How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost? Complete Pricing Guide 2026

AI receptionists typically cost between $29 and $1,725 a month depending on the provider, features included, and your monthly call volume. At the low end, basic AI answering services offer simple call routing and message-taking for as little as $29/month, and fully human services such as Ruby reach $1,725 a month for 500 minutes. Among full-featured AI receptionists, AIEmply provides full conversational AI with appointment scheduling, CRM integration, lead qualification, and multi-language support for $149 to $599/month. AIEmply also offers an AI SMS Employee from $79/month that replies to every text in seconds, and Voice + SMS together from $179/month.

Mid-tier small-business plans generally run $200 to $600 per month for an AI receptionist service. That's a fraction of the $3,700 to $5,750 monthly cost of a full-time human receptionist. But the cheapest option isn't always the best value. Per-minute pricing models can balloon unexpectedly, and bare-bones services may not handle complex calls well enough to protect your brand.

This guide breaks down every major AI receptionist pricing model, compares costs across the top providers, exposes hidden fees you need to watch for, and shows you exactly how to calculate whether an AI receptionist makes financial sense for your business.

Even without counting recovered revenue, the cost savings alone deliver a strong ROI. A business paying $52,000/year for a receptionist and switching to AIEmply's Growth plan at about $6,438/year saves $45,562 in the first year, roughly 7× the cost of the subscription itself.

When you factor in the revenue from calls that would have gone to voicemail or been abandoned on hold, the ROI becomes even more compelling. Book a demo to get a custom ROI calculation for your business.