Local Voice research

What It Costs to Answer Every Call: $250 to $2,100 a Month for a Live Service, $29 to $349 for AI

Live answering services list at $250 to $2,100 a month and AI plans at $29 to $349. See what each costs in jobs per month (Oct. 2026 prices).

By Adam Brewer, founder of Local Voice. Figures checked October 2026.

Live answering services list at $250 to $2,100 a month on Ruby's and Smith.ai's pricing pages in October 2026. Four AI answering tools list self-serve plans at $29 to $349. Local Voice sells AI phone agents, so we compete with those tools. We priced each one from its own page and left our price out.

In revenue, Ruby's most popular plan, $720 for 200 minutes, equals about 2.1 HVAC repairs a month at Angi's 2026 average of $350. Every AI option we priced for the same calls equals less than half of one repair (Local Voice calculations).

Every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026. Derived figures are marked as Local Voice calculations, with the math shown in the methodology.

$720 a month for Ruby's most popular plan, 200 minutes of live answering Ruby pricing page, checked October 10, 2026.
2.1 HVAC repairs a month cover that plan in revenue Local Voice calculation. $720 ÷ Angi's 2026 HVAC repair average of $350.

Key findings

Ruby's live receptionist plans list at $250 a month for 50 minutes up to $1,725 for 500 minutes, on Ruby's pricing page in October 2026.

Smith.ai's human receptionist plans list at $300 a month for 30 calls up to $2,100 for 300 calls, with $8.50 to $11.50 per extra call (October 2026).

Self-serve AI answering plans from Dialzara, Rosie, Goodcall and My AI Front Desk list at $29 to $349 a month (October 2026).

Per included minute, Ruby's plans work out to $3.45 to $5.00. AI plans billed by the minute work out to about $0.15 to $0.50 (Local Voice calculation, October 2026 prices).

Ruby's $720 plan for 200 minutes equals about 2.1 HVAC repairs a month at Angi's 2026 average of $350. One $1,348 water heater replacement covers it (Local Voice calculation).

In CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer. The other 58% don't (Local Voice calculation).

What does voicemail cost?

Voicemail usually comes with your phone line, so it adds no new monthly bill. Its cost is the callers who hang up. In CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer. The other 58% don't (Local Voice calculation).

21% said they call another business right away, and 24% said they turn to online chat. CallRail didn't publish whether people could pick more than one answer, so don't add these up.

A June 2026 YouGov survey asked different people a different question: 2,046 U.K. adults, for the U.K. answering service Answer4u. 6% would leave a message rather than wait for an answer. See how many callers leave a voicemail.

Voicemail also depends on you calling back. Quo found 69% of missed business calls got no callback within 48 hours in its 2026 analysis of 16.7 million missed calls. What a missed call costs, by trade puts a dollar figure on each one.

What does a live answering service cost?

$250 to $2,100 a month for the plans Ruby and Smith.ai publish. Ruby bills by receptionist minutes. Smith.ai bills by the call.

Table 1. Live answering service plans, October 2026

Plan Monthly ($) Included Per included minute or call ($) Extra use
Plan Smith.ai Pro
Monthly ($) 2,100
Included 300 calls
Per included minute or call ($) 7.00
Extra use $8.50 per call
Plan Ruby, 500 minutes
Monthly ($) 1,725
Included 500 minutes
Per included minute or call ($) 3.45
Extra use Not listed
Plan Smith.ai Basic
Monthly ($) 810
Included 90 calls
Per included minute or call ($) 9.00
Extra use $10.50 per call
Plan Ruby, 200 minutes
Monthly ($) 720
Included 200 minutes
Per included minute or call ($) 3.60
Extra use Not listed
Plan Ruby, 100 minutes
Monthly ($) 395
Included 100 minutes
Per included minute or call ($) 3.95
Extra use Not listed
Plan Smith.ai Starter
Monthly ($) 300
Included 30 calls
Per included minute or call ($) 10.00
Extra use $11.50 per call
Plan Ruby, 50 minutes
Monthly ($) 250
Included 50 minutes
Per included minute or call ($) 5.00
Extra use Not listed

Ruby and Smith.ai pricing pages, checked October 10, 2026. List prices, monthly billing. Per included minute or call is a Local Voice calculation: monthly price ÷ included minutes or calls. Ruby's page lists no rate for extra minutes and offers larger plans on request.

