AI Receptionist Pricing: A Dated Price Index

The three AI receptionist pricing models

Before comparing specific vendors, understand the three structural pricing models in this market. The model matters more than the headline price.

The AI receptionist price index

One row per vendor, grouped by who takes the call and listed alphabetically inside each group. Every cell comes from the vendor's own page, linked in the Source column and dated in the Checked column.

Figures are as each vendor published them on the dates shown, and vendors reprice often. Confirm on the vendor's page before you buy. Currency is US dollars unless a cell says otherwise.

Want one vendor side by side? See VantaWeb against CloudTalk, Nextiva, Retell AI, Allo, Upfirst and NextPhone, or browse the full comparison index. Buying for a small shop? The small-business guide covers fit and ROI.

What 100 and 300 calls a month cost at published prices

The same sums for every vendor that publishes enough to do them. The assumptions match the reviewed sums on the AI answering service guide: a call lasts 3 minutes, so 100 calls are 300 minutes and 300 calls are 900 minutes, and every call comes from a different caller. For each vendor we took the cheapest published plan that covers the volume, or the cheapest plan plus its published overage, and left out add-ons, one-time setup fees, taxes and trials. These are our sums on published prices, not quotes.

The numbers behind this index

• $24.95 to $449 a month is the range of entry-plan fees among AI services that publish one. Sources: Aira, Upfirst and Sameday AI, checked 2026-10-18. Method: the cheapest published monthly plan of each AI service, read from its pricing page; add-ons and pay-as-you-go prices are left out.
• $69.95 to $449 a month is what 100 three-minute calls cost across 9 AI services. Sources: Aira, Upfirst and Sameday AI, checked 2026-10-18. Method: the cheapest published plan, or plan plus published overage, that covers the volume; add-ons, setup fees, taxes and trials are left out. Our sums, not quotes.
• $38,010 a year is the 2025 median wage of US receptionists and information clerks, or $18.27 an hour. Sources: BLS annual median series and BLS hourly median series, checked 2026-10-18. Method: the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median for SOC 43-4171, before payroll taxes and benefits.

Call flow: how one call becomes a line on the bill

Sample flow, not a recorded call

Follow one ordinary call through the three ways vendors count. The same three minutes can be one unit, three units or none, depending on the plan, which is why the Includes and Overage columns matter more than the Entry plan column.

The month before the robocall adds up to 4 minutes, 2 calls and 1 customer. Which of those three numbers your vendor bills is the whole question. Some vendors state the spam rule: Upfirst says spam is not billed, and Newo says spam and hang-ups are free (both read 2026-10-18). Ask every vendor the same question.

What drives AI receptionist pricing

Not all AI receptionist plans are priced for the same use case. The features that drive higher pricing tiers are often exactly the features a service business actually needs.

Call volume and pricing model interaction

This is the single biggest variable in your actual monthly cost. Inside the pool the bill does not move with call count; above it, each unit costs the overage rate. Use the missed call calculator to estimate your current call volume and model the cost at different pricing structures.

After-hours coverage

A true 24/7 AI receptionist handles calls at 11 PM and on holidays the same as 9 AM on a Tuesday. Inside the pool the bill does not move with call count; above it, each unit costs the overage rate, so ask whether after-hours calls draw on the same pool as daytime calls. For service businesses (HVAC, plumbing, electrical) where after-hours emergency calls are revenue-critical, check how each plan counts them.

Software integrations

Native integrations with CRMs, scheduling platforms, and industry-specific practice management software are typically gated to mid- and higher-tier plans. A basic AI answering plan might capture caller name and number in a log or send an email. A plan with CRM integration writes the lead, appointment, and call notes directly to your existing system without any manual data entry. The integration tier is worth the upgrade for any business that currently pays a human to enter call data manually.

Number of locations

Some AI receptionist platforms charge per phone number or per location. A multi-location service business with four offices may pay 4x the single-location rate under per-location pricing models. VantaWeb's plans and what each includes are on the pricing page.

Languages

English-only AI is the default at most plan tiers. Spanish language support -- increasingly essential for US service businesses -- is sometimes an add-on at additional cost. Verify language availability before committing to a vendor if your caller base is bilingual.

