How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide

Short answer: anywhere from about $19 a month to several hundred dollars a month, depending on how the service bills and how many calls you take. The pricing model matters more than the sticker price — here's how to read it.

The three pricing models

1. Flat monthly with included calls or minutes. You pay a set price for a pool of calls or AI voice minutes. When that pool runs out, check whether the service adds an automatic overage, pauses, or requires prepaid credit. PhoneMachine is billed monthly and counts answered calls: Personal is $19 for 30 calls, Starter is $49 for 75 calls, and Growing is $99 for 200 calls. Extra usage comes out of prepaid funds at $0.50 per extra answered call and $0.03 per extra SMS segment, and refills start at $5 ($10 on Personal).

2. Per-call billing. You buy a set number of answered calls and pay an overage for each call beyond the plan. This can be easy to forecast when call counts are steady, but booking, follow-up, or recording may be separate charges.

3. Usage tiers. Some services price by unique callers, call bundles, or total minutes. Read exactly what counts as usage, how spam is treated, and what happens when you cross the included amount.

What the well-known services charge

Pricing below is taken from each vendor's own published pages as of 2026 (plans change — always confirm before you buy):

• Smith.ai live receptionist (human-staffed, with a separate AI-first service) starts at 30 calls for $300/month, with overage of $11.50 per call on the entry tier. Its published 300-call plan lists $8.50 overage calls.
• Smith.ai AI receptionist offers 25 calls for $0/month with $3 overage calls. Its Pro plan starts at $150/month for 75 calls, with $2.50 overage calls on that tier. Higher-volume options use different included-call and overage rates.
• PhoneMachine starts at $19/month for one person, with Starter at $49 and Growing at $99. It counts answered calls (30, 75 or 200 a month) rather than minutes, so compare your expected call count and confirm the current allowance at checkout.

Caveat: the base fee may not be the final bill. Smith.ai's published human-receptionist menu, for example, lists separate per-call charges for appointment booking, follow-up, and recording. Minute-based plans may require prepaid usage once the included pool is used. See the calculation below before comparing totals.

Calculate your own call-volume cost

The single biggest lever is how many calls (or minutes) you actually take — so run the numbers before picking a plan:

1. Estimate monthly volume. Use a recent full month from your phone or PBX log. If you only have a weekly average, multiply it by 4.3. For minute-based plans, also estimate average call length.
2. Apply each vendor's unit. For a per-call plan, count billable calls. For a minute plan, multiply calls by average minutes. Do not compare 75 calls with 300 minutes as though they are the same allowance.
3. Add overage and selected extras. Multiply expected usage beyond the allowance by the published overage. Then add only the booking, follow-up, recording, transfer, or integration options you will actually use.

Example: A plumbing shop expects 80 billable calls in a month. On Smith.ai's $300 live-receptionist plan, 30 calls are included and the next 50 are $11.50 each: $300 + (50 × $11.50) = $875 before selected add-ons. A minute-based plan needs one more input. If those 80 calls average four minutes, compare against 320 minutes—not 80 calls.

The hidden costs to check before you sign up

• Extra-usage rules. Find out whether service pauses, auto-bills overage, or requires prepaid credit. PhoneMachine charges extra usage to prepaid funds at its published $0.50 per extra answered call and $0.03 per extra SMS segment, with refills starting at $5 ($10 on Personal).
• Add-on fees. Smith.ai's published human-receptionist menu charges separately for appointment booking, follow-up, call recording, and additional CRM connections. Ask every vendor for the full rate card rather than assuming those extras are included.
• Setup or onboarding fees. A modern AI receptionist should configure itself from a form, not a paid onboarding call.
• Number portability. Can you take your phone number with you if you leave? If the answer is unclear, assume no.
• Texting registration. US carriers require 10DLC registration for business texting. Some services charge extra or leave you to figure it out; it should be guided and self-serve.
• Seats. If you have a team, check how many user logins the plan includes and the exact price for another one. PhoneMachine includes 1 team member on Personal, 2 on Starter and 5 on Growing; for a larger team you contact us.

What it replaces

The useful comparison is the new plan against what you do now. Use your actual payroll cost if a staff member answers calls, your current service invoice if you outsource them, or your phone log if calls go to voicemail. Then compare the work each option completes: taking a message, answering questions, booking, transferring, and preserving a usable record.