How much does an AI receptionist cost?

How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?

Among the AI receptionists we compare, published starting prices run from $29 a month (Dialzara, 60 call minutes) to $150 (Smith.ai's per-call AI Receptionist); other vendors price differently. Frontivo.io is $199 a month for phone only (300 AI voice minutes, about 100 calls) and $299 for phone, website chat and text, with no setup fee or per-call charge. The human receptionist services we compare (Ruby and Smith.ai) start higher; virtual receptionist pricing compares them with AI.

Prices and features change; check each vendor's site. Trademarks belong to their owners. Competitor details come from each vendor's public website on the date shown and are provided for general comparison only. Frontivo.io is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies. Feature-by-feature details are on the comparison pages.

How are AI receptionists priced?

Most AI receptionists are sold as a monthly subscription; a few voice AI platforms, such as Synthflow, bill pay-as-you-go instead. The fee includes an allowance, typically a number of AI voice minutes for phone calls and a number of conversations for chat and messaging, and a published rate applies if you go over. Some providers also sell single-channel plans (phone only, chat only) at a lower price.

This is a different model from human services. A virtual receptionist or answering service usually charges per minute or per call on top of a monthly base, because a person's time is the cost. With software, answering one more call costs little, so providers can include a generous allowance and let the receptionist answer several calls at the same time. Your bill is predictable: the same amount each month unless you grow. Annual billing is often discounted; Frontivo.io takes 15% off for paying yearly, and shows prices before local tax, which is added at checkout.

What drives the cost?

Four things move the price more than anything else.

• Volume. How many voice minutes and conversations you use each month. More calls means a bigger plan or overage.
• Channels. Phone only is cheaper than phone plus website chat plus text plus WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and email. Pay only for the channels your customers actually use.
• Features. Live call transfer to your team, a CRM with a leads pipeline, automations such as appointment reminders and review requests, analytics and integrations usually sit in the mid and upper plans.
• Seats. How many team members need a login to the inbox and dashboard.

Notice what is not on the list: simultaneous calls, the hours of the day, and the languages spoken. Most software receptionists don't charge extra for the hour of the day or the language, and many take several calls at once (check each vendor's limit on simultaneous calls), which is a large part of why they cost less than a human service for a busy line.

Hidden costs to check before you sign

Two plans with the same headline price can cost very different amounts by the end of the month. Ask these questions of any provider, including Frontivo.io.

Text message pricing outside North America. SMS costs carriers more in some countries. Frontivo.io counts texts outside the US and Canada as more units of the allowance (roughly five times in the UK, Australia and most of Europe, up to fifteen times in countries such as the Philippines or India) and recommends WhatsApp there.

The full terms are on the plans and billing and cancellations and refunds help pages.

What does Frontivo.io cost?

Frontivo.io publishes its prices, and they are the same in every country (before local tax). The monthly plans are:

Phone Only and Starter include live call transfer and appointment reminders, and Starter adds the Leads and Customers pages (CRM). Growth adds review requests and follow-ups, analytics with booked revenue by channel, webhooks and the API (for Zapier, Make and n8n), and HubSpot, Pipedrive and GoHighLevel sync. Every plan includes two receptionist voices, the knowledge base, appointment booking, the unified inbox and human handoff by message. A conversation is one customer on one channel within 24 hours, with up to 10 AI replies. Extra usage is $0.35 per voice minute, $0.25 per conversation, $0.10 per AI text reply and $0.05 per automated text, billed automatically at the start of the next month with an emailed invoice; a month under $10 rolls into the next one. Several locations or 1,500+ minutes a month? Talk to us. The current plan details are always on the pricing page.

How to estimate the plan you need

You do not need exact numbers. A rough picture of one typical month is enough, and you can change plans later.

1. 1Count your calls. Look at your phone bill or call log for a normal month and note the inbound calls, including the ones you missed.
2. 2Estimate the average length. A quick question takes a minute or two; a booking with a few qualifying questions takes longer. Pick a realistic average.
3. 3Multiply. Calls per month times average minutes gives your voice minutes. For example, 100 calls at about 3 minutes each is about 300 minutes; compare that with the 300 minutes on Phone Only and 300 on Starter. Above your plan's allowance you need Growth (450 minutes; opens soon, reserve it at no charge) or some overage.
4. 4Add chat and messages. Estimate website chats and WhatsApp or social messages per month; each back-and-forth with one customer is one conversation. Add texts if you use SMS.
5. 5Leave headroom. Pick the plan whose allowance sits comfortably above your estimate. If you sit between two plans, some overage on the smaller one may still cost less than the next plan up.

A solo plumber with about 60 calls a month at 3 minutes each uses about 180 voice minutes, inside the 300 minutes of Phone Only ($199).

A small clinic with about 80 calls a month at 3 minutes each (about 240 voice minutes) plus 150 website chats fits Starter ($299: 300 minutes and 300 conversations).

If you are unsure, start with the 14-day free trial; the dashboard shows exactly what you used, which makes the choice easy at the end.

How does it compare to a salaried receptionist?

A salaried receptionist brings judgement, warmth and the ability to do other work between calls, and for a business with a front desk that is often the right choice. The cost is a full salary plus benefits, and the coverage is one person for one shift: they cannot answer two calls at once, and they are not there at night, on weekends, or when they are sick or on holiday.

An AI receptionist costs a flat monthly fee, answers calls at any hour, several at a time, and does not take sick days or holidays. It does not replace the human touch in the room, but it does replace the missed calls and the after-hours voicemail. Many businesses keep their front-desk person and use the AI for overflow and after hours; the benefits guide covers this combination.

In the US, one full-time receptionist costs an employer roughly $4,500 a month in pay and benefits, for one person on one shift; virtual receptionist pricing shows how that figure is worked out from BLS data, and pay differs by country and city.

How does it compare to a per-minute answering service?

A human answering service bills for the minutes an operator spends on your calls, usually with a monthly base fee and a bundle of included minutes. The per-minute model rewards short calls and makes the bill move with your volume. Operators typically take a message and pass it on, and may charge extra for patching a call through.

An AI receptionist includes a fixed allowance of minutes in the monthly fee, handles the call end to end (answering questions, qualifying, booking on your calendar), and answers several calls at once in busy periods, within the plan allowance. Its overage rate is published and predictable. See AI receptionist vs answering service and AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist for the detailed comparisons.

Is the cost worth it for a small business?

Work it out from one number: what a new customer is worth to you. If a single booked job, consultation or appointment is worth more than the monthly plan, the AI only needs to catch one call you would otherwise have missed to pay for itself. The guide on missed calls in small business helps you think it through, and AI receptionist for small business covers the wider fit.

The safest way to test the value is the free trial: 14 days, no card, and website chat live in about fifteen minutes.