What you actually pay for.
An AI receptionist answers your business phone, talks to callers in natural language, answers common questions, books appointments and passes on messages or transfers calls. The headline monthly price is rarely the whole bill. Five things make up the real cost:
- The plan fee. A fixed monthly charge for the service, sometimes with a set number of minutes or calls included.
- Usage. Minutes or calls beyond what the plan includes. This is the line that grows with your business.
- Add-ons. Extra phone numbers, recording and transcripts, analytics, and connections to your calendar, CRM or practice software.
- Setup. Some providers charge a one-time fee to configure scripts, knowledge and call routing.
- Human time. Calls the AI hands over still need someone. The calculator counts that time at the hourly cost you enter.
Three common pricing models.
Pay as you go
A small monthly fee and a higher rate per minute. Cheapest when call volume is low or seasonal.
Monthly plan plus usage
The most common shape: a fixed fee and a lower per-minute rate. Easy to budget and predictable as long as call length is steady.
Bundles with included minutes
A higher fee that covers a block of minutes, often with a setup charge. Good value once you reliably use most of the bundle; poor value if you pay for minutes you never use.
Use the plan buttons in the calculator to switch between these shapes, then replace the numbers with real quotes.
A worked example.
With 300 calls a month averaging three minutes, a standard plan at $99 plus $0.20 a minute comes to about $279 before add-ons. Add $10 of add-ons and staff time on the 15% of calls that are transferred, and the total is still a fraction of a full-time receptionist on the US median wage, who would cost around $3,959 a month with overhead.
The comparison narrows as volume grows. At several thousand minutes a month, a plan with included minutes, or a negotiated rate, usually beats paying per minute.
Questions to ask any provider.
- How are calls billed: by the second, by the minute, or rounded up per call?
- What happens when you go over your included minutes?
- Does it book directly into your calendar or software, and does that cost extra?
- How does it decide when to transfer a caller, and can you set the rules?
- Where is call data stored, and does it meet the privacy rules for your industry?
To compare AI with answering services and virtual receptionists side by side, use the receptionist and answering service cost calculator.