Both include 24/7 live answering. Ruby's plan list includes scheduling and offers Spanish and bilingual answering. Ruby's page says there are no fees for setup or onboarding.

Smith.ai lists no setup fees and says it uses no overseas agents. Booking an appointment adds $1.50 a call. A dedicated Spanish line and taking payments add $1.00 a call each. Smith.ai takes 10% off for a 12-month term.

Hiring costs more than either service. The median receptionist earned $38,010 a year in May 2025, or $18.27 an hour, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Wages alone come to about $3,168 a month, before benefits and payroll taxes. A 40-hour week covers 24% of the 168 hours in a week. Both are Local Voice calculations.

What does an AI answering tool cost?

$29 to $349 a month for the self-serve plans we checked. Most bill by the minute. Goodcall bills by unique caller instead.

Table 2. AI answering plans, October 2026

Plan Monthly ($) Included Per included unit ($) Extra use
Plan Dialzara Elite
Monthly ($) 349
Included 1,000 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.35
Extra use $0.35 per minute
Plan Goodcall Scale
Monthly ($) 299
Included 2,000 callers
Per included unit ($) 0.15
Extra use $0.15 per caller
Plan Rosie Growth
Monthly ($) 299
Included 2,000 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.15
Extra use Not listed
Plan Dialzara Plus
Monthly ($) 199
Included 500 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.40
Extra use $0.40 per minute
Plan Rosie Scale
Monthly ($) 149
Included 1,000 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.15
Extra use Not listed
Plan Goodcall Growth
Monthly ($) 129
Included 500 callers
Per included unit ($) 0.26
Extra use $0.26 per caller
Plan Dialzara Pro
Monthly ($) 99
Included 220 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.45
Extra use $0.45 per minute
Plan My AI Front Desk Business-in-a-Box
Monthly ($) 99
Included 200 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.50
Extra use $0.25 per minute
Plan Goodcall Starter
Monthly ($) 79
Included 100 callers
Per included unit ($) 0.79
Extra use $0.79 per caller
Plan Rosie Professional
Monthly ($) 49
Included 250 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.20
Extra use Not listed
Plan Dialzara Lite
Monthly ($) 29
Included 60 minutes
Per included unit ($) 0.48
Extra use $0.48 per minute

Dialzara, Rosie (heyrosie.com), Goodcall and My AI Front Desk pricing pages, checked October 10, 2026. List prices, monthly billing. Goodcall counts each phone number once a month and doesn't count spam or wrong numbers. My AI Front Desk's $99 plan includes 1,000 credits a month, enough for 40 extra minutes at 25 credits ($0.25) each. Per included unit is a Local Voice calculation.

What's included varies more than price. Dialzara lists appointment booking and CRM or calendar integration on every inbound plan, in English and Spanish. Each of its 4 plans adds minutes and builds on the features of the plan below.

Rosie's $49 plan texts callers a link to book. Booking straight onto your calendar and live transfers start with the $149 Scale plan. Rosie answers in English and Spanish on every plan. Its pricing page doesn't say what happens past your included minutes.

Goodcall's page says "We never meter minutes." A caller who rings three times in a month counts once. Plans also differ in how many workers the agent can run, such as a booker or a message taker. Starter allows 5 and Scale allows 20.

My AI Front Desk's $99 plan drops to $79 a month billed annually. It includes 400 texts and 100 chatbot conversations a month.

Smith.ai also sells AI receptionist plans, including a free tier with 25 calls a month and $3.00 per call after that. Its paid AI tiers, at $150 and $500 a month, show a per-call rate but not how many calls the fee includes. We left Smith.ai's AI plans out of the cost math.

Price isn't the only difference. Only 33% of U.S. consumers felt comfortable with AI on voice calls in Vonage's 2024 survey, and 91% want AI use disclosed. In CallRail's 2025 survey, 52% said companies using AI assistants after hours provide superior service. The two surveys asked different people different questions a year apart; we compare them here.

How many jobs does each option cost?

In our example month of 100 calls, a live service costs 2.1 to 2.6 HVAC repairs and an AI plan 0.1 to 0.4 (Local Voice calculation). Divide each option's monthly cost by the revenue from one job. This is revenue, not profit, so your real break-even sits higher.

