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How much does an AI receptionist cost? The 2026 prices, side by side.
What AI receptionist apps charge a month, what a live answering service and a receptionist on staff cost instead, what changes the price, and the Illinois and FCC rules on recording calls and AI voices. For contractors and any small business that misses calls.
Updated November 2, 2026 · prices checked on each company’s own pricing page, every source at the bottom
Four ways to answer the phone, and what each one costs.
Monthly costs for a small business, from OnceHub’s September 2026 estimate, the vendors’ own pages and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our own plan is in the last column so you can hold it up against the rest.
| Voicemail | AI app you set up | Live answering service | Receptionist on staff | Dispatch, set up for you | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A month | $0, with your phone plan | About $50–$200; the full range is $25–$300 | About $175–$700 at small-business volume | About $3,170 in wages at the U.S. median, before benefits | $199, or $299 with booking |
| How it’s billed | — | By minutes, calls or customers, with a charge past the plan | By the minute or the call; $1.28–$2.99 a minute past the plan at the services we checked | Hourly or salary, plus payroll taxes and benefits | 300 minutes included, then 25¢ a minute, billed with the next month |
| Who answers | Nobody. A recording. | An AI voice, set up by you | A person at a call center, from a script | Your own employee | An AI we set up and tune for you; it says it’s an AI |
| Nights and weekends | The same recording | Any hour | Depends on the plan | Only the hours you pay for | Any hour a call forwards to it |
| Setup | Record a greeting | Usually no fee; you write the greeting and the rules | Often no fee; one service we checked charges $49.99 | Hiring and training | $399 once; $199 with Dispatch or $299 with booking if we built your site |
| Watch for | A caller who wants help now can call the next name on the list | Overage, annual-only prices, and how well it’s set up | Per-minute charges in a busy month | Lunch breaks, sick days and vacations | It answers the calls you forward to it, and only quotes prices you publish |
The AI and answering-service ranges are OnceHub’s (September 9, 2026); the per-minute rates are PATLive’s, AnswerConnect’s and MAP Communications’ own; the wage is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ median for receptionists, $38,010 a year in May 2025, divided by 12. Benefits come on top: across private industry they’re 30% of what employers spend on pay and benefits, per the BLS (June 2026).
What the companies charge, from their own pages.
Monthly prices as each company publishes them, checked November 2, 2026, in two groups: AI apps you set up yourself, and AI receptionists someone sets up for you. No ranking and no affiliate links; these are just the ones that publish a price. Where a page offers a cheaper yearly price, we show the monthly one.
AI apps you set up yourself
| Company | Plans, a month | Included | Past the allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosie | $49 · $149 · $299 | 250 · 1,000 · 2,000 minutes | No per-minute rate: its terms move you up to the next plan |
| Goodcall | $79 · $129 · $299 | 100 · 500 · 2,000 customers (about 150 · 750 · 3,000 calls); minutes aren’t metered | 79¢ · 26¢ · 15¢ per extra customer |
| Dialzara | $29 · $99 · $199 · $349 | 60 · 220 · 500 · 1,000 minutes; no setup fees | 48¢ down to 35¢ a minute |
| Upfirst | $24.95 · $59.95 · $159.95 · $299 | 30 · 90 · 300 · 600 calls; short calls and spam not billed | $1.50 down to 70¢ a call |
| My AI Front Desk | $99 ($79 a month paid yearly) | 200 minutes | 25¢ a minute, in credits |
| Smith.ai, AI Receptionist | $0 · $150 · $500 | 25 · 75 · 300 calls | $3.00 · $2.50 · $2.17 a call |
AI receptionists set up for you
| Who | Setup | A month | Included, and past it |
|---|---|---|---|
| A freelancer on Contra builds it for you | $500 once | From $199 | AI usage costs extra, worked out at onboarding |
| Sameday built for home services; its team customizes it after a demo | Not on its pricing page | Starts at $449 · $789 | Starts with 500 · 1,000 minutes, then a per-minute rate it doesn’t publish |
| Dispatch, ours we set it up and tune it on your real calls | $399 once; $199 or $299 if we built your site | $199 · $299 with booking | 300 minutes, then 25¢ a minute |
Per minute, the apps you set up yourself cost less than Dispatch: Rosie’s $149 plan includes 1,000 minutes, Dispatch’s $199 includes 300. What the difference pays for is the setup and the tuning, done for you. Against the other set-up-for-you offers we found with a published price, Dispatch costs less to start, and the AI’s usage is in the price up to its 300 minutes.
