An AI receptionist costs between $0 and about $350 a month for most small businesses in 2026, while a human virtual receptionist service starts around $250 to $300 a month and, by our estimate, can pass $1,900 at 200 calls. Virtual receptionist pricing comes in three models: per minute, per call and flat. Which one is cheapest depends on your volume and how long your calls run, so the only honest answer is to price your own month.
Searches for "how much does an AI receptionist cost" have grown sharply over the past year, and the quotes people get are hard to compare. This guide lays out the three pricing models, current list prices for the main human and AI services, what you would pay at 50, 200 and 500 inquiries a month, what free options really include, and the hidden costs. We make one product in this space, the KissMySkills AI Receptionist. It covers website chat only, not phone calls, and is priced inside our tools subscription. We say where it fits and where it does not.
Prices checked October 2026 on each provider's own pricing page.
Three pricing models: per minute, per call, flat
- Per minute. You buy a bundle of minutes (Ruby, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk, Rosie). Cheap for short calls, expensive for long ones. Your bill depends on how chatty your callers are.
- Per call or per customer. You pay for each call (Smith.ai) or each unique caller (Goodcall), whatever the length. Predictable when calls are long, like legal intake.
- Flat. One monthly price with a generous or unlimited allowance. Common for website chat tools that sit inside a bigger subscription, including ours.
Before comparing quotes, pull last month's call log and note two numbers: how many calls and the average length. Those two numbers decide which model wins.
Human virtual receptionist pricing (Ruby, Smith.ai)
Ruby bills per minute. Plans are $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500. Live, US-based receptionists answer 24/7, with Spanish and bilingual answering available, and Ruby says setup and onboarding are included. Ruby also sells human-staffed live chat from $143 a month for 10 chats.
Smith.ai virtual receptionists bill per call: $300 a month for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call), $810 for 90 calls ($10.50 extra) and $2,100 for 300 calls ($8.50 extra). Add-ons are per call too: appointment booking $1.50, bilingual line $1.00, SMS $0.50.
Human services are the most expensive option, and the right one for complex or sensitive calls where a mistake costs more than the receptionist.
AI phone receptionist pricing (Goodcall, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk)
- Goodcall: $79 a month per agent for 100 unique customers, $129 for 250 and $249 for 500, with unlimited minutes. Extra customers cost $0.50 each. Yearly billing saves 15%.
- Dialzara: $29 a month for 60 minutes, $99 for 220, $199 for 500 and $349 for 1,000. Overage runs $0.35 to $0.48 a minute depending on the plan. All plans have a 7-day free trial.
- My AI Front Desk: $99 a month ($79 billed yearly) with 200 voice minutes, overage at $0.25 a minute, plus web chat, SMS and a built-in CRM. 7-day free trial.
- Smith.ai AI Receptionist: a free tier with 25 calls a month ($3 per extra call), Pro from $150 a month (75 calls, about $2.00 per call, with volume discounts) and Enterprise from $500 (about $1.67 per call at 300 calls, lower at higher volume). It can hand complex calls to a live receptionist.
- Rosie: $49 a month for 250 minutes, $149 for 1,000 and $299 for 2,000, with a 7-day trial.
Website chat receptionist pricing
Website chat receptionists answer visitors on your site instead of callers on your phone line. Pricing varies a lot: helpdesk tools charge per seat plus per AI resolution, chatbot builders charge per message credit, and some tools bundle chat into a flat subscription.
Our AI Receptionist is in the flat camp. It is part of the KissMySkills All-Access subscription at $15 a month or $129 a year, which also includes KMS AI CRM and the other KissMySkills tools. It answers visitors from your knowledge base and sends leads into the CRM. There is no per-call billing because there are no calls: it does not answer the phone.
Monthly cost at 50, 200 and 500 inquiries (our estimates)
The costs in this section are our own estimates, not quotes from the providers. Our assumptions:
- Each inquiry is one phone call from one unique caller.
- The average call lasts 2.5 minutes, so 50 inquiries are about 125 minutes, 200 are about 500 minutes and 500 are about 1,250 minutes.
- We use the monthly list prices stated above, pick the cheapest plan that covers the volume or a smaller plan plus listed overage when that is cheaper, and add no add-ons.
- Smith.ai AI: the free tier plus $3 per extra call at 50 calls, Pro at about $2.00 per call at 200 calls (before volume discounts), and Enterprise at about $1.67 per call at 500 calls.