Monthly cost ÷ revenue from one job = jobs needed each month to cover it

Example. Use your own numbers.
1.

A shop takes 100 calls a month. Each runs 2 minutes, so that's 200 minutes, and every caller is new.

2.

Ruby's 200-minute plan covers it: $720 a month.

3.

$720 ÷ $350 HVAC repair = 2.1 repairs a month (2.057, rounded).

4.

Dialzara Lite includes 60 minutes. 140 more minutes × $0.48 = $67.20, so $29 + $67.20 = $96.20.

5.

$96.20 ÷ $350 = 0.3 repairs a month (0.275, rounded).

One $1,348 water heater replacement covers Ruby's plan for about 1.9 months and Dialzara's for about 14.

Figure 1. At 100 calls a month, a live answering service costs 2.1 to 2.6 HVAC repairs in revenue. AI plans cost 0.1 to 0.4.

HVAC repairs needed each month to cover each option, at Angi's 2026 average of $350. Example: 100 calls a month, 2 minutes each, every caller new. Use your own numbers.

  1. Smith.ai receptionists (Basic + 10 calls), $9152.6
  2. Ruby (200 minutes), $7202.1
  3. Rosie Scale (calendar booking tier), $1490.4
  4. My AI Front Desk (Business-in-a-Box), $990.3
  5. Dialzara (Lite + 140 minutes), $96.200.3
  6. Goodcall (Starter), $790.2
  7. Rosie (Professional), $490.1

Revenue, not profit. Plans differ in what they include; see Tables 1 and 2. Smith.ai's $1.50 booking add-on would add up to $150 at this volume.

Source: Local Voice calculation. Vendor list prices checked October 10, 2026, ÷ Angi's 2026 HVAC repair average ($350).

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Table 3. Jobs needed each month to cover each option, by job type (Local Voice calculation)

Option Monthly cost ($) HVAC repair ($350) Water heater ($1,348) Roof ($9,609) Kitchen remodel ($26,990)
Option In-house receptionist (median wages)
Monthly cost ($) 3,168
HVAC repair ($350) 9.1
Water heater ($1,348) 2.3
Roof ($9,609) 0.3
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) 0.1
Option Smith.ai receptionists (Basic + 10 calls)
Monthly cost ($) 915
HVAC repair ($350) 2.6
Water heater ($1,348) 0.7
Roof ($9,609) 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option Ruby (200 minutes)
Monthly cost ($) 720
HVAC repair ($350) 2.1
Water heater ($1,348) 0.5
Roof ($9,609) 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option Rosie Scale (calendar booking tier)
Monthly cost ($) 149
HVAC repair ($350) 0.4
Water heater ($1,348) 0.1
Roof ($9,609) under 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option My AI Front Desk (Business-in-a-Box)
Monthly cost ($) 99
HVAC repair ($350) 0.3
Water heater ($1,348) 0.1
Roof ($9,609) under 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option Dialzara (Lite + 140 minutes)
Monthly cost ($) 96.20
HVAC repair ($350) 0.3
Water heater ($1,348) 0.1
Roof ($9,609) under 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option Goodcall (Starter)
Monthly cost ($) 79
HVAC repair ($350) 0.2
Water heater ($1,348) 0.1
Roof ($9,609) under 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1
Option Rosie (Professional)
Monthly cost ($) 49
HVAC repair ($350) 0.1
Water heater ($1,348) under 0.1
Roof ($9,609) under 0.1
Kitchen remodel ($26,990) under 0.1

Example: 100 calls a month, 2 minutes each, every caller new. Monthly cost is the cheapest published plan plus published extra-use charges that covers the example. The receptionist row is BLS median wages for May 2025 ÷ 12, before benefits and payroll taxes, for about 40 hours a week. Job values: Angi 2026 national averages.

Project trades clear the bar fastest. One $9,609 roof replacement covers Ruby's plan for about 13 months and Rosie's $149 plan for about 64.

For a roof or a remodel, an answered call usually leads to an estimate, not a signed job. Count only the share of estimates you close.

Coverage only pays if the extra calls turn into work. ServiceTitan found the typical trade shop booked 42% of inbound calls in June 2022. See booking rates by trade to estimate yours.

What happens to the bill when calls go up?

