AI receptionist pricing
How much does an AI receptionist cost in 2026?
On published list prices checked 10/11/2026, an AI receptionist costs from $0 to about $800 a month at the entry plans: Smith.ai's AI plans start free and Pro is $150, Goodcall runs $79 to $299, and Sameday AI starts at $449. Live-agent services cost more per call, from $300 a month for 30 calls at Smith.ai. Foreman is $495 per location per month and includes quote follow-up and customer-list work, not only answering.
What do AI receptionists & answering services list for?
Prices as listed on 10/11/2026, each from the vendor's own pricing page. These are list prices, not quotes; plans, meters & limits change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
| Product | Type | List price | How it is metered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodcall | AI | $79, $129 or $299 a month | Per unique customer: 100, 500 or 2,000 a month included, then 79, 26 or 15 cents each. No per-minute charge. |
| Smith.ai, AI plans | AI | $0, $150 or from $500 a month | Per call: 25 calls free then $3.00; Pro $2.00 a call; Enterprise $1.67 a call at 300 calls. |
| Sameday AI | AI, home services | From $449 or from $789 a month | Per minute bundle: starts at 500 or 1,000 minutes. Three locations on Launch, unlimited on Scale. |
| Smith.ai, live agents | Live people | $300, $810 or $2,100 a month | Per call: 30, 90 or 300 calls included, overage $11.50, $10.50 or $8.50 a call. Booking $1.50 & text follow-up $0.50 a call extra. |
| Ruby | Live people | Not shown on the page we read | Plans from 50 to 500 minutes a month with 24/7 coverage. Ask for the current price. |
| Live answering services in general | Live people | $100 to $1,000 or more a month | Per-minute plans $0.75 to $1.50 a minute, per-call plans $1 to $11 a call (Nextiva guide, checked 10/10/2026). |
| Foreman | AI operator | $495 per location a month | Flat. Includes 150 voice minutes & 2,000 texts, then $0.25 a minute & $0.03 a text. Operator + Growth $1,495. Extra locations $395. |
Why do the prices look so different?
Because the meter is different. Goodcall bills per unique customer, Smith.ai per call, Sameday per bundle of minutes, and Foreman a flat fee per location with usage included. The monthly headline tells you little. Take your last month of calls and work out what each plan would have charged: a plan that looks cheap at 30 calls can cost more than a flat fee at 300.
Industry-wide, Nextiva's guide puts live answering at $100 to $1,000 or more a month & AI answering at $50 to $300, which matches the AI plans above except the home-services specialists, which price higher.
What does the price leave out?
Four things. Booking: some plans answer and take a message but charge extra to book into your calendar. Follow-up: text or email after the call is often an add-on. Locations: extra numbers or sites may be priced separately. Overage: the cost per call or minute past the bundle. Smith.ai's live plans, for example, list booking at $1.50 a call and text and email follow-up at $0.50 a call as add-ons.
Ask every vendor for the bill at your volume, in writing, with booking & follow-up included.
What does Foreman cost?
Operator is $495 per location per month, Operator + Growth with managed ads is $1,495, and Custom starts at $2,500. Each location includes 150 voice minutes and 2,000 texts; overage is $0.25 a minute and $0.03 a text. Extra locations on Operator are $395. No setup fee and no contract. Foreman answers by text, voice, email and chat, then follows up on every quote, works the customer list and sends a six-line report each Monday, so it is not the same product as an answering plan. Details on the pricing page.
Is an AI receptionist worth it?
Compare the price with what a missed call costs you. Worked example, labelled as an example: a $350 job & a 30% chance the caller would have booked makes each missed call worth about $105. At that rate a $495 plan is covered by about 5 recovered calls a month. Your numbers will differ; the formula is on the missed-call cost page.
Questions owners ask
What else do people ask about AI receptionist pricing?
How much does an AI receptionist cost in 2026?
On published list prices checked 10/11/2026, entry plans run from $0 to about $800 a month: Smith.ai's AI plans start free and Pro is $150 a month, Goodcall is $79 to $299 a month, and Sameday AI starts at $449. Foreman is $495 per location per month and also follows up on quotes and works the customer list.
Why do AI receptionist prices vary so much?
They are metered differently. Some charge per call, some per unique customer, some per minute bundle and some a flat fee per location. A low monthly number can become a high bill at your call volume, so convert each plan to a cost per answered call at your own volume before you compare.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
Usually, per call. On the list prices above, a live-agent plan costs from $300 a month for 30 calls at Smith.ai, while AI plans start at $0 to $449. A live person is still the better choice for distressed callers or sensitive intake.
What is usually not included in the price?
Booking into your calendar, text follow-up, extra locations, overage and number porting are the common extras. Smith.ai lists appointment booking at $1.50 a call and text and email follow-up at $0.50 a call on its live plans.
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small business?
It is worth it when the calls it answers are worth more than it costs. On a worked example of a $350 job and a 30% booking rate, one recovered call is about $105, so a $495 plan pays for itself at about 5 recovered calls a month. Use your own numbers.
Does Foreman charge per minute?
No. It is $495 per location per month with 150 voice minutes and 2,000 texts included. Past that, extra voice minutes are $0.25 and extra texts $0.03. No contract, 30 days notice.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Goodcall, Pricing: Starter $79 a month (100 unique customers, then 79 cents each), Growth $129 (500, then 26 cents), Scale $299 (2,000, then 15 cents). Billed per unique customer, no per-minute charge.
- Smith.ai, AI Receptionist plans: Free ($0, 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call), Pro ($150 a month at $2.00 a call), Enterprise (from $500 a month at $1.67 a call).
- Smith.ai, live receptionist plans: Starter $300 a month (30 calls), Basic $810 (90 calls), Pro $2,100 (300 calls), overage $11.50, $10.50 & $8.50 a call. Appointment booking is listed at $1.50 a call & text & email follow-up at $0.50 a call.
- Sameday AI, Pricing: Launch from $449 a month (starts at 500 minutes), Scale from $789 a month (starts at 1,000 minutes), Enterprise custom.
- Ruby, Plans & pricing: plans from 50 to 500 minutes a month, 24/7 coverage. The page text we could read did not show dollar amounts, so no price is quoted here.
- Nextiva, Answering Service Cost: What You Can Expect to Pay in 2026: live answering $100 to $1,000 or more a month, AI answering $50 to $300 a month, per-minute plans $0.75 to $1.50 a minute, per-call plans $1 to $11 a call.
Checked 10/11/2026. Vendor studies are directional, not audited. Where a figure is called an industry estimate, we could not trace it to a primary study. Your own phone log beats every number on this page.