Original data
The Answering Service Price Index
Published pricing for 19 answering-service providers — human and AI — in two tables: entry plans, mid tiers, overage rates, billing models, free trials, and whether the provider publishes pricing at all. Every first-party figure was read from the provider's own pricing page; estimates are labeled and attributed. Re-verified quarterly.
Prices verified · Index updated
The headline numbers
- Typical small-business spend on a human answering service: $135–$400/mo (Ambs Call Center (July 2025), Housecall Pro (May 2026)); the full range runs $100–$1,000+/mo (Nextiva (July 2026)).
- Human per-minute rates: roughly $0.65–$1.75 per minute, with most 2026 sources centering on ~$0.75–$1.50 (Nextiva (July 2026), Upfirst (May 2026), Housecall Pro (May 2026)).
- The cleanest AI-vs-human comparison in the dataset: Smith.ai's own published pricing charges ~$8.50–$11.50 per call for human receptionists and $1.67–$3.00 per call for its AI — a 4–6× gap at the same company.
- 11 of the 19 competitor price lists in this index are not fully published by the provider — quote-gating is itself a data point, and those rows say so instead of guessing.
Table 1 — Human answering services
First-party prices fetched July 30, 2026 from each provider's own pricing page.
| Provider | Entry plan | Mid-tier | Overage / rate | Billing model | Free trial | Pricing public? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai (human receptionists) | $300/mo — 30 calls | $810/mo — 90 calls (Pro: $2,100/mo — 300 calls) | $11.50/call, falling to $8.50/call on higher tiers | Per-call | No free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee (up to $1,000) | Published |
| Ruby | $250/mo — 50 min | $720/mo — 200 min ($395/100 min, $1,725/500 min) | Not published | Per-minute | Not published | Published (overage rate not shown) |
| AnswerConnect† Third-party reporting also cites a ~$75 setup fee on most tiers and a 90-day minimum commitment — estimates, not AnswerConnect-published figures. | Not published — quote required (est. ~$325/mo for 100 min) | Est. ~$425/mo — 300 min | Est. ~$1.85–$2.95/min | Per-minute | Est. 14 days or 150 min | Form-gated |
| AnswerForce† | Not published — quote required | Not published | Est. ~$1.50–$3.00/min effective | Per-minute | Unknown | Form-gated |
| PATLive | $75/mo pay-as-you-go (0 min included) or $250/mo — 75 min | $460/mo — 200 min (Premium $720/350, Pro $1,170/600) | $2.60/min, falling to $2.00/min on higher tiers | Per-minute | 14-day free trial | Published |
| MAP Communications | $49/mo pay-as-you-go or $179/mo — 125 min | $339/mo — 250 min (Premium $649/500) | $1.37/min, falling to $1.28/min | Per-minute | 7-day free trial, no card required | Published |
| AnswerFirst A one-time customization fee “may apply” per their site; amount not published. | $30/mo base + usage (no bundles) | N/A — pure pay-as-you-go | $1.55–$1.90/min published, billed per second | Pay-as-you-go per-minute | Not published | Published |
| Nexa Their site acknowledges a setup fee exists; the amount is not published. | Not published — quote required | Not published | Not published | Per-minute | Not published | Quote-only |
| Abby Connect (human receptionists) Spanish answering and weekend coverage included on all human tiers. | $329/mo — 100 min | $599/mo — 200 min (Growth $1,380/500 min) | Not published | Per-minute | Not published for human plans | Published (fetched Aug 1, 2026) |
| Moneypenny US VoiceNation was folded into Moneypenny in 2025 — if you're comparing against a VoiceNation quote, this is now the same company. | $165/mo — 50 min | $422/mo — 200 min ($265/100 min, $985/500 min) | $2.28/min, falling to $1.67/min by tier | Per-minute | Not verified on their site | Published |
† Third-party estimates (AnswerConnect: serviceagent.ai, June 2026 · AnswerForce: dialzara.com, May 2026), not provider-published prices. Verify directly.