Live answering services
| Company | Plans, a month | Included | Past the allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | $250 · $395 · $720 · $1,725 | 50 · 100 · 200 · 500 minutes | Not on its pricing page |
| Smith.ai, Virtual Receptionists | $300 · $810 · $2,100 | 30 · 90 · 300 calls | $11.50 · $10.50 · $8.50 a call |
| PATLive | $49 · $99 · $189 · $349 | 0 · 50 · 100 · 200 minutes | $2.99 · $2.29 · $2.09 · $1.99 a minute |
| AnswerConnect | $350 · $395 · $575 | 200 · 300 · 400 minutes; $49.99 setup on two of the three | $2.50 · $1.85 · $1.85 a minute |
| MAP Communications | $49 · $179 · $339 · $649 | 0 · 125 · 250 · 500 minutes | $1.37 · $1.30 · $1.28 · $1.28 a minute |
Prices are each company’s published monthly prices before tax, checked November 2, 2026. Some have more plans than we list, and several offer free trials.
Does an AI receptionist pay for itself?
Put in your own numbers. The minutes count every missed call, spam and hang-ups too, because those use minutes on any plan.
Six things that decide what you’ll actually pay.
The sticker price is the start. These are the lines to read before you sign up for any of them, ours included.
Minutes, calls or customers
Plans count different things: Rosie and Dialzara count minutes, Upfirst and Smith.ai count calls, Goodcall counts customers. Two minutes a call and 20 missed calls a month is 40 minutes; know your own numbers first.
What happens past the allowance
Most charge per extra minute or call; Rosie’s terms move you up to the next plan instead. A storm week can do it in days, so price your busiest month, not your average.
Spam and hang-ups
Robocalls and wrong numbers use minutes too, unless the plan says otherwise. Upfirst says it doesn’t bill short calls or spam; on a per-minute plan, ask.
The yearly price
Some advertised prices are the yearly rate shown per month. My AI Front Desk is $99 a month, or $79 a month paid by the year. Compare monthly to monthly.
Who sets it up
With an app you write the greeting, the questions and the rules for urgent calls yourself, and fix them when a call goes wrong. Done-for-you setups charge for that work, usually as a setup fee.
Booking and add-ons
Booking visits on your calendar, Spanish, and sending calls to a person can each sit on a higher plan. Check that the plan you’re pricing does what you need.
Recording calls, AI voices, and telling callers.
Two rules matter for an AI receptionist in Illinois. Here they are, quoted from the statute and the FCC’s ruling. A plain-English summary, not legal advice; ask your attorney about your business.
Illinois: everyone has to consent
Illinois’s eavesdropping law makes it a crime to record a private conversation in a surreptitious manner, even one you’re part of, without the consent of all the other parties (720 ILCS 5/14-2). Surreptitious means by stealth, deception, secrecy or concealment, and a device that transcribes counts as an eavesdropping device (14-1).
So say it up front
An AI receptionist transcribes the call, and most keep a recording; that’s how you get the details. Saying at the start that the call is recorded takes the secrecy out and gives the caller the choice to hang up. Callers can be in other states with their own rules, so say it on every call.
The FCC: AI voices are artificial
In February 2024 the FCC ruled that the TCPA’s limits on an “artificial or prerecorded voice” cover AI voices, so calls made with one need the called party’s prior express consent, and prior express written consent for telemarketing (FCC 24-17).
That ruling is about calls you make
The ruling covers calls a business places to consumers. An AI that only answers the calls people place to you isn’t what it addresses. If an app also offers to call customers back with an AI voice, that part needs their consent.
Tell callers it’s an AI
Neither rule above is about saying it’s an AI, but callers deserve to know who they’re talking to, and some will ask. Ours says it in its first line; whichever you pick, check that it doesn’t pretend to be you.
What Dispatch says
“Northline Roofing, this is our AI assistant. This call is recorded. How can I help?” That’s the first line in the sample call on our Dispatch page, with your business name in place of the made-up one. Dispatch never calls anyone.
For HVAC, plumbers, roofers and the rest of the trades.
The price works the same in every trade. What changes is when the phone rings and which calls can’t wait. Whatever you use, tell it these things.
HVAC
The phone follows the weather: the first cold snap, the first heat wave. Have it mark no heat and no cooling as urgent and take the address and the best callback time, and have it tell anyone who smells gas to hang up and call 911.
Plumbing
Burst pipes and backed-up drains don’t wait for business hours. Have it ask where the water is coming from and mark it urgent, so the address is in your inbox before you’re back in the truck.
Roofing
After a storm, everyone calls at once. That’s the week that eats minutes: 40 two-minute calls is 80. Have it take the address and whether water is coming in, and price your plan for that week.
Electricians, tree crews, landscapers
Hands busy, phone ringing. A tree on a house or a sparking panel can’t wait; a spring cleanup quote can. Tell it which is which, and which towns you work.