Live service bills climb fast as calls grow. At 200 calls a month in our example, the cheapest Ruby and Smith.ai options cost $1,725 and $1,965. The AI options run $129 to $180 (Local Voice calculation).

Table 4. Monthly cost at 50, 100 and 200 calls (Local Voice calculation)

Option 50 calls ($) 100 calls ($) 200 calls ($)
Option Smith.ai receptionists
50 calls ($) 530
100 calls ($) 915
200 calls ($) 1,965
Option Ruby
50 calls ($) 395
100 calls ($) 720
200 calls ($) 1,725
Option Rosie Scale (calendar booking)
50 calls ($) 149
100 calls ($) 149
200 calls ($) 149
Option My AI Front Desk
50 calls ($) 99
100 calls ($) 99
200 calls ($) 139
Option Dialzara
50 calls ($) 48.20
100 calls ($) 96.20
200 calls ($) 180
Option Goodcall
50 calls ($) 79
100 calls ($) 79
200 calls ($) 129
Option Rosie, cheapest plan that fits
50 calls ($) 49
100 calls ($) 49
200 calls ($) 149

Example: 2 minutes a call and every caller new. Each cell is the cheapest published plan plus published extra-use charges at that volume. Ruby and Rosie don't publish extra-minute rates, so those rows use the smallest plan whose minutes cover the volume. My AI Front Desk's 1,000 included credits cover its first 40 extra minutes. Prices checked October 10, 2026.

Going from 100 to 200 calls adds $1,005 to the Ruby bill and $1,050 to Smith.ai's. The AI options add $0 to $100.

Billing units matter as much as price. Long calls cost more on Ruby and on the minute-based AI tools. Smith.ai charges by the call, and Goodcall charges once a month per caller, so call length doesn't change those bills.

What to do this week

Pull last month's numbers. Your phone system or carrier shows total calls and minutes. Count the missed calls too. Note how many came after 6 p.m. or on weekends.

Price the plan that fits. Use Tables 1 and 2, and add extra-use charges and add-ons such as Smith.ai's $1.50 booking fee.

Convert the cost to jobs. Divide the monthly cost by your average ticket. Then compare it with what your missed calls are worth, using the missed-call math by trade.

Test before you sign. Dialzara, Rosie and My AI Front Desk list 7-day free trials, and Goodcall lets you test a demo agent free. Smith.ai's human plans carry a money-back guarantee up to $1,000 (30 days on the plan page, two weeks in its FAQ). Run the same test on any vendor, Local Voice included.

Related reading

What a missed call costs, by trade

How many callers leave a voicemail

How comfortable callers are with AI on the phone

Booking rates by trade

What happens to bookings after 6 p.m.

Every verified missed-call statistic

Frequently asked questions

How much does a live answering service cost?

Ruby's published plans run $250 a month for 50 minutes up to $1,725 for 500 minutes. Smith.ai's human receptionist plans run $300 for 30 calls up to $2,100 for 300 calls, with $8.50 to $11.50 per extra call. Both are list prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked October 10, 2026.

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

Self-serve plans from Dialzara, Rosie, Goodcall and My AI Front Desk list at $29 to $349 a month. Where published, extra minutes cost $0.25 to $0.48 each. Goodcall bills by unique caller instead, at 15 to 79 cents per extra caller depending on the plan. Prices were checked October 10, 2026.

Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?

On list price, yes. In our example of 100 two-minute calls a month, the AI options cost $49 to $149 and the live services $720 to $915 (Local Voice calculation). A live service puts a person on every call, and 85% of consumers in Vonage's 2024 survey called easy access to a human very important.

How many jobs does it take to pay for an answering service?

Divide the monthly cost by your average ticket. Ruby's $720 plan for 200 minutes equals about 2.1 HVAC repairs at Angi's 2026 average of $350, or about half of one $1,348 water heater replacement. That's revenue, not profit, so your real break-even is higher.

Is voicemail a free way to answer every call?

Voicemail usually adds no monthly bill, and it misses most callers. In CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer, and 21% call another business right away. Quo found 69% of missed business calls got no callback within 48 hours.

Why isn't Local Voice's price in this comparison?

Local Voice sells AI phone agents, so it competes with the AI tools on this page. We left our own price out to keep the comparison about the 6 vendors we checked. Every price came from the vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026, at list price with monthly billing.

