Ranking

The cheapest AI receptionist.

Short answer: the lowest published paid price is Quo (formerly OpenPhone) at US$19/mo, a per-user phone plan with AI credits on top. The cheapest dedicated AI receptionist plan is Dialzara at $29/mo. 13 vendors ranked, every figure from the vendor's own pricing page.

Top picks

1
Quo (formerly OpenPhone)
From $19/mo. A business phone system with AI answering (Sona) included.
Visit
2
Dialzara
From $29/mo. The cheapest published entry plan we found, but 60 minutes doesn't go far.
Visit
3
OnCrew
From $49/mo. Per-call pricing, so a long emergency call costs the same as a short one.
Visit

Same order as the ranking below: lowest published paid entry price, ties alphabetical. Affiliate links never change the order. Disclosure.

Ranked: 13 vendors with a fixed monthly price under $2,000
Lowest: Quo (formerly OpenPhone), $19/mo
Median of ranked: $99/mo
Free tier: Smith.ai, 25 calls/mo, not ranked

The ranking.

A cheap headline means nothing until you read the allowance. Sixty minutes on a $29 plan and 100 calls on a $49 plan are different products. Read the plan column before the price column.

#	Vendor	From (USD/mo)	Published plans	Source
1	Quo (formerly OpenPhone)	$19	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).	pricing page
2	Dialzara	$29	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.	pricing page
3	OnCrew	$49	$49/mo (100 calls), $149/mo (400), $349/mo (1,000); $0.99 per extra call.	pricing page
4	Rosie	$49	Professional $49/mo, Scale $149/mo, Growth $299/mo (two months free on annual billing). Website texting add-on $50/mo.	pricing pageAffiliate link. What this means
5	Goodcall	$79	Starter $79/mo, Growth $129/mo, Scale $299/mo.	pricing page
6	My AI Front Desk	$79	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).	pricing page
7	Beside	$99	Part-time $99/mo (5,000 credits). Full-time $249.99/mo (12,500 credits). Note: Older third-party roundups list $29/mo; Beside's own page now shows $99 and $249.99.	pricing page
8	Futuro	$200	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.	pricing page
9	Safigo Reception	$369	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. Note: Safigo prices in Canadian dollars (CAD), not USD.	pricing page
10	GetHelpdesk.AI	$399	$399/mo flat, up to 600 inbound calls/mo, no per-minute or after-hours charges. First month free.	pricing page
11	Slang.ai	$399	From $399 per location/mo (Core). From $599 per location/mo (higher tier).	pricing page
12	Sameday	$449	From $449/mo (after-hours plan, starts with 500 minutes). From $789/mo (answers all calls, starts with 1,000 minutes).	pricing page
13	Yobi	$600	AI Integrated (dental PMS): $600/mo.	pricing page

Add-ons: cheap only if you already pay the host.

Add-on	From (USD/mo)	The catch
Jobber AI Receptionist	$29	Add-on: needs a paid Jobber plan on top of the $29/mo (Core is $49/mo month-to-month, $29/mo billed annually). Included in Jobber Plus.
Fresha AI Concierge	$99.95	Add-on: needs Fresha booking software on top of the $99.95/mo.
Boulevard Beau	$125	Add-on: needs a paid Boulevard subscription on top of the $125/mo.

Usage-based and credit platforms.

No fixed monthly price, so not ranked. Cheapest for light call volume if you can build the agent.

Platform	Published pricing	Source
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.	pricing pageAffiliate link. What this means
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.	pricing page
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.	pricing pageAffiliate link. What this means
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.	pricing page
Open (open.cx)	$0.75–$0.90 per resolved outcome (volume-based).	pricing page

Excluded: Ruby (human receptionists only), Synthflow (enterprise from $30,000/yr) and quote-only vendors. Industry rankings: dentists · HVAC · plumbers · restaurants · law firms. Method: methodology.

Questions

What is the cheapest AI receptionist?

On lowest published paid price, Quo (formerly OpenPhone) at US$19 a month, but that is a per-user phone plan and AI calls draw on separate credits. The cheapest dedicated AI receptionist plan is Dialzara at $29 a month.

Is there a free AI receptionist?

Smith.ai publishes a free tier of 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call. It is left out of the paid ranking.

Why are add-ons ranked separately?

Jobber, Fresha and Boulevard sell their AI receptionists on top of a paid subscription to their own software, so the add-on price is not the full cost.

What about per-minute platforms?

Retell AI, Vapi, Bland AI and ElevenLabs bill by usage or credits. They can be cheaper at low volume, but you build and run the agent yourself.

The cheapest AI receptionist.

Quo (formerly OpenPhone)

Dialzara

OnCrew