Our trade pages show how we build sites for each one: HVAC, plumbing, roofing and every trade.
The best AI answering service is the one that fits your calls.
There’s no single best one for every contractor. Run any of them, ours included, through these six steps.
-
Count a month of calls
Your phone’s recent calls show how many you missed and how long the answered ones ran. That’s your minutes, or your calls, depending on how the plan counts.
-
Price your busiest month
Run the storm week or the first cold snap through each plan’s overage or upgrade rule, not just your average month.
-
Hear it first
Listen to a sample call or try it before you pay. If it sounds like a phone tree, callers will treat it like one.
-
Check the first line
It should name your business, say it’s an AI and say the call is recorded. In Illinois, that last part matters.
-
Keep your number
Forward the calls you miss from the number on your truck and your Google profile, so nothing you’ve printed changes. Ask your carrier first.
-
Know who fixes it
When it gets a call wrong, who rewrites the script: you, or someone you pay? Month to month means you can walk if nobody does.
An app you set up, or one we set up for you.
Plenty of contractors do fine with an app from the price list above. Dispatch is for the ones who’d rather hand the setup and the tuning to someone. Here it is next to doing it yourself, from our price list.
An AI app you set up
- About $50–$200 a month for most, by minutes, calls or customers
- More minutes for the money: Rosie’s $149 plan includes 1,000
- You write the greeting, the questions and the urgent-call rules
- You check the calls and fix the script when one goes wrong
- Check its first line says it’s an AI and that the call is recorded
Dispatch · set up for you
- $199 a month, or $299 with booking on your calendar
- 300 minutes included, then 25¢ a minute, billed with the next month
- Says it’s an AI and that the call is recorded, in its first line
- Takes the name, number, job, town and urgency, and emails you a summary and the transcript
- We write it from your services, towns, hours and the prices you publish, then tune it on your real calls
- You keep your number: we set up forwarding for the calls you miss
- Setup $399 once, $199 if we built your site; month to month
Anyone can sign up for Dispatch; you don’t need a website from us. It answers in English today, and it isn’t offered to medical or dental offices. If we built your site, setup is $199 with Dispatch or $299 with booking. Dispatch’s plans.
Asked by contractors, answered straight.
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than hiring a receptionist?
What happens if I go over my minutes?
Are there setup fees for an AI receptionist?
Is it legal to record calls with an AI receptionist in Illinois?
Does the FCC’s AI voice ruling apply to an AI receptionist?
What’s the best AI answering service for contractors?
Can an AI receptionist book appointments?
Do I keep my phone number?
Where these numbers come from.
Checked November 2, 2026. Vendor prices are from each company’s own pricing page, the typical ranges are OnceHub’s dated estimate, the wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics’, and the law is quoted from the Illinois statute and the FCC’s ruling themselves. Prices change; if a company’s page says something different from ours, theirs wins. A plain-English summary, not legal advice.
- OnceHub: Answering Service Cost in 2026: Human, Virtual, and AI Receptionist Pricing Compared (Manish Kumar, September 9, 2026)
- Rosie: Pricing
- Rosie: Terms of Service (last updated February 5, 2026; going over your minutes moves you to the next plan)
- Goodcall: Pricing
- Dialzara: Pricing
- Upfirst: Pricing
- My AI Front Desk: Pricing
- Smith.ai: AI Receptionist pricing
- Sameday: Pricing
- Ruby: Pricing
- Smith.ai: Virtual Receptionist pricing
- PATLive: Pricing
- AnswerConnect: Plans
- MAP Communications: Pricing
- Contra: AI Receptionist, a freelancer’s listing ($500 setup, from $199 a month, AI usage costs extra; undated)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, Receptionists (median pay $18.27 an hour, $38,010 a year, May 2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (released September 9, 2026; benefits 30.0% of private-industry compensation)
- Illinois General Assembly: 720 ILCS 5/14-2, Eavesdropping, elements of the offense
- Illinois General Assembly: 720 ILCS 5/14-1, Eavesdropping, definitions (“private conversation”, “surreptitious”)
- FCC: Declaratory Ruling, Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies on Protecting Consumers from Unwanted Robocalls and Robotexts, FCC 24-17, CG Docket No. 23-362 (adopted February 2, released February 8, 2024)
- Salty Web Co: Dispatch, AI receptionist for contractors (our prices)
More straight answers.
Or see finished sites: our work and how we built Creative Concrete’s.
Tell us about your calls. We’ll get Dispatch answering them.
Say roughly how many calls you get, when you miss them and which plan you’re leaning toward. We respond within one business day to set up a 30-minute call and build it with you.
Rather talk? Call or text (224) 225-9268.