AI phone answering for small business: the real cost
QUICK ANSWER
An AI receptionist costs $29 to $199 a month if your phone rings 30 to 50 times. The sticker price is not the bill: what decides it is how the plan counts work - minutes, calls, or unique callers - and what it charges when you go over. At 100 calls a month the same job ranges from about $62 to $250 depending on the provider, while a human receptionist still costs $3,100 to $5,000 a month loaded.
What the plans actually publish
Every number below was read off the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown. Setup fees and overage rates matter more than the headline.
| Service | Entry price | What that includes | The overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosie | $49/mo | 250 phone minutes | Scale $149 for 1,000 min, Growth $299 for 2,000 min |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist | $49/mo | 100 minutes | $0.50 per extra minute |
| Phonely | $50/mo | 200 minutes | $0.25 to $0.35 per extra minute |
| Dialzara | $29/mo | Entry plan | $0.48 per extra minute |
| My AI Front Desk | $99/mo ($79 billed yearly) | 200 voice minutes | About $0.25 per extra minute |
| Moneypenny AI (US) | $69/mo | 25 calls | $2.49 per extra call |
| Smith.ai (AI plan) | $150/mo | 75 calls | $2.50 per extra call |
| Goodcall | Paid plans | Unlimited minutes | Billed per unique caller, not per minute |
| Ruby (human) | $250/mo | 50 minutes of a person | $395 for 100 min, $720 for 200 min |
The same job, priced three ways
Take a normal small operation: 42 calls a month, three minutes each - 126 minutes of talking.
- RingCentral AI Receptionist: $49 covers 100 minutes, then 26 minutes at $0.50 = about $62.
- Rosie: 126 minutes fits inside the $49 tier = $49, with 124 minutes spare.
- Smith.ai AI plan: 42 calls fits inside 75 = $150.
- Same volume with Moneypenny AI: 25 calls included, 17 extra at $2.49 = about $111.
- A human answering service on Ruby's entry plan: 126 minutes needs the $395 tier = $395.
That spread - $49 to $395 for the same phone - is the whole reason this page exists.
The catch nobody puts on the pricing page
- Minutes, calls or unique callers. Cheapest per-minute plans punish a busy month. Smith.ai bills per call, so long calls are cheap and short ones are expensive. Goodcall's plans are "unlimited minutes" but bill per unique caller, so every new customer costs you, while a repeat caller is free.
- The overage is the real price. Going 100 minutes over on RingCentral costs $50; 17 extra calls on Moneypenny costs $42. One busy week can double the bill.
- Setup and onboarding fees. Smith.ai has charged around $95 to set up. Several "$29 entry" services make the money back on overages instead.
- Annual billing in disguise. My AI Front Desk's $79 tier needs paying for the year up front.
- What an AI receptionist still cannot do. It will not physically greet anyone, it will not handle a genuine complaint well, and for anything regulated (health, legal, finance) you need to check the vendor's compliance position before you connect a real phone line.
Compare it with a person, honestly
A full-time receptionist in the US has a median wage of about $38,010 a year before benefits, which lands at roughly $3,100 to $5,000 a month once you add tax and cover. An AI plan at $49 to $199 does not compete on warmth, judgement or a face at the front desk. It competes on answering at 9pm, on Sundays, and on never sending a caller to voicemail.
What we would do
- Under 20 calls a month: do not buy yet. Use voicemail with a clear message, and revisit when you start losing real jobs.
- 20 to 60 calls: pick a plan whose counting method matches your calls. Mostly short booking calls? Per-call pricing is fine. Long technical conversations? Per-minute with a generous allowance (Rosie's $49 tier) wins.
- Over 100 calls, or a team that cannot answer: price the flat unlimited plans against your worst month, not your average one. Predictability is worth more than the lowest sticker.
- Whatever you pick, ask two questions first: what counts as a billable unit, and what happens in your busiest month.
FAQ
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human? On direct cost, yes - by thousands a month in the US, once you count wages and cover. It is not a straight replacement for a person at the front desk.
Can it book appointments? Most of the plans above advertise calendar booking, but the cheaper tiers often add it later or lock it to a higher plan. Check before you buy.
What happens when the AI cannot answer? Good services forward the call to a human number with the context. Ask what the fallback is, because the cheap plans frequently do not include it.
Prices checked
Rosie and Smith.ai: 21-22 September 2026. RingCentral AI Receptionist, Phonely and Moneypenny AI Answering: 5 October 2026. My AI Front Desk and Dialzara: 22 September 2026 and June 2026 pages. US receptionist wage: US Bureau of Labor Statistics median, May 2025. We re-read these on 9-10 October 2026 and will update the page when a vendor changes a plan.