What an answering service
actually costs
Per-call, per-minute and flat-rate pricing explained in plain numbers — and our own prices published in full, because “request a quote” is not an answer to this question.
How answering services charge
Most of the confusion in this market comes from comparing a per-minute quote to a flat monthly one. They are not the same product and rarely the same cost.
Per minute
$1.00–$2.00 / minYou buy a block of minutes and pay an overage rate beyond it. The most common model for live human services.
Watch for: Hold time, transfers and wrap-up often count as billable minutes. Ask what starts and stops the clock.
Per call
$1.50–$3.50 / callA flat charge per answered call regardless of length. Simple to read on an invoice.
Watch for: Wrong numbers, hang-ups and robocalls are usually billable calls. A spam-heavy line gets expensive fast.
Flat monthly
$200–$1,500 / moA fixed fee covering an allowance, with a defined overage rate. Predictable, which matters when call volume swings seasonally.
Watch for: Check what the allowance actually covers and what happens in a surge month.
Per receptionist
$3,000+ / mo loadedEmploying someone directly: salary, payroll tax, benefits and cover for holidays and sickness.
Watch for: Covers roughly forty hours a week of the one hundred and sixty-eight your phone can ring.
Ranges are typical US market rates as of 2026 and vary by provider, volume and industry. Treat them as a sense of scale for comparison, not as quotes.
Published, not quoted
500 minutes · 25¢/min after
For solo operators and lower call volume. Answers, qualifies and books.
2,000 minutes included
Full call volume, missed-call callback, and the build tuned to your trade.
No monthly fee
Separate from answering — getting found in AI search rather than answering the call.
Why this question is so hard to answer
Search for answering service pricing and most results are a form. The reasoning is sound from the seller's side — cost genuinely varies with call volume, and a conversation lets them scope it. From the buyer's side it means you cannot compare two providers without booking two sales calls.
Our number does not change depending on who asks, so there is nothing to protect by hiding it. If your volume is genuinely unusual we will say so — but you should be able to work out roughly what this costs before you ever speak to anyone.
The build changes. The price doesn't.
A plumbing line and a dental practice get completely different scripts, triage rules and booking logic — at the same monthly rate.
Answering service pricing questions
How much does an answering service cost per month?+
Across the market, most small businesses pay somewhere between $200 and $1,500 a month depending on call volume and whether calls are handled by people or AI. Per-minute plans typically run $1.00–$2.00 a minute and per-call plans $1.50–$3.50 a call. Ours are flat: $249/mo for lower volume with 500 included minutes, and $995/mo with 2,000 included minutes.
What does a virtual receptionist cost?+
A live virtual receptionist service generally costs more than an AI one because it is staffed — commonly $300 to $1,500 a month for modest volume, rising steeply with it. Employing someone in-house typically costs $3,000 or more a month once payroll tax, benefits and holiday cover are counted, and still only covers business hours.
Is per-call or per-minute pricing better?+
It depends on your calls. Per-call favours businesses with long conversations — a fifteen-minute booking costs the same as a two-minute one. Per-minute favours businesses with short calls but punishes anything detailed. Both punish spam, because a robocall that gets answered is usually billable either way. A flat plan with a stated allowance avoids guessing.
Is there a genuinely free answering service?+
Not an ongoing one. Free tiers are trials, or voicemail-to-text tools that do not answer anything — they transcribe a message after the caller has already gone. If a service answers, qualifies and books, somebody is paying for the minutes. What you should expect for free is a working demo before you buy, which is why our demo line is a published number you can call right now.
What's the cheapest way to stop missing calls?+
For a solo operator or a low-volume line, the cheapest real option is an AI plan at the entry tier — ours is $249 a month including 500 minutes, then 25 cents a minute. Cheaper than that is voicemail, which is free and is also the thing currently losing you the jobs.
Are there setup or installation fees?+
Not with us. No setup fee, no installation fee and no long-term contract on any plan. Many providers charge a one-time setup fee of $50 to $500, so it is worth asking directly before you compare monthly numbers.
What happens if I go over my included minutes?+
You are billed at the stated overage rate — 25 cents a minute on the Solopreneur plan — rather than being cut off or silently upgraded. The rate is published here so there is no surprise on the invoice.
Why do most providers hide their pricing?+
Because pricing varies by call volume and they would rather qualify you on a call first. That is a reasonable sales position and a frustrating buying experience. We publish ours because the number is the same whoever asks, and because being told to request a quote is the most common reason people abandon this search.
Hear what you'd be paying for
The demo line is a real number answering in real time. Call it before you compare anybody's quote.
Call (888) 814-1662