149 Scale plan, and Smith.ai reserves custom integrations for Enterprise.
• Human handoff. Live and warm transfers start on Rosie's Scale plan, and transfers that try several numbers in turn need its $299 Growth plan.

What moves the cost?

• Volume and length. Pull a month of call logs before choosing a tier. Answering only after-hours or overflow calls uses far less allowance than answering every call.
• What counts as billable. Spam, hang-ups, repeat callers and transferred calls are counted differently by each vendor.
• Integrations and locations. Booking into a practice or field-service system, logging to a CRM, or covering several locations or agents usually means a higher tier or custom work.
• Compliance terms. A medical or dental office that lets the agent handle patient information needs a vendor that will sign a business associate agreement under HIPAA (45 CFR Parts 160 and 164); at Upfirst, that is the custom tier. This is general information, not legal advice, and our page on the AI receptionist for medical offices covers the rest.
• Upkeep. Someone has to write the approved answers, test the handoffs and update the agent when hours or services change. That time is a cost whether you do it or pay for it.

What would 200 calls a month cost?

Take 200 answered calls a month, three minutes each on average (600 minutes), from 150 different callers. The cheapest option at each vendor, using only listed prices on monthly billing, works out as follows:

• Goodcall Starter plus 50 extra customers: $104
• Rosie Scale, 1,000 minutes: $149
• Upfirst Pro, 300 calls: $159.95
• RingCentral standalone plus 500 minutes at $0.50: $299, before rounding or bundle discounts
• Smith.ai 150-call Pro plan plus 50 calls at $2.30: $385

That is roughly $100 to $385 a month for the same calls, before phone, integration or setup costs. This is arithmetic on published list prices, not a quote, and the plans do not include identical features.

How does AI receptionist cost compare with an answering service?

A live answering service costs several times more per call, because it prices human time. Ruby's virtual receptionist plans run from $250 a month for 50 minutes to $1,725 for 500, or $3.45 to $5.00 a minute. Smith.ai's human receptionist plans start at $300 for 30 calls, with extra calls at $8.50 to $11.50. The 200-call month above would cost $1,965 on Smith.ai's 90-call human plan. What the difference buys is judgment on difficult calls; our AI receptionist vs answering service comparison covers when that is worth paying for.

How we quote an AI receptionist

A NetSys AI receptionist typically costs $150 to $300 a month, depending on your call volume, the hours it covers and the systems it connects to. The quote spells out the setup (call flows, integrations, disclosure wording and handoff testing), the platform and usage charges with their allowances and overage rules, and the ongoing management that keeps answers and routing current. It is scoped from your call log, coverage hours and the systems the agent must reach, and the agreement runs month to month. If you are weighing a packaged product, our comparisons of NetSys and Smith.ai and NetSys and RingCentral AI Receptionist set the options side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Are there per-minute fees for an AI receptionist?

Often, yes, on minute-based plans. RingCentral charges $0.50 a minute beyond the included 100 minutes, billed in 30-second increments, and developer platforms such as Retell AI bill every minute. Per-call plans at Upfirst and Smith.ai, and Goodcall's per-customer plans, do not meter minutes, so a long call costs the same as a short one.

Is there a setup fee for an AI receptionist?

Not on the self-serve plans we checked, but setup still costs something. Hands-on onboarding sits in higher tiers at Upfirst and Smith.ai, and custom or managed builds charge for call-flow design, integrations and testing. Budget time for writing approved answers and testing handoffs even when the software itself has no setup fee.

How do I compare AI receptionist quotes?

Price every quote against the same month of real calls. Count answered calls, total minutes, unique callers and the after-hours share, then add setup, integration, phone-number and support costs to each. Ask how spam, hang-ups and transfers are billed, and compare the totals with what a missed or mishandled call costs your business.

Sources and further reading

• Upfirst plans and pricing: per-call plans, checked September 2026.
• Rosie plans and pricing: monthly minute plans, checked September 2026.
• RingCentral AI Receptionist plans and pricing: included minutes and overage, checked September 2026.
• Goodcall pricing: per-agent plans billed by unique customers, checked September 2026.
• Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing: per-call AI plans, checked September 2026.
• Smith.ai virtual receptionist pricing: human receptionist plans, checked September 2026.
• Ruby pricing: human receptionist minute plans, checked September 2026.
• Retell AI pricing: per-minute voice agent platform, checked September 2026.