How much does an answering service cost? Pricing for 8 services, compared
A live answering service costs about $159 to $415 a month for 40 calls on the published plans we read, and about $384 to $1,725 for 100 calls. The low end is per-minute services such as Specialty Answering Service and PATLive; the high end is Ruby and Smith.ai's Virtual Front Desk. AI answering services cost about $45 to $109 for the same 40 calls. What moves the bill is how a service counts (minutes, calls or seconds), what it charges for booking and extras, and whether it bills monthly or every 28 days. Below: every plan, the math for two real months, and the fine print.
The short version
- 40 calls a month: about $159 (Specialty Answering Service) to $415 (Smith.ai Virtual Front Desk) for live people; about $45 to $109 for AI.
- 100 calls a month: about $384 to $1,725 for live people; about $79 to $236.50 for AI.
- Most plans sell minutes. Smith.ai sells calls, and Specialty Answering Service and AnswerFirst say they bill by the second.
- Watch the billing cycle. Continental Message Solution bills every 28 days, which is 13 bills a year.
- Nights and weekends: Ruby, Smith.ai, PATLive and Abby Connect say they charge no extra for them.
How much do answering services charge?
Between $30 and $300 a month to start, on the plans below. Every price is from the vendor's own pricing page, read on September 24, 2026. We have not used these services; this is what their pages say. Nexa, MAP Communications and AnswerConnect did not show prices on the pages we could read, so they are left out.
| Service | Entry price | Larger plans | Counts by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | $44/mo plus $1.54 a minute | $159 for 100 minutes, $269 for 220, $649 for 500; $1.44 to $1.09 per extra minute | Minutes, billed by the second |
| AnswerFirst | $30/mo plus $1.60 to $1.95 a minute, based on usage | No plans; the rate drops as volume grows | Minutes, billed by the second |
| Continental Message Solution | $50 per 28 days, no minutes included | $150 for 100 minutes, $300 for 250, $575 for 500, each per 28 days | Minutes |
| PATLive | $49/mo plus $2.99 a minute | $189 for 100 minutes, $349 for 200, $479 for 300, $1,499 for 1,000; $2.09 to $1.69 per extra minute | Minutes |
| Posh | $65/mo plus $2.30 a minute | $215 for 100 minutes, $420 for 200, $975 for 500, $1,900 for 1,000; $2.15 to $1.90 per extra minute | Minutes |
| Abby Connect | $165/mo for 50 minutes | $329 for 100, $599 for 200, $1,380 for 500; overage at the plan's minute rate | Minutes (AI minutes go twice as far) |
| Ruby | $250/mo for 50 minutes | $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500; we found no published overage rate | Minutes |
| Smith.ai Virtual Front Desk | $300/mo for 30 calls, $11.50 per extra call | $810 for 90 calls ($10.50 extra), $2,100 for 300 ($8.50 extra) | Calls |
What does an answering service cost per month for 40 or 100 calls?
Headline prices are hard to compare because one service counts minutes and another counts calls. So we priced two real months, the same two we used for AI receptionist pricing: 40 calls at about 2.5 minutes each (100 minutes), which is PATLive's own rule of thumb for its 100-minute plan, and 100 calls at about 3 minutes each (300 minutes). For each service we took the cheapest published way to cover the month, before taxes and add-ons.
| Service | 40 calls, 100 minutes | 100 calls, 300 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | $159 (100-minute plan) | $384.20 (220-minute plan plus 80 minutes at $1.44) |
| Continental Message Solution | $150 per 28 days, about $163 a month over a year | $575 per 28 days on the 500-minute plan, about $623 a month; the 250-minute plan's extra-minute rate is quoted by a rep |
| PATLive | $189 (100-minute plan) | $479 (300-minute plan) |
| AnswerFirst | $190 to $225 ($30 plus 100 minutes at $1.60 to $1.95) | $510 to $615 |
| Posh | $215 (100-minute plan) | $630 (200-minute plan plus 100 minutes at $2.10) |
| Abby Connect | $329 (100 minutes) | $1,380 (500 minutes); the 200-minute plan is $599, and the page states overage as the plan's minute rate rather than in dollars |
| Ruby | $395 (100-minute plan) | $1,725 (500-minute plan); the 200-minute plan is $720 with no published overage rate |
| Smith.ai Virtual Front Desk | $415 ($300 for 30 calls plus 10 at $11.50) | $915 ($810 for 90 calls plus 10 at $10.50) |
| AI answering services, for comparison | $45 to $109 (Smith.ai AI Receptionist, Dialzara, Rosie, Goodcall, AgentZap) | $79 to $236.50; AgentZap adds a $499 setup fee in month one |
Two things stand out. Among live services, the per-minute providers cost roughly half what Ruby and Smith.ai charge for the same month. And AI services cost a fraction of either, so AI for routine calls with a person for the rest is worth pricing out.
