How much does an AI receptionist cost?
An AI receptionist costs between $297 and $497 per month for a done-for-you service. At AiVoiceHost that breaks down into two plans: $297/month for a receptionist that answers your phone live 24/7 with 500 voice minutes included, and $497/month for the full front desk — live answering, a premium voice you choose, AI text replies, reputation management, and follow-up automation. Every allowance and overage rate is printed on the plan.
Here is the full breakdown:
| Plan | Monthly price | Setup | What you get | Included allowance | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | $297 | $297 — deferred until the pilot ends, charged only if it books a job | AI receptionist answers live 24/7, books appointments, text-back built in, weekly report | 500 minutes/month included | $0.50/min |
| Gold | $497 | $497 — deferred until the pilot ends, charged only if it books a job | Everything in Silver plus a premium voice you choose, AI text replies, reputation management, smart follow-up | 750 minutes/month included | $0.50/min |
Monthly plans are month-to-month with no contract; once your pilot converts you can also prepay a year at a discount. Current details always live on the pricing page.
Why the price range is so wide across the industry
"AI receptionist" covers everything from $20 self-serve apps to enterprise call platforms, so quotes vary wildly. The real dividing line is who does the work:
- Self-serve apps are cheap because you are the builder: you write the prompts, connect the calendar, test the edge cases, and troubleshoot when carriers flag your number. Viable if you enjoy that work; most owners don't finish the setup.
- Done-for-you services cost more because the vendor builds the receptionist on your business — your services, prices, booking rules — registers your number properly, and maintains it. You get an answered phone, not a software project.
- Enterprise platforms price per seat or per thousands of minutes and make sense for call centers, not for a five-truck shop.
A useful anchor from the other direction: a human receptionist runs $4,000+ a month for 40 hours a week — one caller at a time, no nights, no weekends. A done-for-you AI receptionist covers all 168 hours for roughly a tenth of that.
Watch the minutes, not just the monthly price
The most common pricing trap in this category is the invisible cap. Some services advertise a low monthly rate, then bill steeply once your real call volume shows up — and you only find out in month two. Whatever vendor you choose, ask three questions:
- How many minutes are included, in writing?
- What does a minute cost after that?
- Will overages be itemized on the invoice?
We print the answers on the plan card: 500 minutes/month included on Silver at $0.50/min after; 750 minutes/month included on Gold. If a vendor won't put their caps in writing, the monthly price isn't the real price.
What the setup fee covers (and when it's charged)
Both plans carry a one-time setup fee — Silver $297, Gold $497 — but it's deferred behind the Free 30-Day Pilot Program. Free for 30 days. No card to start, no contract. First booked job or you owe nothing: a booked job is an appointment Ellen books onto your connected calendar during the pilot that you don't mark as test or spam within 48 hours. If she books one, when the pilot ends (never before day 30) we charge your setup fee plus your first month — Silver $594 ($297 setup + $297 first month) or Gold $994 ($497 setup + $497 first month) — and then just the monthly price until you cancel. The setup fee is charged once, ever. If she doesn't book one, nothing is charged — there's no card on file to charge.
What "cost" misses: the other side of the ledger
The honest cost question isn't "what does it cost?" — it's "what does the unanswered phone cost?" The missed-call math post shows how to work it out from your own call count and job value.
One more cost question worth asking any vendor: who owns the receptionist you're paying for? Your number, your data, your voice — if leaving means losing them, the real price is lock-in. Ours is the opposite, in writing: you own your assets, and if you leave, we export everything and hand it over. Details on the FAQ, full terms on /terms/.
Bottom line: $297/month gets your phone answered live around the clock. $497/month runs the whole front desk. The Free 30-Day Pilot Program is how you find out which one your call volume deserves.
