How much does an AI receptionist cost in 2026? Real prices compared

Short answer: in 2026 most AI receptionists for small businesses cost between $29 and $150 a month to start, and $99 to $299 a month once you need a few hundred minutes. The number that matters isn't the headline price. It's how the vendor counts usage: by the minute, by the call or by the caller.

Below are the entry prices of eight AI receptionists, taken from each vendor's own pricing page on October 29, 2026. We sell one of them, Voxlivo, so every competitor price links to its source. Prices change often, so check the vendor's page before you buy.

AI receptionist prices compared

Competitor prices are monthly list prices from their public pricing pages, checked October 29, 2026. Taxes, phone-carrier charges and promotions aren't included.

Three ways AI receptionists charge

Per minute. Most vendors, including Dialzara, Rosie, RingCentral, My AI Front Desk and Voxlivo, include a block of minutes and charge for extra minutes. Short calls cost little, so wrong numbers and quick questions don't eat your budget. Long calls cost more.

Per call. Smith.ai prices its AI receptionist by the call: its Pro plan is $150 for 75 calls, which works out to $2.00 a call (Smith.ai pricing). A 30-second wrong number costs the same as a 10-minute booking.

Per caller. Goodcall counts unique phone numbers each month, so a customer who calls five times counts once, and spam and wrong numbers don't count (Goodcall FAQ). That suits businesses whose regulars call often.

The costs that don't show up in the headline price

• Extra usage. Overage ranges from about $0.25 to $0.50 a minute on the per-minute plans above, and $2.10 to $2.50 per extra call on Smith.ai's paid plans. A busy month can cost much more than the plan price.
• A required base subscription. Jobber's Receptionist add-on needs a Jobber plan. RingCentral also sells its AI Receptionist bundled with a RingEX phone plan ($39 plus $30 a month on its pricing page).
• Setup. Most tools are self-serve: you build and test the receptionist yourself. Done-for-you setup varies a lot. Dialzara lists a Done for You plan from $1,500 a month. Voxlivo sets up every plan for you, with no setup fee on any plan.
• Features locked to higher plans. Texting, call transfer, extra phone numbers, longer call history and integrations are often on the second or third tier. For example, Voxlivo's text summaries and live transfer start on Growth at $99 a month.
• Languages. Some receptionists handle many languages, others English only (Voxlivo is English only today). If many of your callers prefer Spanish, check this first.
• Contract and notice. Terms differ. Goodcall and Voxlivo are month to month with no minimum term, while Smith.ai asks for 30 days' notice to cancel (our Smith.ai comparison links its terms). Read the cancellation terms before you sign up.

What's the cheapest AI receptionist?

It depends on what you count:

• Lowest monthly price: Dialzara's Business Lite at $29 a month for 60 minutes, and Jobber's $29 add-on if you already pay for Jobber.
• Most minutes for $49: Rosie's Professional plan includes 250 minutes for $49, against 100 minutes on RingCentral's standalone plan and on Voxlivo Starter.
• Done for you at a small-business price: Voxlivo builds, tests and maintains the receptionist on every plan, from $49 a month. Compare that with self-serve tools, where the setup work is yours.
• At a few hundred calls a month: look past the entry plans. Rosie's $149 Scale plan includes 1,000 minutes, and Goodcall's $129 Growth plan covers about 750 calls if your callers are often the same people. Voxlivo Growth is $99 for 200 minutes (about 80 calls), with extra minutes at $0.25 each.

How to estimate your own cost in two minutes

1. Count the calls you can't answer. Your phone or carrier call log shows missed and after-hours calls. Take a typical month.
2. Estimate the minutes. Multiply those calls by a typical call length. If your calls run two to three minutes, 100 calls is about 200 to 300 minutes.
3. Price it on two or three plans, including overage, any base subscription and the features you actually need, such as transfers or texts.
4. Compare it with one booked job. If one extra job a month covers the bill, the decision is usually easy. Our missed call calculator puts a number on what missed calls cost you.

What it costs a plumbing or HVAC shop

Take an owner-run plumbing or HVAC shop that misses about 50 calls a month: the ones that ring out while you're on a job, under a sink or up in an attic, plus the ones after 5 PM. At about 2.5 minutes a call, that's roughly 125 minutes. Here is what that month costs on the entry plans above, at the prices checked October 29, 2026:

• Voxlivo Starter: $49 for 100 minutes, plus 25 extra minutes at $0.25, so about $55.25. It books and takes messages but doesn't ring anyone. Growth at $99 covers 200 minutes and rings your on-call phone for real emergencies.
• Jobber Receptionist: $29 for 30 conversations, plus 20 extra at $0.79, so about $44.80, on top of a Jobber plan from $49. Worth it if you already run your jobs on Jobber (see our Jobber comparison).
• Dialzara: $29 for 60 minutes, plus 65 extra minutes at $0.48, so about $60.20.
• RingCentral (standalone): $49 for 100 minutes, plus 25 extra at $0.50, so about $61.50.
• Smith.ai Pro: $150 covers 75 calls, so 50 calls fit inside the plan.
• A live answering service: Ruby's $250 plan includes 50 minutes, so 125 minutes needs a bigger plan; its $720 plan includes 200 (more below).

Two things change the sum for a trades shop. Calls come in bunches: a heat wave or the first cold snap brings more of them, so price your busiest month as well as a normal one. And the call you most need answered is the emergency at 9 PM, so check whether the plan can ring your on-call phone, not only take a message. We wrote up what to ask those callers in after-hours calls for plumbers. For trade-specific setups, see answering service for plumbers and answering service for HVAC companies.

AI receptionist vs a live answering service

Live answering services cost more because a person answers. Ruby, for example, lists $250 a month for 50 minutes and $720 a month for 200 minutes (Ruby pricing, checked October 29, 2026). A person is better for complex, emotional or unusual calls. An AI receptionist is cheaper, answers instantly at any hour and handles the everyday calls, like bookings, quotes from your price list and messages, the same way every time. We cover the trade-offs in AI receptionist vs answering service vs voicemail.

Where Voxlivo fits

Voxlivo is built for small service businesses that would rather not build a receptionist themselves. Plans start at $49 a month for 100 minutes, and every plan includes 24/7 answering, booking into Google Calendar, a summary of every call, recordings and transcripts, and setup done for you in about a day. It isn't the cheapest per minute, and it speaks English only. See all plans, or read our side-by-side comparisons with Dialzara, Rosie, RingCentral, Jobber, Goodcall, My AI Front Desk, Smith.ai and Ruby.

Sources

All checked October 29, 2026: Dialzara pricing · Jobber pricing · Jobber Receptionist help article ·Rosie pricing · RingCentral AI Receptionist pricing · Goodcall pricing · My AI Front Desk pricing · Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing · Ruby pricing.