Pricing models

Per call, per minute or flat.

Short answer: AI receptionists bill in seven ways: per call, minute bundles, flat tiers, credits, raw per-minute usage, add-ons to software you already run, and per resolved outcome. The headline price means little until you know which unit you are buying. Long calls favour per-call plans; short calls favour minute bundles.

22 vendors grouped by how their own pricing page bills.
Per call: from a free 25-call tier (Smith.ai) to 600 calls for US$399/mo (GetHelpdesk.AI).
Minute bundles: from 60 minutes for $29/mo (Dialzara).
Build your own: $0.07–$0.31 per minute (Retell AI).

Per call.

You buy a bundle of answered calls; extra calls cost a fixed fee. Long calls cost the same as short ones.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Smith.ai	Free: 25 calls/mo, then $3.00/call. Pro: $150/mo for 75 calls (~$2.00/call). Enterprise: $500/mo for 300 calls (~$1.67/call). Volume discounts on higher call packs.	vendor
OnCrew	$49/mo (100 calls), $149/mo (400), $349/mo (1,000); $0.99 per extra call.	vendor
GetHelpdesk.AI	$399/mo flat, up to 600 inbound calls/mo, no per-minute or after-hours charges. First month free.	vendor

Per minute, bundled.

A monthly plan includes a pool of minutes; overage is billed per minute. Hold time and transfers eat the pool.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Dialzara	Business Lite $29/mo (60 min, $0.48/min over). Business Pro $99/mo (220 min, $0.45/min over). Business Plus $199/mo (500 min, $0.40/min over). Business Elite $349/mo (1,000 min, $0.35/min over). Add-ons: AI SMS agent $19/mo + $0.05/message; website chatbot $39/mo. Separate outbound calling plans from $750/mo.	vendor
My AI Front Desk	Business-in-a-Box: $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually, with 200 voice minutes a month. Extra usage via credits ($10 per 1,000).	vendor
Safigo Reception	Plug & Play $369/mo CAD ($299/mo introductory for the first 2 months), 300 min, no setup fee. Plus $500/mo CAD, 500 min. Built-for-you: $500 CAD setup + $369/mo CAD, 300 min. Built-for-you Multi: $2,000 CAD setup minimum + $1,000/mo CAD, 1,000 min, for multi-phone or multi-location businesses. Local Boost add-on +$200/mo CAD.	vendor

Flat monthly tiers.

A fixed monthly fee per tier, or flat per location. Check what each tier caps before you compare.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Rosie	Professional $49/mo, Scale $149/mo, Growth $299/mo (two months free on annual billing). Website texting add-on $50/mo.	vendorAffiliate link. What this means
Goodcall	Starter $79/mo, Growth $129/mo, Scale $299/mo.	vendor
Futuro	Small business: flat $200–$1,000/mo, unlimited inbound calls (scales with integration complexity). Mid-market/enterprise: $0.10–$0.30 per completed call. 7-day free trial.	vendor
Slang.ai	From $399 per location/mo (Core). From $599 per location/mo (higher tier).	vendor
Sameday	From $449/mo (after-hours plan, starts with 500 minutes). From $789/mo (answers all calls, starts with 1,000 minutes).	vendor
Yobi	AI Integrated (dental PMS): $600/mo.	vendor

Credits.

Usage is drawn from a credit balance, so the cost of a call depends on what the agent does.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Beside	Part-time $99/mo (5,000 credits). Full-time $249.99/mo (12,500 credits).	vendor
Quo (formerly OpenPhone)	Phone plans $19, $33 or $47 per user/mo. Sona AI credit tiers $0, $25, $49, $99 or $199/mo on top (1,000 free automation credits / ~10 calls included).	vendor
ElevenLabs (Agents / Reception)	Credit-based platform plans: Free, Starter $6/mo, Creator $22/mo, Pro $99/mo, Scale $299/mo, Business $990/mo. No separate receptionist product price on the vendor's page.	vendorAffiliate link. What this means

Pay per minute (build your own).

Developer platforms bill every minute of talk time. Cheapest at low volume, but you build and run the agent.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Retell AI	Pay as you go: $0.07–$0.31/min for voice agents. $10 free credit. 20 concurrent calls included; extra capacity $8 per concurrent call/mo.	vendor
Bland AI	Start: $0.14/min talk time, no platform fee, $0.05/min transfer time, 100 calls/day cap. Build: $0.12/min plus $299/mo platform fee, $0.04/min transfer, 2,000 calls/day cap.	vendor
Vapi	Usage-based: $0.05/min Vapi hosting plus transcription, model and voice passed through at cost. $5 free credit. Optional support packages: Core $29/mo, Pro $999/mo minimum.	vendorAffiliate link. What this means

Add-on to software you already run.

The AI receptionist is sold as an extra on a field-service or salon booking platform. The add-on price sits on top of the base subscription.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Jobber AI Receptionist	Add-on $29/mo on Jobber Core, Connect or Grow; included in the Plus plan. Jobber plans (billed annually): Core $29/mo, Connect $99/mo, Grow $149/mo, Plus $399/mo; month-to-month: Core $49, Connect $139, Grow $199, Plus $499. Answers calls and texts; can answer questions, take detailed requests and book jobs into the Jobber calendar.	vendor
Fresha AI Concierge	Add-on $99.95 per location/mo to Fresha booking software (from $19.95/mo for one person). Includes 200 call minutes and 500 messages per location, then $0.60 per extra minute and $0.04 per extra message.	vendor
Boulevard Beau	Add-on $125 per location/mo for 200 minutes, then $0.60 per minute, on top of a Boulevard subscription.	vendor

Per resolved outcome.

You pay only when the AI resolves the request; handoffs to staff are not billed per the vendor.

Vendor	Published plans	Source
Open (open.cx)	$0.75–$0.90 per resolved outcome (volume-based).	vendor

Every plan above is copied from the vendor's own pricing page. USD unless noted. Figures we could not read on a vendor's site are left out, not estimated. See methodology and the Price Index.

Questions

Are AI receptionists charged per minute or per call?

Both, plus flat tiers and credits. In our dataset Smith.ai, OnCrew and GetHelpdesk.AI price by calls; Dialzara, My AI Front Desk and Safigo sell minute bundles; Retell AI, Bland AI and Vapi bill per minute of talk time.

Which pricing model is cheapest?

It depends on call length and volume. Per-call plans favour long calls; minute bundles favour short ones. OnCrew publishes 100 calls for $49/mo; Dialzara publishes 60 minutes for $29/mo.

What is the cheapest per-call AI receptionist?

Smith.ai has a free tier of 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call. OnCrew starts at $49/mo for 100 calls with $0.99 per extra call.

What does a per-minute voice AI platform cost?

Retell AI publishes $0.07–$0.31/min. Bland AI publishes $0.14/min on its Start plan, or $0.12/min plus a $299/mo platform fee on Build. Vapi bills transcription, model and voice separately.