What an AI receptionist actually costs for a small shop

Every vendor in this category, including us, would rather you compared features. Owners compare the bill. So this guide is the bill: what each option costs to start, what that money buys, and what a minute or a call works out to. Every figure was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown at the bottom, and we have named the places where we are not the cheapest choice.

How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?

AI-native answering services run from $29 to $300 a month at their entry tier. The spread is not about quality so much as about what the tier includes and how usage is metered: minutes, calls, or unique customers. The table below puts them on one line each.

Per-minute figures divide the plan price by the included minutes, so they describe a plan used to its cap. A plan used to a third of its cap costs three times as much per minute. Goodcall and Smith.ai do not meter minutes, so their column is what they do meter.

What does a human answering service cost?

A human service starts around $250 a month and the meter runs faster, because you are paying for a person's time. Ruby's plans are the cleanest example: the same features on every plan, and the only thing that changes is minutes.

At an average of about three minutes a call, Ruby's 200-minute plan is roughly 65 calls for $720. Botspire's Starter is roughly 100 calls for $59. That gap is the whole argument for AI answering, and it is also why the next section matters: a human does things at $3.60 a minute that software does not do at $0.20.

What does an in-house receptionist cost?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median receptionist wage at $38,010 a year, or $18.27 an hour, as of May 2025. That is $3,168 a month in wages alone, before payroll tax, benefits, and the desk. It buys one shift. Nights, weekends, lunch and sick days are still the voicemail.

For a two-truck shop that is the honest comparison: not AI against a human, but AI against nobody, because nobody is what answers at 7pm.

Where does Botspire lose on price?

• Cheapest to start: Dialzara at $29 undercuts our Starter by half. If you take fewer than 60 minutes of calls a month, it is the cheaper bill.
• Unlimited minutes: Goodcall does not meter minutes at all. A shop with long calls and few customers pays less there.
• A person on the line: Ruby and Smith.ai can put a human on the call. We cannot, and for some businesses that is worth the difference.
• Track record: Rosie, Smith.ai and Ruby have years of public reviews. Botspire launched in 2026 and has the reviews of a company that launched in 2026.
• Texting takes a registration: US carriers require the company behind a texting number to be registered, which takes a few days. Until it clears, our text-back and text alerts do not send. Every vendor texting from a business number has this step; we are saying it out loud.

Where does Botspire win on price?

• Booking and transfer on the cheapest plan. Rosie's $49 plan texts an appointment link and has no live transfer; those arrive at $149. Botspire's $59 plan books into your calendar and transfers live.
• Minutes at the mid tier. Botspire Pro and Rosie Scale are both $149 for 1,000 minutes. Ours includes three answerers and three numbers; a shop with two brands or two locations pays once.
• Overage that does not punish a busy month. Starter is $0.15 a minute past the cap, or about 45 cents for a three-minute call. Smith.ai's overage is $11.50 a call.

How should a small shop choose?

1. Count last month's missed calls. Your phone system or carrier shows them. Multiply by your average ticket and by a conservative one-in-four close rate. That is the monthly cost of doing nothing, and for most trades it is over $1,000.
2. Decide whether you need a human on the line. If callers are elderly, distressed, or paying by card over the phone, a human service may earn its price.
3. If not, pick the AI plan whose included minutes cover your call volume with room to spare, and check that booking and transfer are on the plan you are actually buying, not the one at the top of the page.
4. Hear it before you pay. Ours rings your own phone with your own prices before a card is asked for. Insist on the equivalent from anyone else.