Free tool · runs in your browser

AI receptionist cost check

An AI voice agent is billed by the minute or the call, an answering service by the call, a receptionist by the hour, and the calls you miss today cost you bookings. Put in your calls and prices and see all four on one monthly bill, with the bookings each option has to win back to pay for itself.

Nothing you type leaves this page.

Start from an example

Illustrations to show how the result moves, not industry benchmarks. Use your own figures where you have them.

Your phone

Calls a monthAll incoming calls, from your phone bill or call logAverage minutes a callMost small-business calls take 2 to 4After hours (%)Calls that come when you're closedMissed in opening hours (%)Calls nobody can pick up today: with a customer, on a jobMissed callers who try again (%)Call back later and reach you; the rest ring someone elseCalls that become a booking (%)Of calls that get answeredValue of a booking ($)Average sale or job, or the margin on it if you prefer

AI voice agent

Plan fee ($/month)0 for pay-as-you-goMinutes in the planWhat the fee coversExtra minute ($)Overage; ask if it isn't on the pricing pageCallers who hang up on it (%)Hang up once they hear it's an AI, or give up mid-call

Billed by the minute Billed by the call (or caller)

It answers only the calls you'd miss: forward to it after hours and when nobody picks up.

Human answering service

Plan fee ($/month)Base fee with its included calls or minutesCalls in the planWhat the fee coversExtra call ($)Price above the planCallers who hang up (%)Lower than an AI, rarely zero

Billed by the minute Billed by the call (or caller)

Part-time receptionist

Hours a weekCovers opening hours onlyWage ($/hour)Local rate for front-desk workPayroll taxes and extras (%)Employer taxes, insurance, paid leave

Before you sign up for one

The bill is rarely the problem: even the dearer AI plans cost less than a few hours of a person's time. What decides it is how many callers stay on the line and get what they called for. Forward only your missed and after-hours calls to the agent for two weeks, read every summary, and count bookings, hang-ups and callers who asked for a person. Put those numbers back in here.

What the vendors charge, what voice agents handle well and badly, and the recording and disclosure rules are in our article An AI receptionist for a small business: what phone agents cost and where callers hang up. For chat and email bots, the support bot cost calculator does the same sums per resolved ticket.

Plan presets are list prices read in October 2026 (a per-minute plan, a per-call AI plan with a person behind it, and a build-your-own developer platform); overage on the per-minute plan is our assumption. The 29% hang-up figure is a 2025 OnePoll survey of 6,000 adults for AnswerConnect, which sells human answering. A model, not a forecast. More free tools: biz59.net/tools.