What an AI receptionist actually costs

Every AI receptionist quote is made of three numbers. Most pages show you one of them. Ask for all three, because the number that is missing is the one that grows.

The three numbers on every quote

• One-time build — writing the agent around your trade, your prices and your service area, connecting your calendar, and testing the call flows.
• Monthly platform fee — what you pay whether the phone rings or not.
• Per-minute or per-conversation rate — what calls cost once you pass the included minutes, and what the overage rate is.

A quote with a low monthly fee and no published overage rate is not a cheaper quote. It is an unfinished one.

What these actually run in the market

• Self-serve chatbots and DIY voice tools: roughly $30–150 a month. You build it yourself, so the cost shows up as your evenings instead of a line item.
• An AI receptionist set up for you: typically $200–600 a month plus a one-time build. It moves with call volume and with how much the agent does — booking into your calendar costs more than taking messages.
• A human answering service: $300–1,200+ a month, billed by the minute ($1–$3 in many markets). They take a message; they do not know your pricing and cannot book your week.
• A full-time receptionist: $2,800–4,000 a month once you count wage, taxes and cover — plus hiring, training and turnover.

We quote per business rather than publishing a number, because the honest variable is how many calls you get and what you want done with them.

The comparison that actually matters

Ignore the monthly fee for a second and do this sum: average job value × jobs you would have won. A $4,000 average ticket, two calls a week nobody answered, and even a 25% close rate is about 26 jobs a year. One of those pays for a year of most AI receptionists.

If your average job is $400, the maths changes and so does the right tool. That is why the useful question is not “what does it cost” but “what does it cost per job it books”.

Questions to ask on any quote

• What is the overage rate per minute, and what counts as a minute?
• Is the build fee one-time or annual?
• Does it book into my calendar, or only take a message?
• Who edits the script when my prices or service area change?
• What happens to my number and my transcripts if I cancel?

Questions owners ask first

Is there a setup fee?

Usually, yes. It should be described as one-time, and it covers building the agent around your trade and testing the call flows. Be wary of a build fee that renews annually.

What happens if I go over the included minutes?

You are billed per minute at the overage rate. Ask for that rate in writing before you sign, and for the average minute count of a business your size.

Do I have to sign a contract?

Ask for month-to-month. If a provider needs twelve months to make the maths work, the maths is not working.