How much does an AI receptionist cost on a business phone plan?
Summary
The AI receptionists sold by phone providers start between $14.99 a month (Ooma's AI Answering Service, 40 minutes included) and $99 (Nextiva's XBert, 100 calls included). The catch is that they do not bill by the same unit: RingCentral charges a flat "starts at $39", Quo and Nextiva charge per call, and Talkroute, Aircall, JustCall, CloudTalk, Zoom and Ooma charge per minute.
At 150 answered calls a month (3 minutes each), Quo's Sona works out to $81.50, Nextiva's XBert to $148.50, Talkroute to $159, Aircall to $196 and JustCall to $445.50. The full table is below.
Some of it is free. Quo includes 10 AI-answered calls a month on every plan, Aircall includes 50 minutes on Essentials and Professional, and Zoom Phone plans come with a 100-minute trial.
No printed price: Dialpad's AI Agent (conversation-based, talk to sales), Ooma's fuller AI Receptionist, and RingCentral's AI bundles.
Standalone services that answer calls forwarded from any phone plan cost $1.67 to $3 a call at Smith.ai, or $79 a month for 100 customers at Goodcall.
Who sells one, and what the price is measured in
| Provider | What it is called | Who can buy it | Price | Billed by | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RingCentral RingEX | AI Receptionist (AIR) | Add-on to Core and Advanced; included in the AI Customer Engagement Bundles (quote only) | Starts at $39 a month; the page does not say what the $39 covers | Flat monthly | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Nextiva | XBert AI Receptionist | Add-on to Core, Engage and Scale | $99 a month for 100 interactions, then $0.99 each | Per interaction | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Quo | Sona | Included on Starter, Business and Scale | 10 calls a month free; $25 for 40, $49 for 100, $99 for 250, $199 for 600; extra calls $1.00 down to $0.45 | Per call | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Talkroute | AI Receptionist | Add-on to any Business Phone plan | $39 pay as you go ($0.40 a minute); $59 with 100 minutes, $99 with 250, $199 with 750; extra minutes $0.35 to $0.25 | Per minute | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Ooma Office | AI Answering Service / AI Receptionist | Add-on to any Ooma Office plan | AI Answering Service starts at $14.99 an account with up to 40 minutes; AI Receptionist is quote only | Per minute | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Aircall | AI Voice Agents | 50 minutes a month included on Essentials and Professional; also sold alone | Extra minutes $0.49 pay as you go ($0.39 past 2,500); bundles of 500 minutes for $175 and 2,500 for $725; standalone from $100 a month | Per minute | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| JustCall | AI Voice Agent | Add-on to any plan | Starting at $0.99 a minute, volume discounts down to $0.15; first 100 minutes free | Per minute | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| CloudTalk | AI Voice Agents | Add-on to Starter, Essential and Expert | $99 a month starting from 200 minutes | Per minute | |
| Zoom | Virtual Agent Receptionist with Any Phone | Any phone number, no Zoom Phone required; Zoom Phone plans get a 100-minute free trial | From $25 a month for 100 minutes, billed annually; marked “Coming soon” on October 5, 2026 | Per minute | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Dialpad | AI Agent | Sold separately from Dialpad Connect | Conversation-based pricing, talk to sales | Not published | Check current plansUnpaid link |
| Smith.ai (standalone) | AI Receptionist | Works with any phone service | Free for 25 calls a month, then $3 a call; Pro $150 for 75 calls ($2 a call); Enterprise $500 for 300 calls ($1.67 a call) | Per call | |
| Goodcall (standalone) | AI agent | Works with any phone service | $79 a month per agent for 100 unique customers, then $0.50 each; $129 for 250; $249 for 500; minutes unlimited | Per customer |
Scroll sideways on a phone.
Three things to read in that table before comparing prices. RingCentral's "starts at $39" is the only flat figure, and the pricing page does not say how many minutes or calls it buys; the two AI Customer Engagement Bundles that include AIR are quote-only. Nextiva is the only provider that defines its unit: an interaction is a call that lasts 30 seconds or more, or a text or chat thread with three or more AI replies. Quo counts in credits, 100 to a call, and gives every plan 1,000 credits (10 calls) a month before the paid tiers start.