Your numbers will differ, so treat these as a starting point.
| Provider | Channel | Pricing model | Entry price/mo | Our estimate at 200 inquiries | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | Phone (human) | Per minute | $250 | $1,725 (500-minute plan) | Not listed on pricing page |
| Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists | Phone (human) | Per call | $300 | About $1,965 (90-call plan + 110 extra calls at $10.50) | $8.50 to $11.50 per call |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Phone (AI + human backup) | Per call | $0 (25 calls) | About $400 (200 calls at about $2.00) | About $1.67 to $3.00 per call |
| Goodcall | Phone (AI) | Per unique customer | $79 | $129 (250-customer plan) | $0.50 per customer |
| Dialzara | Phone (AI) | Per minute | $29 | $199 (500-minute plan) | $0.35 to $0.48 per minute |
| My AI Front Desk | Phone, chat, SMS (AI) | Flat + minutes | $99 | About $174 ($99 + 300 extra minutes at $0.25) | $0.25 per minute |
| Rosie | Phone (AI) | Per minute | $49 | $149 (1,000-minute plan) | Not listed on pricing page |
| KissMySkills AI Receptionist | Website chat only | Flat, in All-Access | $15 | $15 | No per-chat billing |
At the other volumes (same assumptions, all our estimates):
- 50 inquiries a month (about 125 minutes): Ruby $395 plus overage, or $720 on the 200-minute plan; Smith.ai human about $530 ($300 + 20 calls at $11.50); Smith.ai AI about $75 (25 free + 25 calls at $3); Goodcall $79; Dialzara about $60 ($29 + 65 minutes of overage); Rosie $49; My AI Front Desk $99.
- 500 inquiries a month (about 1,250 minutes): Ruby $1,725 plus overage; Smith.ai human about $3,800 ($2,100 + 200 calls at $8.50); Smith.ai AI about $835 (500 calls at about $1.67); Goodcall $249; Dialzara about $437 ($349 + 250 minutes at $0.35); My AI Front Desk about $362 ($99 + 1,050 minutes at $0.25); Rosie $299.
Two things jump out. Human services cost several times more than AI phone services at every volume. And per-minute plans are only cheap if your calls are short: double the average call length and Dialzara or My AI Front Desk can double too, while Goodcall and Smith.ai stay the same.
A website chat receptionist is not a like-for-like substitute: a chat is not a call. But if a third of your inquiries start on your website, moving those to a $15 chat widget can take you down a tier on your phone plan.
Free AI receptionist options: what you give up
- Smith.ai AI free tier: 25 calls a month. Enough to test real callers, not enough to run a busy line.
- Free trials: Dialzara, My AI Front Desk and Rosie offer 7 days. Use them on your real line, not a test number.
- Free chatbot plans: Tidio's free plan includes 50 one-time AI conversations; Chatbase gives 50 message credits. Fine for testing, not for production.
A truly free AI receptionist that answers every caller does not exist at small-business quality, because every AI minute costs the provider money. "Free" usually means a small allowance, a trial, or branding and limits you will outgrow.
Hidden costs: overages, setup, integrations
- Overages. The biggest surprise on most bills. Check the per-minute or per-call rate above your bundle, not just the plan price.
- Per-call add-ons. Booking, bilingual lines, SMS and payment collection are often extra per call with human services.
- Integrations. Smith.ai includes one CRM integration and charges $0.50 per call for each additional one. Check whether your calendar and CRM connections cost extra.
- Setup. Most providers now include setup, but custom scripting, complex routing or enterprise onboarding can be priced separately.
- Your own time. Any receptionist needs a knowledge base and updates when prices or hours change. Budget an hour a month.
- Phone numbers and tracking numbers. Small monthly fees that add up across locations.
How to choose
- Count one month of inquiries by channel: phone, website, email, social.
- Note average call length. Short calls favor per-minute plans; long calls favor per-call or per-customer plans.
- Decide which calls need a human. Complex, sensitive or high-value calls justify Ruby or Smith.ai human plans; routine calls do not.
- Price your actual month at two or three providers using the table above, including overage and add-ons.
- Cover your website separately with a chat receptionist if a meaningful share of inquiries start there.
Where the others win: phone-first services (Ruby, Smith.ai, Goodcall, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk) are the only option if you need calls answered, and human services win on complex or sensitive calls. Our AI Receptionist wins on price for website inquiries, and it includes a CRM. For more on the tradeoffs, read AI answering service vs human answering service, our AI receptionist for small business guide, and how much it costs to run Claude or ChatGPT for work.
FAQ
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Most AI phone receptionists cost $29 to $350 a month for a small business, billed per minute, per call or per unique caller, and some have free tiers or 7-day trials. At 200 calls a month of about 2.5 minutes each, our estimate is roughly $130 to $400 depending on the provider. Website chat receptionists can be cheaper; the KissMySkills AI Receptionist is part of the $15 a month All-Access subscription.
Is an AI receptionist worth it?
Usually yes if you are missing calls or website inquiries today. Compare the monthly cost with the value of one new customer: if the receptionist saves one or two leads a month, it pays for itself. For complex or sensitive calls, a human service or AI with human backup is still worth the higher price.
Can AI answer phone calls?
Yes. Goodcall, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk, Rosie and Smith.ai's AI Receptionist all answer phone calls with an AI voice, and Smith.ai can transfer to a live person. The KissMySkills AI Receptionist does not answer calls; it answers visitors through a chat widget on your website.
What is the cheapest virtual receptionist?
For phone calls, AI services are cheapest: Rosie starts at $49 for 250 minutes, Dialzara at $29 for 60 minutes, and Smith.ai has a free AI tier for 25 calls. Human services start around $250 a month. For website inquiries, a chat receptionist inside a subscription, like ours at $15 a month, is cheaper still.
See what the AI Receptionist handles on your site. It is included in All-Access; start from the AI Receptionist page.
