Virtual receptionist pricing: what human, AI and hybrid services cost per month

How much does a virtual receptionist cost per month?

Among the human services we compare, a virtual receptionist starts at a few hundred dollars a month for a small bundle of minutes or calls: Ruby at $250 for 50 receptionist minutes and Smith.ai at $300 for 30 calls; other providers price differently. AI receptionists start lower. The other AI vendors we compare list entry plans from $29 to $150 a month, and Frontivo.io Phone Only is $199 a month.

The table is a starting point, not a quote. Every vendor sells bigger bundles, and the right one depends on how many calls you get and how long they last.

Prices vary for four reasons: who answers (a person's time costs more than software), how usage is counted (per minute, per call or per unique caller), which channels are covered (the phone only, or chat, text and messaging apps too) and which features are included, such as live transfer, calendar booking and CRM connections.

Prices and features change; check each vendor's site. Trademarks belong to their owners. Frontivo.io is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies. For a closer look at each vendor, see the comparison pages.

Per minute, per call or flat monthly: how each model bills you

Virtual receptionists bill per minute, per call, or as a flat monthly fee with an allowance. Each model starts with a monthly bundle. What differs is the unit the bundle is measured in, and what you pay once you go past it.

• Per minute. You pay for the time spent on your calls, so long calls and busy months raise the bill. Ruby bills human receptionist time this way. On the AI side, one extra minute at Dialzara costs $0.35-$0.48, depending on the plan.
• Per call. Each answered call uses one unit of your bundle, however long it lasts. That suits long calls, but many short calls add up. Smith.ai's human plans work this way, and one extra human-answered call costs $8.50-$11.50.
• Flat monthly with an allowance. You pay the same fee each month for a set number of minutes, calls or customers, with a published rate beyond it. Most AI receptionists, Frontivo.io included, use this model. Goodcall counts unique customers instead of minutes.

Here is a worked month for Frontivo.io Phone Only. Say you get 120 calls a month and they average about 3 minutes each: that is about 360 minutes. Phone Only includes 300 voice minutes, and any minutes above that are billed at $0.35 each on top of the $199 plan fee. 60 extra minutes × $0.35 = $21, so that month costs about $220 before tax. Extra usage is billed at the start of the next month.

We do not work out monthly totals for the other vendors. Each one sells bigger bundles, priced on its own page, and the right bundle depends on your volume. The steps at the end of this guide show how to price your own month with each of them.

What does a human answering service cost, and what does the base fee buy?

Among the human services we compare, an answering service starts at $250-$300 a month: Ruby's entry plan is $250 for 50 receptionist minutes, and Smith.ai's is $300 for 30 calls. The base fee buys a bundle of minutes or calls answered by live people. Anything beyond the bundle is billed extra, so a busy month costs more than the base fee.

Before you sign, ask what the bundle really covers:

• Overage. What does one extra minute or call cost, and is there a cap on the monthly bill?
• After-hours cover. Are nights, weekends and holidays included, or charged at a higher rate?
• Patching calls. Does transferring a caller to you cost extra, and does the transferred time use up your bundle?
• Booking. Can the receptionist book straight into your calendar, and is there a fee per booking?
• Setup fees. Is there an activation, onboarding or setup fee? Ruby, Smith.ai and Dialzara list none.
• Contract. Is the plan month to month, and how much notice do you need to give to cancel?

A human service is worth paying for when you want a person on the line for warmth or judgement. If most of your calls are routine questions and bookings, price the same month on an AI plan too. AI receptionist vs answering service covers the differences beyond price.

How AI receptionist plans compare with human services

AI receptionists charge a flat monthly fee with an allowance of minutes, calls or conversations and a published rate beyond it, while human services bill each extra minute or call a person handles. The AI vendors we compare start at $29 to $150 a month, and Frontivo.io Phone Only is $199 a month with no setup, transfer or after-hours fee. For the AI plans and allowances side by side, read How much does an AI receptionist cost?

Hybrid: AI with people behind it

In a hybrid setup, AI answers first and passes the call to a person when one is needed. That person can be a staffed receptionist at the vendor, or someone on your own team.