For the per-minute providers, the length of a call decides the bill. Talkroute's extra minutes run $0.25 to $0.40 depending on the tier, Aircall's are $0.49 ($0.39 past 2,500 minutes in a month), and JustCall quotes "starting at $0.99" with volume discounts down to $0.15. Aircall also sells the agent on its own, with no phone system, from $100 a month, and Zoom's "Receptionist with Any Phone" is built the same way, though its page carried a "Coming soon" label when checked.
50, 150 and 400 answered calls a month
| Provider | 50 calls a month | 150 calls a month | 400 calls a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quo | $32.50 | $81.50 | $181.50 |
| Nextiva | $99 | $148.50 | $396 |
| Talkroute | $76.50 | $159 | $311.50 |
| Aircall | $49 | $196 | $563.50 |
| JustCall | $148.50 | $445.50 | $1,188 |
The table assumes each call the AI handles lasts 3 minutes, so 150 calls is 450 minutes; a shorter or longer average moves every per-minute row and leaves the per-call rows alone. For Quo and Talkroute, the figure is the cheapest of their tiers at that volume, so Quo's 150 calls is the $49 tier plus 50 calls at $0.65 rather than the $99 tier. Aircall is calculated pay as you go after the 50 included minutes; its 500-minute ($175) and 2,500-minute ($725) bundles would lower the 400-call figure. JustCall is the $0.99 list rate before any discount.
Five providers are left out of the second table because the arithmetic cannot be finished from their pages. CloudTalk's $99 covers 200 minutes, enough for 50 calls, but the page gives no rate beyond that. Ooma's AI Answering Service covers 40 minutes for $14.99 and does not print the overage. Zoom's $25 covers 100 minutes, add-on minute packs exist but are not priced, and the product is not yet on sale. RingCentral does not say what $39 covers. Dialpad publishes nothing.
Adding an AI receptionist without changing phone providers
If your current provider does not sell one, or prices it above what the table shows, a standalone service takes forwarded calls from any number.
Smith.ai's AI Receptionist has a free plan for 25 calls a month, with extra calls at $3 each; Pro is $150 a month for 75 calls ($2 a call) and Enterprise is $500 for 300 calls ($1.67). Goodcall prices by unique customer rather than by call or minute: $79 a month per agent covers 100 customers, with $0.50 for each one after that, and the $129 and $249 tiers cover 250 and 500, with unlimited minutes on all three.
Two of the phone providers above also sell theirs this way: Aircall's AI Voice Agents from $100 a month, and Zoom's Receptionist with Any Phone from $25 for 100 minutes once it ships. In every case the minutes the AI spends on a forwarded call are still billed by your existing plan, so a metered plan pays twice for the same call.
Against a human receptionist
Smith.ai's human receptionists start at $300 a month for 30 calls, which is $10 a call before overage. Phone.com offers a live receptionist service (Live Answer-Connect) but prints no price for it. An AI receptionist at $0.45 to $3 a call is cheaper per call by a wide margin; the question that decides it is what happens to the calls the AI cannot finish, which is a routing decision rather than a pricing one. How does a business phone system decide who answers a call? covers the transfer rules. If the volume is high enough that you are comparing agents rather than receptionists, How much does call center software cost per agent each month? is the next step up.
Sources
AI receptionist prices and terms checked October 5, 2026 on each provider's pricing or product page.
- ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html and ringcentral.com/ai-receptionist.html
- nextiva.com/nextiva-pricing and nextiva.com/products/ai-receptionist
- quo.com/pricing
- talkroute.com/pricing
- ooma.com — AI Answering Service and AI Receptionist and Ooma Office plans
- aircall.io/pricing
- justcall.io/pricing and justcall.io/product/ai-voice-agent
- cloudtalk.io/pricing
- zoom.us/pricing/virtual-agent and zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone
- dialpad.com/pricing
- smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist and smith.ai/pricing
- goodcall.com/pricing
- phone.com/pricing
Related on this site
- How does a business phone system decide who answers a call?
- The plans that include a plain phone menu, before paying for AI
- How much do call recording, texting, and AI features add to a business phone plan?
- What does Quo (formerly OpenPhone) cost beyond the per-user price?
- Which RingEX plan fits a small team now that RingCentral posts prices for only two?
- How much does call center software cost per agent each month?
- Compare every US plan at your team size
- Seat cost calculator
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.