Table 2 — AI answering services
Same rules, AI vendors — including CallsAround, stated the same way we state everyone else.
| Provider | Entry plan | Mid-tier | Overage / rate | Billing model | Free trial | Pricing public? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CallsAround | $79/mo — 300 min + 50 SMS | $229/mo — 800 min ($299/mo — 1,200 min) | Flat $0.29/$0.25/$0.22/$0.20 per minute by tier | Flat monthly bundles | 7-day trial | Published |
| Goodcall “Unlimited minutes” is real, but plans meter unique customers per month — a busy season raises the tier. | $79/mo per agent — unlimited minutes, capped at 100 unique customers | $129/mo — 250 unique customers (Scale: $249/500) | $0.50 per unique customer over the cap | Flat per-agent, metered by unique customers (not minutes) | Not verified | Published (15% annual discount) |
| Dialzara | $29/mo — 60 min | $99/mo — 220 min (Plus $199/500, Elite $349/1,000) | $0.48/min, falling to $0.35/min | Per-minute bundles | 7-day free trial | Published |
| Avoca† Third-party estimates put typical spend at ~$1,000–$3,500/mo and warn of implementation fees and 12-month minimums. Estimates only — Avoca publishes no pricing. | Not published — demo required (pricing page returns a 404) | Not published | Not published | Per-minute (per third-party reporting) | None | Not published — demo-gated |
| Sameday AI | From $449/mo — 500 min | From $789/mo — 1,000 min | Not published (their blog says “no surprise overage fees”; no rate given) | Flat “from” pricing + minute bundles | Not verified on their site | Published as “from” prices |
| Rosie (heyrosie.com) | $49/mo — 250 min | $149/mo — 1,000 min (Growth: $299/2,000) | Not published | Per-minute bundles | 7-day free trial | Published |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | $0/mo — first 25 calls free, then $3.00/call | Pro $150/mo at $2.00/call (Enterprise $500/mo at $1.67/call) | Per-call rates; overages can be toggled off | Per-call | Free tier serves as the trial | Published |
| Abby Connect AI Receptionist Same company as the human service above — their own price sheet puts AI at roughly half the human rate per included minute. | $99/mo — 50 min | $165/mo — 100 min ($299/200, $690/500) | Not published | Per-minute bundles | 14-day free trial | Published (fetched Aug 1, 2026) |
| Slang.ai | Core from $399/mo per location | Premium from $599/mo per location | Not published; plan inclusions not published | Flat per-location | Not stated | Partially published (restaurant-focused) |
| Numa | Not published — quote only | Not published | Not published | Quote-only, per-dealership (auto-dealer-focused) | Not published | Quote-only |
† Third-party estimates (Avoca: serviceagent.ai, June 2026), not provider-published prices. Verify directly.
Methodology
Each first-party figure is read directly from the provider's public pricing page and dated; where a provider gates pricing behind a sales form, the index says "Not published — quote required" and, where a reputable third party has published an estimate, shows that estimate with attribution instead of presenting it as fact. No figure is ever invented, no estimate is laundered into a published price, and rows are re-verified on a quarterly rotation (next pass: October 2026). Prices verified July 2026 from each provider's own pricing page; third-party estimates are labeled as such. Verify current rates with each vendor before deciding.
First-party sources (fetched July 30, 2026): smith.ai/pricing · smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist · ruby.com/pricing · answerconnect.com/plans · answerforce.com/plans · patlive.com/pricing · mapcommunications.com/pricing · answerfirst.com/pricing · nexa.com/pricing · moneypenny.com/us/plans-pricing-people · abby.com/pricing (fetched Aug 1, 2026) · goodcall.com/pricing · dialzara.com/pricing · avoca.ai · gosameday.com/pricing · heyrosie.com/pricing · slang.ai/pricing · numa.com. Third-party sources: serviceagent.ai (June 2026) · dialzara.com/alternatives/answerforce (May 2026) · nextiva.com/blog/answering-service-cost (July 2026) · upfirst.ai (May 2026) · ambscallcenter.com (July 2025) · housecallpro.com (May 2026).
Using this data
Cite freely with a link: "CallsAround Answering Service Price Index, August 2026, callsaround.com/answering-service-price-index." If you spot a price that has changed, email support@callsaround.com and we'll update the row with a changelog note. For the editorial version of this data — what the models mean, where the hidden fees live, and how to compare quotes — read the full cost guide or the AI answering service roundup.
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Test my line tonightChangelog
- Aug 8, 2026 — Index launched with the July 30, 2026 verification pass (19 providers).