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The cheapest AI receptionist in 2026
The service with the lowest sticker price is rarely the cheapest once real calls come in. A $14 plan can cost more than a $79 one at your volume. Here's what eight AI receptionists actually cost at four call volumes, and which one is cheapest for each.
Prices checked October 27, 2026 on each vendor's official pricing page, linked below. Vendors change pricing without notice, and taxes, phone-number fees and add-ons aren't included unless noted. Some links are affiliate links. See our disclosure.
The short answer
- Very low volume (around 20 calls a month): Smith.ai's free plan ($0 for 25 calls). Among paid plans, AI-Receptionist.com Essential is the lowest at $14.
- Around 50 calls: AI-Receptionist.com ($32.75) or Rosie Professional ($49, 250 minutes).
- Around 100 calls: AI-Receptionist.com Starter ($64.00), Upfirst Premium ($69.95) and Goodcall Starter ($79) are close.
- Around 200 calls: Goodcall Growth ($129), AI-Receptionist.com ($139) and Rosie Scale ($149).
Cheapest isn't the same as best. Check that the plan you're pricing has the features you need, like transfers or calendar booking. We haven't run hands-on test calls with these services.
Monthly cost at four call volumes
Our math at list price, assuming a 3-minute average call and that every caller is a different person. For each service we used the cheapest plan for that volume, including published overage. Rosie publishes no overage rate, so we used the smallest Rosie plan whose minutes cover the month.
| Service | Billed by | 20 calls (60 min) | 50 calls (150 min) | 100 calls (300 min) | 200 calls (600 min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI-Receptionist.com | minutes | $14.00 | $32.75 | $64.00 | $139.00 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | calls | $0.00 | $75.00 | $212.50 | $385.00 |
| Upfirst | calls | $24.95 | $54.95 | $69.95 | $159.95 |
| Dialzara | minutes | $29.00 | $72.20 | $135.00 | $239.00 |
| Rosie | minutes | $49.00 | $49.00 | $149.00 | $149.00 |
| Goodcall | unique callers | $79.00 | $79.00 | $79.00 | $129.00 |
| My AI Front Desk | minutes | $99.00 | $99.00 | $114.00 | $189.00 |
| NextPhone | flat rate | $199.00 | $199.00 | $199.00 | $199.00 |
How we got the less obvious numbers:
- AI-Receptionist.com: 50 calls is Essential (75 minutes) plus 75 extra minutes at $0.25. 100 calls is Starter (200 minutes) plus 100 at $0.25. 200 calls is Starter plus 400 at $0.25. Its pricing page shows Starter as 200 minutes on the plan card but 100 minutes in the feature table. If it's 100, the 100-call figure rises to $70.25 (Essential plus overage) and the 200-call figure to $161.50 (Solopreneur plus overage).
- Smith.ai: 50 calls is the free plan plus 25 calls at $3.00. 100 calls is Pro (75 calls, $150) plus 25 at $2.50. 200 calls is the 150-call Pro tier, whose $270 price we derived from the $1.80 per-call rate shown, plus 50 at $2.30.
- Upfirst: 50 calls is Starter (30 calls) plus 20 at $1.50. 100 calls is Premium (90 calls) plus 10 at $1.00. 200 calls is Pro (300 calls).
- Dialzara: 50 calls is Lite (60 minutes) plus 90 minutes at $0.48. Add $3 a month for a local number.
- My AI Front Desk: its $99 plan includes 200 minutes plus a 1,000-credit monthly pool (40 more minutes at 25 credits a minute). Beyond that we used $0.25 a minute.
Longer calls change the order. Per-call (Smith.ai, Upfirst), per-caller (Goodcall) and flat-rate (NextPhone) prices don't move with call length, while per-minute plans get more expensive. Try your own numbers in the cost estimator.
What the cheapest plans leave out
The lowest tiers often skip features you might assume are included:
- AI-Receptionist.com Essential ($14): Google Calendar booking, call transfers and voicemail are on every plan. Essential handles up to 2 calls at once and transfers to a single number. File and website knowledge-base uploads start on Starter (AI-Receptionist.com pricing).
- Dialzara Business Lite ($29): blind transfers only. Warm transfers, calendar sync and English/Spanish start on Pro ($99) (Dialzara pricing).
- Rosie Professional ($49): takes messages and sends booking links by text. Calendar booking and live or warm transfers start on Scale ($149) (Rosie pricing).