How much does a virtual receptionist cost?
The same as a live answering service, because the services selling it are the same kind of business. Ruby, Posh and Abby Connect all describe their people as virtual receptionists. For 40 calls a month we priced Posh at $215, Abby Connect at $329 and Ruby at $395. The name does not tell you what the plan does. Check whether it transfers calls, asks your intake questions and books appointments before you compare prices, and see answering service appointment scheduling for which services actually book. For round-the-clock coverage, see 24 hour answering service; for Spanish, bilingual answering service. For medical practices, HIPAA changes the comparison; see medical answering service pricing, and for clinics that treat animals, veterinary answering service.
How do you compare answering service pricing?
Price the month you actually have, then read five lines of fine print. These are the ones that changed the totals above.
| Fine print | What the pages say | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| How minutes are counted | Specialty Answering Service: "You are billed by the second." AnswerFirst: "True One-Second Billing". AnswerFirst says most services bill in half-minute or full-minute increments. | AnswerFirst's example: a 65-second call "may cost 90 or even 120 seconds" when rounded. Ask any per-minute service how it rounds. |
| Billing cycle | Continental Message Solution prices every plan per 28 days. Posh's FAQ warns buyers to "keep an eye out" for 28-day billing. | Thirteen bills a year instead of twelve, about 8% more than the plan price suggests. |
| Setup fees | None, say Ruby, Smith.ai, Abby Connect and Specialty Answering Service. Continental Message Solution: "Setup fees vary depending on account complexity." | A one-time fee changes the first month, and on AI plans AgentZap's is $499. |
| Nights and weekends | Smith.ai: "Calls at 2 pm and 2 am cost the same." Abby Connect: "no weekend upcharge." Ruby: no fees for coverage "during certain periods". PATLive says some providers charge extra for nights and weekends. | If most of your calls come after hours, confirm the plan price covers them. |
| Add-ons | Smith.ai: booking $1.50 a call, SMS alerts $0.50, each extra CRM $0.50 a call. Specialty Answering Service: IVR and voicemail $0.15 a minute, sub-accounts $10 a month. Smith.ai also says it does not charge for spam calls. | At 100 calls, booking alone adds $150 a month at Smith.ai. |
Not sure which month you have? On a free 30-minute Where AI Fits call we look at your calls by hour and length and tell you what each option would really cost you, including whether you need a live service at all.
Book a Where AI Fits callWhat is the cheapest answering service?
For light volume, a per-minute plan with a small base fee. AnswerFirst starts at $30 a month and Specialty Answering Service at $44, each plus a per-minute rate, so 10 calls of about 2.5 minutes cost under $85. At 40 calls, Specialty Answering Service's 100-minute plan was the cheapest live option we priced at $159, with Continental Message Solution close behind at $150 per 28 days. Cheapest is not the same as best value, so compare what each plan does with the call (a message, a transfer or a booking) before you compare the price.
Is an AI answering service cheaper than a live one?
Usually, for routine calls. On their own pricing pages, read the same day, Smith.ai's AI Receptionist is free for 25 calls and $3 a call after, Dialzara starts at $29 for 60 minutes, Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes, Goodcall at $79 for 100 unique customers, and AgentZap at $109 for 150 minutes plus a $499 setup fee. That is $45 to $109 for our 40-call month, against $159 to $415 for live people. Live people are worth the difference when callers are upset, need judgment, or expect a person. The full AI breakdown is in how much does an AI receptionist cost, and after hours answering service: AI, live or voicemail covers the evening case.
LeadSixty, listed last because it is ours. We set up and run an AI receptionist for you: first 30 days free, then a flat $297 a month with no setup fee and no per-minute or per-call charges, and the same price covers texts, web forms, website chat and social messages, booking and follow-up; the pricing page explains what happens at unusually high volume. The cons: callers reach AI, not a person, and we do not sell live answering. If you want a human on every call, one of the services above is the better fit. If you only need 40 routine calls answered, a self-serve AI plan or Specialty Answering Service costs less than we do. We are worth it when you want every channel answered and followed up without running the software yourself. Details are on our pricing page and the AI receptionist page.
Questions about answering service cost
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- Live answering service pricing pages, read September 24, 2026: Specialty Answering Service, AnswerFirst, Continental Message Solution, PATLive, Posh, Abby Connect, Ruby, Smith.ai Virtual Front Desk.
- AI answering service pricing pages, read September 24, 2026: Smith.ai AI Receptionist, Dialzara, Rosie, Goodcall, AgentZap.
Published September 24, 2026. Prices change; every price was read on the vendor's own page on that date and checked again before publishing, and monthly totals are our arithmetic from those prices. See how we research and write. Found an error? Email hello@leadsixty.com.
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