How much does an answering service cost?

The four ways answering services bill

Two services with the same monthly price can produce very different bills, because they count different things. Before you compare prices, find out which unit a plan counts and what happens when you run past it.

• Per minute. You buy a bundle of receptionist minutes each month. Ask how a minute is counted: from the moment the call is answered or from the first ring, whether hold time and transfers count, and whether each call is rounded up.
• Per call. You buy a bundle of calls. A two-minute call and a twenty-minute call cost the same, which suits short calls and punishes long ones. Ask what counts as a call: spam, wrong numbers and hang-ups are handled differently by each provider.
• Monthly bundle with overage. Nearly every plan is a bundle. Past it, you either pay a per-unit overage rate, which is often higher than the bundle's own rate, or the provider moves you to the next plan.
• Setup and extras. Some services charge an activation or onboarding fee, and some price extras separately: bilingual answering, appointment booking, call patching, holidays or after-hours coverage. Ask for the full list before you sign.

What live answering services charge

Entry plans of the live (human) services in our pricing table, from each vendor's own pricing page, as of October 2026. The effective rate is the entry price divided by what it includes.

What AI receptionists charge

AI receptionists bill in the same units, at lower rates. Same source and date as the table above; Daber AI's figures are from our pricing page.

Work out your own monthly cost

Five numbers from your phone bill or call log are enough to price any plan honestly.

1. 1Count your calls per month. Your carrier or phone system shows this. Use a busy month, not an average one.
2. 2Find the average call length. Multiply it by the number of calls to get monthly minutes.
3. 3Decide which calls the service should take: all of them, only after hours, or only the ones you miss. Forwarding only unanswered calls cuts the volume a lot.
4. 4Price each plan at your volume: for per-minute plans use minutes, for per-call plans use calls, and add overage for anything past the bundle.
5. 5Add setup fees and extras, then compare the yearly total, not the monthly sticker.

A worked example: 100 calls a month

Say your business gets 100 calls a month that average 3 minutes, so 300 minutes in total. At published prices (October 2026), the cheapest plan that covers that month costs:

• Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists: $915 a month on its Basic plan (100 calls)
• Ruby: $1,725 a month on its 500 minutes plan (300 minutes)
• Posh: $630 a month on its Luxurious plan (300 minutes)
• Abby Connect: $1,380 a month on its Growth (human) plan (300 minutes)
• Daber AI: $70 a month on Starter ($49 for 210 minutes, plus 90 minutes at $0.23)
• Where a plan's overage rate isn't published, we price only plans that cover the volume outright, so the real cost of a smaller plan plus overage may be lower. Change the numbers to yours in the receptionist cost calculator.

What you get for the higher price

A live answering service puts a person on your calls. That is worth paying for when callers are upset, when a call needs judgment the script doesn't cover, or when your clients expect a human voice. An AI receptionist answers every call at once, around the clock, from the facts you give it, books appointments when connected to your calendar, and transfers to a person when needed. Many businesses use AI for the volume and keep people for the calls that need them.