Setup and onboarding

Some platforms charge one-time setup or onboarding fees: in the index, AgentZap lists a $499 training and setup fee (read 2026-10-18) and CallJolt an optional $97 setup (read 2026-10-18). These cover custom voice configuration, knowledge base setup (what the AI knows about your business), phone number provisioning, and integration testing. If a vendor charges a setup fee, confirm exactly what it covers and whether the configuration is portable if you cancel.

AI receptionist vs. human receptionist: the cost math

The most common framing error when evaluating AI receptionist cost is comparing the AI plan price to zero -- as if the alternative is free. The real comparison is AI receptionist cost versus the cost of the human receptionist currently answering (or not answering) those calls.

The honest framing: an AI receptionist does not eliminate the need for a human front desk employee. It can take routine inbound call answering off the front desk, so the existing team handles better-quality work -- complex patient interactions, in-person service, billing questions -- while the AI handles routine call volume around the clock.

For businesses that currently have no receptionist and are missing calls entirely, the math is even more direct. A single recovered new customer per month from a call that would otherwise have gone to voicemail typically exceeds the cost of the AI plan. Use the missed call calculator to model the revenue impact at your specific call volume and average customer value.

The productivity multiplier

Beyond direct cost comparison, there is a productivity argument worth stating explicitly. A human receptionist handling 60+ inbound calls per day in a busy service business has limited capacity for anything else -- appointment confirmations, follow-up calls, CRM data entry, or customer relationship work. An AI receptionist absorbs the incoming call volume automatically, freeing the human team for higher-value interactions that actually require a human being. The AI is not replacing a person; it is removing the task that was preventing the person from doing better work.

Hidden costs to ask about before you sign

The headline monthly price is rarely the full story. These are the line items that inflate AI receptionist costs beyond the advertised rate -- ask about all of them before committing to any vendor.

Quote checklist: what to get in writing before you sign

Copy these lines into an email to every vendor you are comparing, and keep the replies next to the date they arrived.

[ ] Price of the cheapest plan that covers my monthly calls, and whether it is month-to-month
[ ] What the pool counts: minutes, calls or unique customers, and how a call is rounded
[ ] Overage rate, and whether I am warned before I reach it
[ ] Whether spam, hang-ups and wrong numbers count against the pool
[ ] One-time setup, training, number-porting or per-location fees
[ ] Monthly versus annual price, and the notice needed to cancel
[ ] What the trial includes and whether a card is taken
[ ] Add-ons I would need (texting, extra numbers, integrations) and their price
[ ] The page and the date each answer came from, saved in writing

How to choose the right AI receptionist plan for your business

Pricing guides are useful for benchmarking. But the plan that is cheapest on paper is not always the one that fits your business. Use this decision framework before signing up with any vendor.

Pick someone else if one of these is true

An AI receptionist is not the right tool for every shop. The alternatives below come from the vendors' own pages, each read on the date shown.

• You already run Jobber and want calls and texts booked inside it. Jobber Receptionist is a $29/mo add-on to a Jobber plan with 30 conversations, then $0.79 per extra conversation (read 2026-10-18).
• You run Housecall Pro. Housecall Pro CSR AI is built for its own customers. The page read says CSR AI is sold separately; Housecall Pro plans start at $59/mo (read 2026-10-18).
• You run ServiceTitan. Its AI Virtual Agent sits in Contact Center Pro, books jobs against real capacity and escalates to your own CSRs; the price is not public (read 2026-10-18).
• You want a person on every call. Ruby lists people taking every call, from $250/mo (50 minutes), and Smith.ai sells human receptionist plans from $300/mo for 30 calls (both read 2026-10-18).

VantaWeb is also the wrong pick in the cases below. Each is a limit we state plainly.

• No humans sit behind Anna: there are no live agents and no human backup, only a transfer to your own team.
• Anna does not take Spanish calls.
• VantaWeb is not for healthcare use: it handles no PHI, signs no BAA and makes no HIPAA claim.
• VantaWeb does not write back to a CRM, Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan; it works alongside them.
• VantaWeb has no missed-call text-back.