Prices read on November 2, 2026

AI receptionist cost per call calculator

AI receptionists price in different ways: by the minute, the call, the customer, or as an add-on. Enter your own calls and we work out the full monthly bill on each public price list, with the cheapest plan that works and any overage, then divide by your calls. The method is the one in our article, What does an AI receptionist cost per call?

For reference: a human receptionist

Human answering services run about US$7 to US$10 a call. Smith.ai's human receptionists cost that within plan, and Ruby's plans come to about the same at its own 2-minute typical call.

How each vendor is priced

Prices read on November 2, 2026 from each vendor's own page, in US dollars, monthly billing, before tax. Each figure rests on these assumptions. Where a vendor's pages do not say what happens, we say so rather than guess.

• Dialzara (bills by the minute)

  • Dialzara bills live talk time to the second, so minutes are your calls times your average call length.
  • Extra minutes are priced at the plan rate. They are only billed when auto-recharge is on or you buy minutes. Otherwise, at zero balance, callers go to voicemail.
  • The Done for You plan (from $1,500 a month) is priced on request and is not included.
  • Annual prices are not stated. Contact the vendor.

  Source: https://www.dialzara.com/pricing, read on November 2, 2026

• Goodcall (bills by the customer)

  • Goodcall bills unique customers, one phone number once a month, and never meters minutes.
  • We assume every call comes from a different person, which is the worst case for Goodcall. Repeat callers bring the bill down.
  • Past the included customers, each extra one is billed at the plan rate: 79 cents on Starter, 26 cents on Growth, 15 cents on Scale.
  • Above 2,000 customers a month Goodcall offers an Enterprise plan with volume pricing on request. We price that volume on Scale with overage. Contact the vendor.
  • Setup fee and annual pricing are not stated.

  Source: https://www.goodcall.com/pricing, read on November 2, 2026

• Jobber add-on (bills by the conversation)

  • One conversation per call.
  • The add-on sits on top of the Jobber subscription, which you pay for separately and is not included here.
  • Jobber's Plus plan includes the receptionist with unlimited use. We have not priced Plus here.
  • Which Jobber plans can add it is not stated. Contact the vendor.

  Source: https://help.getjobber.com/hc/en-us/articles/25315927533847-Receptionist-powered-by-Jobber-AI, read on November 2, 2026

• Rosie (bills by the minute)

  • Rosie has no per-minute overage. Past your plan's minutes, its terms say it moves you up to a higher plan, and you stay there until you downgrade.
  • Rosie rounds every call up to the next full minute, so a 90-second call bills as 2 minutes. We use your average call length as it is, so your real bill can be higher.
  • Above 2,000 minutes a month Rosie's pricing page and terms state no price. Contact the vendor.
  • Annual prices are not stated in the page text. Contact the vendor.
  • Whether an upgrade mid-month is charged in full or prorated is not stated. We price the full plan. Contact the vendor.

  Source: https://heyrosie.com/pricing, read on November 2, 2026

• Smith.ai AI (bills by the call)

  • This is Smith.ai's AI receptionist, not its human service. It bills real calls answered, not minutes.
  • Known spam is filtered before answering and not billed. Enter only real calls: we bill every call you enter.
  • Each billing cycle you may also remove up to 10% of your calls from the bill as spam, which can only lower it.
  • Above 1,000 calls a month Smith.ai quotes custom pricing. Contact the vendor.

  Source: https://smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist, read on November 2, 2026

• Upfirst (bills by the call)

  • Upfirst bills calls. Spam, robocalls, calls under 15 seconds and calls where the caller never speaks are not billed. Enter only real calls: we bill every call you enter.
  • One agent. Each additional agent costs $9.95 a month.
  • Above 600 calls a month Upfirst offers custom pricing on request. We price that volume on Scale with overage. Contact the vendor.

  Source: https://upfirst.ai/pricing, read on November 2, 2026

How Zalena is priced

• Zalena bills minutes. Minutes are your calls times your average call length, rounded up once for the month. Calls under 15 seconds are not counted; we count every call you enter.
• Extra minutes are billed at the end of the month, up to a cap: the price difference to the next plan (on Team, its own price again).
• Past the cap, new calls ring your own phone until your minutes start again or you move up a plan. A call in progress is never cut off. A plan that hits the cap shows the calls that would ring your phone, and no cost per call.
• Answer takes booking requests for you to confirm. Book and Team put appointments straight into the calendar.
• Prices are in Canadian dollars, plus tax. US dollar figures are rough and move with the exchange rate.

US dollar figures for Zalena use the Bank of Canada rate of CA$1.396 to US$1 on October 30, 2026. The rate moves, so treat them as rough. Our prices are on the pricing page.

The method, worked through with real examples: What does an AI receptionist cost per call? How to compare any quote.