Independent pricing guide · facts checked 2026-07-11
Ruby receptionist pricing,
by the minute.
Ruby sells human receptionist time in monthly minute bundles, with live chat sold separately and a 20% discount for bundling. The service is well regarded; the math is the thing to understand. Here’s every published number, verified July 2026.
Ruby’s virtual receptionist plans: $250/mo for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500 — an effective $3.45–$5.00 per receptionist minute. Live chat runs $143–$520/mo for 10–50 chats, and phone+chat bundles save about 20%. No setup or activation fees, and 24/7 coverage is included; overage rates aren’t published on the pricing page.
THE FULL PRICE LIST
Ruby plans, broken down.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $250/mo | 50 receptionist minutes (~$5.00/min) |
| Basic | $395/mo | 100 receptionist minutes (~$3.95/min) |
| Popular | $720/mo | 200 receptionist minutes (~$3.60/min) |
| Business | $1,725/mo | 500 receptionist minutes (~$3.45/min) |
Verified 2026-07-11 from ruby.com/pricing. Higher volumes are custom — contact their sales team. Overage rates are not published on the pricing page.
Add-ons, overage, and the fine print
- Live chat plans: $143/mo (10 chats) · $335/mo (30 chats) · $520/mo (50 chats)
- Phone + chat bundles: about 20% savings (e.g. 10 chats $115 · 30 chats $268 · 50 chats $416)
- No activation, onboarding, setup, or customization fees (their published claim)
- 24/7 coverage — nights, weekends, holidays — included in plan price
WHAT THE PRICE COVERS
Included — and not.
What’s included
- Live human receptionists answering in your business’s name
- 24/7/365 phone coverage on all plans
- Call relay/messages, transfers, and app access
- Spanish-language answering available
- HIPAA-compliant options for medical and legal practices
What’s extra or missing
- Talk time beyond your minute bundle (overage applies; rate not published on the pricing page)
- Live chat — separate plans unless bundled
- A business phone system — Ruby answers your line; texting inboxes and call records live elsewhere
- AI-style structured data: summaries and transcripts of the kind software produces on every call
READ BEFORE YOU BUY
The gotchas in
the Ruby math.
Receptionist minutes burn faster than you think
A typical intake call runs 3–5 minutes. On the $250 Starter plan, 50 minutes is roughly 10–15 calls for the entire month. Price the plan against your actual call volume, not the monthly sticker.
The effective rate is $3.45–$5.00 per minute
Divide plan price by included minutes: Starter works out to ~$5.00/min, Business to ~$3.45/min. That’s the honest unit price of human answering — compare it directly against AI answering at cents per minute.
Overage pricing isn’t on the page
Ruby’s pricing page lists no per-minute overage rate — you’re directed to sales for volumes beyond plan sizes. Ask for the overage rate in writing before you commit, because busy months will exceed the bundle.
WHEN RUBY IS WORTH IT
Ruby is worth it when a warm human voice is the product — professional services where callers expect a person, practices needing HIPAA-aware handling, or owners who simply want a real receptionist without hiring one. Two decades of doing exactly this, Spanish coverage, and no setup fees make Ruby the credible choice in the human-answering category. Just budget with the per-minute math open.
THE COMPARISON
Ruby vs PhoneMachine.
| Ruby | PhoneMachine | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | Human receptionists (their strength) | 24/7 AI in your business’s voice |
| Billing unit | Receptionist minutes ($3.45–$5.00 effective) | Flat monthly + included AI minutes |
| Entry price | $250/mo (50 minutes) | $39/mo billed annually ($49 monthly) |
| Cost at ~200 min/mo | $720/mo (Popular) | $99/mo billed annually (Business, 300 min) |
| Summaries + transcripts every call | Message relay; transcripts available | ✓ + sentiment + auto-created tasks |
| Two-way texting inbox | Limited | ✓ included with AI-drafted replies |
| Bilingual English + Spanish | ✓ available (their strength) | ✓ included on every plan |
PhoneMachine — the flat-rate side of the table
- Starter $39/mo billed annually ($49 month-to-month) — 120 AI minutes, 2 users + 1 number
- Business $99/mo billed annually ($129 month-to-month) — 300 AI minutes, 5 users + 2 numbers
- Business Pro $239/mo ($299 monthly) — 600 AI minutes + outbound automation
- Bilingual English + Spanish answering included on every plan
- Flat-rate plans, no per-call fees; overage $0.30/min · $0.07/SMS, published
- 7-day free trial, month-to-month, keep your number if you leave
Want the deeper head-to-head?
This page covers what Ruby costs. The full feature-by-feature comparison — who answers, texting, booking, transfers, and switching steps — lives on the alternative page.
Ruby vs PhoneMachine →FAIR QUESTIONS
Ruby pricing, asked plainly.
How much does Ruby cost per month?
As of July 2026, Ruby’s published virtual receptionist plans are $250/mo (50 minutes), $395/mo (100), $720/mo (200), and $1,725/mo (500). Live chat is separate at $143–$520/mo, with about 20% savings for bundling phone and chat.
What does Ruby cost per minute?
Effectively $3.45–$5.00 per receptionist minute depending on plan ($250÷50 = $5.00/min on Starter; $1,725÷500 = $3.45/min on Business). Overage rates beyond your bundle aren’t published on their pricing page — get them in writing.
Does Ruby have setup fees or contracts?
Ruby advertises no activation, onboarding, setup, or customization fees, and 24/7 coverage is included in every plan’s price (verified July 11, 2026 at ruby.com/pricing).
What’s the AI alternative at a tenth of the price?
PhoneMachine answers 24/7 with AI from $39/mo billed annually — 120–600 included minutes, booking, texting, and bilingual English/Spanish included, no per-minute human rates. Full comparison at /compare/ruby-alternative.
THE ONLY DEMO THAT MATTERS
Hear the flat-rate alternative answer.
7-day free trial · cancel anytime · keep your number