- Upfirst Starter ($24.95): no feature gap. Upfirst lists the same features on every plan, including warm transfers, appointment booking and in-call texting (Upfirst pricing).
- Smith.ai Free ($0): includes lead qualification, call routing, AI scheduling and integrations such as Clio and Zapier. Dedicated onboarding and live support start on Pro (Smith.ai pricing).
Free plans and free trials
- Smith.ai: a permanent free plan with 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call.
- Upfirst: 14-day free trial with every feature of the plan you pick.
- AI-Receptionist.com: 7-day free trial with 30 minutes of live calls; no credit card required, and nothing is charged unless you add a card.
- Rosie: 7-day free trial; no credit card required to start.
- Dialzara and NextPhone: 7-day free trials.
- Goodcall: a free demo agent; you pay when you connect a number (Goodcall pricing).
Ways to pay less on any plan
- Pay annually. AI-Receptionist.com Essential is $140 a year. Upfirst and My AI Front Desk show about 20% off, NextPhone about 17%, and Rosie two months free.
- Only send the calls you can't take. Upfirst lets you choose every call, overflow only, or after-hours only. Fewer answered calls means a smaller bill on per-call and per-minute plans.
- Don't pay for spam. Upfirst doesn't bill spam, calls under 15 seconds or silent calls. Goodcall doesn't count spam or wrong numbers, and counts repeat callers once a month. Smith.ai lets you remove up to 10% of calls as spam each billing cycle.
- Move up a plan when overage adds up. At 100 calls, Upfirst Premium plus overage ($69.95) beats Starter plus overage ($129.95).
Services worth a look
AI-Receptionist.com AI
From $14/mo · $140/yr billed annually
Entry plan includes: 75 voice minutes/mo · Trial: 7-day free trial with 30 minutes of live calls; no credit card required
The lowest paid entry price we track, with Google Calendar booking and call transfers on every plan and extra minutes at $0.25 that don't expire. 55+ languages. US and Canadian numbers only.
Source: https://ai-receptionist.com/pricing/, checked October 27, 2026
Visit AI-Receptionist.com ↗ (affiliate link)Upfirst AI
From $24.95/mo · $20/mo billed annually
Entry plan includes: 30 calls/mo · Trial: 14-day free trial with full plan features
Every feature on every plan, billed per call, with spam and very short calls not billed. Among the three cheapest at 50 and 100 calls in our table.
Source: https://www.upfirst.ai/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Upfirst ↗Smith.ai AI Receptionist AI + human backup
From $0/mo · Free plan: 25 calls/mo; Pro from $150/mo
Entry plan includes: 25 calls/mo (Free); 75 calls/mo (Pro) · Trial: Free plan (25 calls/mo) instead of a timed trial
The only permanently free plan we track, and the option to hand complex calls to a live receptionist. Gets expensive past about 75 calls a month.
Source: https://smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Smith.ai ↗Goodcall AI
From $79/mo
Entry plan includes: 100 unique customers/mo · Trial: Free demo agent; you pay when you connect a number
Billed per unique caller, not minutes, so long calls and repeat callers don't raise the bill. Growth covers 500 callers for $129.
Source: https://www.goodcall.com/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Goodcall ↗Rosie AI
From $49/mo · Annual billing: 2 months free
Entry plan includes: 250 minutes/mo · Trial: 7-day free trial; page says no credit card required to start
$49 for 250 minutes goes a long way if calls are short. English and Spanish on every call, with iOS and Android apps.
Source: https://heyrosie.com/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Rosie ↗ (affiliate link)FAQ
What is the cheapest AI receptionist? For very few calls, Smith.ai's free plan (25 calls a month). The lowest paid plan we track is AI-Receptionist.com Essential at $14 a month for 75 minutes. At 100 or more calls a month, the cheapest depends on call length and repeat callers; see the table above.
Is there a free AI receptionist? Smith.ai's AI Receptionist has a permanent free plan with 25 calls a month. Most others offer a free trial instead.
Is a cheap AI receptionist good enough? It can be, if the plan includes what your callers need. Check transfers, booking and languages on the exact plan, and test it on real calls during the trial.
What about a flat-rate plan? NextPhone charges $199 a month for unlimited inbound calls. It isn't the cheapest at low volume, but at high or unpredictable volume the fixed price can beat everyone else. See NextPhone vs Rosie.
See also: AI answering service cost, head-to-head comparisons and guides by trade.