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Three kinds of answering service
Before comparing prices, decide which kind you want. They answer the phone in very different ways.
- Live answering service: trained operators answer in your business's name, take a message or follow your script, and transfer or page you for urgent calls. You pay for their time, by the minute or by the call.
- AI answering service (AI receptionist): software answers instantly, at any hour, and several calls at once. It answers questions from your business details, takes details and, depending on the product, books appointments and transfers calls. Plans include more calls or minutes for the money.
- Hybrid: AI handles routine calls and a live agent joins when the call needs one. Smith.ai, for example, sells this from about $2.50 per call.
The trade-off is judgement against cost and coverage. A person handles unusual, sensitive or emotional calls better; AI costs less per call, answers several calls at once instead of queueing them, and keeps the same quality at 3 a.m. AI receptionist vs answering service goes through the differences in detail.
What a small business should look for
- Hours: 24/7, business hours only, or after hours and overflow. Check whether nights, weekends and holidays cost extra.
- What counts as usage: minutes (and how they are rounded), calls, or unique customers. Short or spam calls may or may not be billed.
- What happens after the answer: a message, a booking on your real calendar, a warm transfer to you, or a text to the caller.
- Your other channels: whether website chat and text messages are covered too, or sold as separate plans.
- Records: a written message, a recording, or a full transcript and summary you can search later.
- Terms: setup fees, contract length, whether the trial needs a card, and the cost of going over your allowance.
Live answering services compared
These services use real operators. Each row is the vendor's cheapest published plan at its monthly price, sorted by price.
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| Service and plan | Starting price | Included | Extra usage | Setup and trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PATLive | $99/month (or $49/month pay as you go) | 50 minutes, about 20 calls (none on pay as you go) | $2.29 per minute ($2.99 pay as you go) | No contract; 14-day free trial |
| Abby Connect Starter | $164/month | 50 minutes (AI minutes count as half) | Billed at the plan's minute rate | No setup fee; month to month; free trial |
| Ruby Startup | $250/month | 50 minutes | Not published | No setup or onboarding fees listed |
| Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists Starter | $300/month | 30 calls | $11.50 per call | No setup fee; month to month |
| AnswerConnect Entry | $350/month | 200 minutes | $2.50 per minute | $49.99 setup fee |
AnswerConnect's next plan, Growth, is $395 a month for 300 minutes with no setup fee, so its entry plan is rarely the cheapest way to buy 200 or more minutes. Virtual receptionist pricing explains how per-minute billing adds up.
AI answering services compared
These answer with AI: you add your business details and forward your number. Each row is the vendor's cheapest plan at its monthly price, sorted by price, with Frontivo.io's plans for reference.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
| Product and plan | Starting price | Included | Extra usage | Free plan or trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist Free | $0 | 25 calls | $3.00 per call | Free plan; Pro from $150/month for 75 calls |
| Upfirst Starter | $24.95/month | 30 calls (calls under 15 seconds not billed) | $1.50 per call | 14-day trial, no card |
| Dialzara Business Lite | $29/month | 60 minutes | $0.48 per minute | 7-day trial |
| Frontivo.io Phone Only | $199/month | 300 voice minutes (about 100 calls) | $0.35 per minute | 14-day trial, no card |
| Frontivo.io Starter | $299/month | 300 voice minutes, 300 website chats, 300 AI text replies | Published per-unit rates | 14-day trial, no card |
The AI receptionist pricing guide lists 24 AI vendors from their own pricing pages, and best AI receptionist for small business compares features such as booking and handoff.
What a 100-call month costs
Starting prices hide how each plan bills. Here is one example month, 100 calls of about 3 minutes each (about 300 minutes), priced as the cheapest combination of plan and extra usage each vendor publishes. Your own call count and length will give different numbers.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
| Service | How the month is billed | Cost for the month |
|---|---|---|
| Upfirst (AI) | Premium, 90 calls at $59.95, plus 10 calls at $1 | $69.95 |
| Dialzara (AI) | Business Pro, 220 minutes at $99, plus 80 minutes at $0.45 | $135 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Pro, 75 calls at $150, plus 25 calls at $2.50 | $212.50 |
| AnswerConnect (live) | Growth, 300 minutes | $395 |
| PATLive (live) | 300-minute plan | $479 |
| Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists (live) | Basic, 90 calls at $810, plus 10 calls at $10.50 | $915 |
Frontivo.io Phone Only includes 300 voice minutes for $199 a month, with extra minutes at $0.35. Ruby and Abby Connect are left out of this table because their pages don't show a dollar price for minutes beyond the plan.
Which kind fits which small business
- A person on every call matters most (sensitive calls, a premium brand, callers who expect a human): a live service, or a hybrid if most calls are routine.
- Most calls are routine questions and bookings: an AI answering service costs far less per call and answers several calls at once.
- Low volume, a few calls a week: a free or per-call AI plan, or pay-as-you-go live answering, may cost less than a monthly bundle you don't use.
- Calls after hours are the problem: see after-hours call answering for the options by cost.
- Calls are missed because you're on a job: a missed-call text-back keeps the conversation going even before you add an answering service; see missed-call text-back.
Where Frontivo.io fits, and where it doesn't
Frontivo.io publishes this guide. It is an AI receptionist on a flat monthly plan with usage included: $199 a month for phone only, or $299 for phone, website chat and voice, and text in one inbox, with a 14-day free trial and no card. It answers from your own business details, books on your calendar, texts back callers it couldn't answer, and records a transcript and summary of every conversation.
It does not offer human operators. When a caller asks for a person or your rules say so, the call is transferred to your team or you get a detailed message and an alert. If you want an outside person to take those calls, a live or hybrid service from the tables above is the closer fit.
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.