Smith.ai's AI plan is an example of the first kind: it can pass calls to its live receptionists. If you choose a setup like this, ask how the calls that people handle are billed.

Frontivo.io is the second kind. Live call transfer to your own team is included on Phone Only, Starter and Growth, and your team can take over any chat or message from the inbox and hand it back to the AI. Frontivo.io's plans include no staffed human receptionists, so if you want someone outside your business to answer, you need a human answering service. See human handoff.

Hidden fees to check

Overage, setup, transfers, after-hours cover, phone numbers and contract terms are where monthly bills differ. Ask every vendor these questions before you sign. Frontivo.io's answers are in the table.

Frontivo.io also emails you at 80% and 100% of each allowance, and service pauses at 3 times your allowance (or at the allowance itself, if you choose), so a busy month cannot turn into an open-ended bill.

For a human service, ask the vendor each question in the table and get the answers in writing. The full Frontivo.io terms are on the plans and billing and cancellations and refunds help pages.

Virtual receptionist vs hiring in-house (US example)

In the United States the median receptionist wage was $38,010 a year in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Benefits made up 30.0% of private-industry employer compensation costs in June 2026 (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation), so wages are about 70% of the total: $38,010 / 0.70 = about $54,300 a year, or roughly $4,500 a month for one person on one shift, before recruiting, training and cover for absence. This is a rough estimate that mixes an occupation-specific wage with an all-industry benefits share; outside the US, substitute your local receptionist wage and on-costs.

Set that against the monthly cost of a virtual or AI receptionist at your own call volume. Price is not the whole story: an in-house receptionist can greet visitors and do other work between calls, while an AI receptionist answers around the clock and can take several calls at once. Many businesses use both, with the AI taking overflow, lunch breaks and after-hours calls.

Virtual receptionist pricing outside the US

Outside the US, first check that a service covers your country, language and time zone; many human services quote for US coverage, and the AI plans we compare are priced in US dollars, with local tax added where it applies. Then compare prices in your own currency. Frontivo.io prices are in US dollars and are the same in every country, before local tax, which is added at checkout.

What changes by country is how usage is counted. A normal text to the US or Canada counts once against your text allowance. Texts to other countries count about 5 times (the UK, Australia and much of Europe), 15 times (for example, the Philippines or India) and a little more where carriers charge the most. In some countries a call minute counts as 2 or more minutes of your allowance.

Plans with calls or texts include one Frontivo.io number, and a US or Canadian number never costs extra. In many other countries, including the UK, Australia, Japan and most of Europe, the number is included in your plan too. Where numbers cost more than $5 a month to keep, the number has a monthly local-number fee (for example $20 a month for a local number in the Philippines), charged once a month with any extra usage. The fee is for keeping the number, not a charge per call, so it's the same when you forward your existing line to it. You see the exact amount on the Phone calls card and confirm it before the number is set up.

WhatsApp is usually the better channel for messaging outside North America, because WhatsApp messages are not counted as texts. WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger open soon, once Meta's approval is through: reserve WhatsApp Only, Instagram Only, Messenger Only or Growth at no charge.

The countries page shows Frontivo.io's phone, text and WhatsApp coverage by country.

How to compare quotes

Compare quotes by pricing the same month at every vendor, using your real numbers.

1. 1Count your calls and minutes. Take a normal month from your phone bill or call log, including missed calls. Calls times average length gives your monthly minutes.
2. 2Price your volume on each vendor's page. Convert your month into each vendor's unit (minutes, calls or unique callers) and find the bundle that covers it.
3. 3Add overage and fees. Add the cost of usage beyond the bundle, plus any setup, after-hours, transfer, booking or phone number fees.
4. 4Check who answers and what happens after hours. Is it a person or AI, are nights and weekends included, and where do calls go when a person is needed?
5. 5Run a trial. Test with your real calls before you commit. With Frontivo.io you can start a free trial: 14 days, no card needed, and the dashboard shows exactly what you used.