Cost guide

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

Published AI receptionist plans start at about $22 to $150 a month, priced by minutes, calls or callers, with a rate for anything past the allowance. The Front Desk Company starts at $49 a month for 250 inbound minutes. Prices below are as each product published them on 2026-09-05.

Four ways AI receptionists are priced

ModelHow it works
Per minuteA monthly allowance of talk minutes, then a per-minute rate. Rosie, Dialzara, Reception by ElevenLabs and The Front Desk Company's Starter plans price this way.
Per callA monthly allowance of calls, then a fee per call, whatever its length. Upfirst prices this way; Smith.ai adds a per-call fee to a monthly base.
Per unique callerA monthly allowance of distinct callers, then a fee per new caller. Goodcall prices this way.
Flat, with fair useOne monthly price for unlimited inbound calls within a fair-use allowance. The Front Desk Company's AI Front Desk plans price this way ($397: fair use 4,000 minutes; $697: fair use 7,000 minutes; $997: fair use 10,000 minutes).

What each product publishes

ProductEntry price · includedNext plan upCRM
The Front Desk Company$49 · 250 inbound minutes (Starter), $0.15/min over, up to a cap you set$149 / 1,000 · $299 / 2,500 · then $397 / $697 / $997The full EngageSuite360 CRM in every plan — contacts, companies, deals, tasks, calendar, reports — shaped for your industry
Rosie$49 · 250 minutes$149 / 1,000 · $299 / 2,000None — Zapier triggers only
Smith.ai AI Receptionist$150/mo + $2.00 per call; free tier of 25 calls/mo (card required)$500/mo + $1.67 per callIntegrations only — Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio, Zapier
Goodcall$79 per agent · unlimited minutes, 100 unique callers, $0.50 per caller over$129 / 250 callers · $249 / 500Integrations only — Zapier, Sheets, GoHighLevel
Dialzara$29 · 60 minutes, $0.48/min over$99 / 220 · $199 / 500 · $349 / 1,000Integrations only — Zapier, Make, webhooks
My AI Front Desk$20 Basic takes no calls; first calling plan $99 · 200 minutes, $0.25/minPartner / Enterprise, customBuilt-in CRM, plus HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Zapier
Upfirst$24.95 · 30 calls, $1.50 per call over$59.95 / 90 · $159.95 / 300 · $299 / 600Integrations only — HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, GoHighLevel, Zapier
Reception by ElevenLabs$22 · 60 minutes, $0.40/min over$55 / 200 · $99 / 500Google Calendar, Zapier, webhooks only

As published on each product's pricing page on 2026-09-05. Prices change; check the product's own page before you buy.

What changes the bill

An AI receptionist next to a human one

The US median pay for a receptionist is $38,010 a year, $18.27 an hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). The two do different work. A person handles judgment, the unusual caller and the visitor at the desk. An AI receptionist answers every call at once, after hours and on weekends, and writes each one down. Many businesses keep the person and let the AI take the calls the person cannot.

Estimate your own cost

  1. Count last month's inbound calls, including the ones nobody answered.
  2. Multiply by a typical call length to get minutes.
  3. Pick the plan whose allowance covers a normal month, and set an overage cap for a busy one.

See The Front Desk Company pricing Every comparison

Questions

How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?

Of the 8 products we compared, published calling plans started at $22 a month (Reception by ElevenLabs, sixty minutes) and ran to $150 a month plus a fee per call (Smith.ai), as published on 2026-09-05. The Front Desk Company starts at $49 a month for 250 inbound minutes.

What makes an AI receptionist bill go up?

The overage rate past your allowance, whether recordings, transcripts, texting and booking cost extra, and whether you pay separately for a CRM to keep the calls in.

Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human receptionist?

On price alone, yes: the US median pay for a receptionist is $38,010 a year, or $18.27 an hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). They are not the same job. A person handles judgment, the unusual caller and the visitor at the desk; an AI receptionist answers every call at once, after hours and on weekends, and writes each one down.

Does The Front Desk Company charge a setup fee?

No. There is no setup fee on any plan.