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What do missed calls cost your business?

Pick your trade, enter how many calls you miss and what a job is worth. The free calculator shows the sales you lose each month, each year and per missed call, using published booking and close rates.

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MISSED CALL CALCULATOR Monthly receipt Missed callsJobs lostSales lost Per missed call $

Methodology

Disclosure

Local Voice sells AI phone agents and competes with the AI tools on this page. We didn't include our own price. Every competitor price is the vendor's published list price for monthly billing, before taxes and optional add-ons.

Prices

Ruby: 50, 100, 200 and 500 receptionist minutes for $250, $395, $720 and $1,725 a month. Smith.ai human receptionists: 30, 90 and 300 calls for $300, $810 and $2,100, then $11.50, $10.50 and $8.50 per extra call. Dialzara: 60, 220, 500 and 1,000 minutes for $29, $99, $199 and $349, then $0.48, $0.45, $0.40 and $0.35 per extra minute. Rosie: 250, 1,000 and 2,000 minutes for $49, $149 and $299. Goodcall: 100, 500 and 2,000 unique callers for $79, $129 and $299, then 79, 26 and 15 cents per extra caller. My AI Front Desk: 200 minutes plus 1,000 credits a month for $99, then 25 credits a minute at $0.01 a credit.

Example volume

100 calls a month at 2 minutes each, or 200 minutes, with every call from a different number. Table 4 repeats the math at 50 and 200 calls. These volumes are examples, not findings. Use your own call log.

Plan choice

For each vendor we used the cheapest published plan, plus published extra-use charges, that covers the example volume. Ruby and Rosie publish no extra-minute rate, so we used the smallest plan whose minutes cover the volume. We show Rosie Scale on its own row because it adds calendar booking and live transfers. For My AI Front Desk, we spent the plan's 1,000 included credits on extra voice minutes before charging $0.25 a minute. The page doesn't say whether the pool resets each month.

Formulas

Monthly cost = plan price + (use above the plan's allowance × extra-use rate). Jobs needed = monthly cost ÷ job value. Per included unit = plan price ÷ included minutes, calls or callers. My AI Front Desk's extra minute = 25 credits × $0.01 = $0.25. Its 1,000 included credits cover the first 1,000 ÷ 25 = 40 extra minutes. Receptionist cost = $38,010 ÷ 12 = $3,167.50 a month. Share of the week = 40 ÷ 168 hours.

Job values

Angi national averages, with each page's update date. HVAC repair: $350 (Aug. 4, 2026). Water heater replacement: $1,348 (July 20, 2026). Roof replacement: $9,609 (March 5, 2026). Kitchen remodel: $26,990 (Sept. 4, 2026).

What we left out

Smith.ai's AI plans, because its page doesn't say how many calls the paid tiers include. Vendors that quote prices only on request. Ruby's larger plans, which are priced on request. Add-on fees, except where the text names them.

Revenue, not profit

Jobs needed compares a monthly cost with the revenue from a job. Your costs come out of that revenue, so covering the bill in profit takes more jobs.

Rounding

Jobs needed are computed at full precision and rounded half up to one decimal; values below 0.05 show as "under 0.1." Per-unit prices are rounded to the cent. The worked example shows each rounded step.

When we checked

All six vendor pricing pages and the Smith.ai AI receptionist page were checked on October 10, 2026. So were the BLS receptionist page, the four Angi cost guides, Answer4u, CallRail, Quo, Vonage and ServiceTitan.

Sources

1.

Ruby. Pricing. Virtual receptionist plans. Page last modified March 18, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

2.

Smith.ai. Pricing (human receptionists). Starter, Basic and Pro plans and add-on fees. Accessed October 10, 2026.

3.

Smith.ai. AI Receptionist. AI plan tiers, cited to explain why they were left out of the math. Accessed October 10, 2026.

4.

Dialzara. Pricing. Inbound voice plans. Accessed October 10, 2026.

5.

Rosie. Pricing. Professional, Scale and Growth plans. Accessed October 10, 2026.

6.

Goodcall. Pricing. Starter, Growth and Scale plans, billed by unique caller. Accessed October 10, 2026.

7.

My AI Front Desk. Pricing. Business-in-a-Box plan and credit rates. Accessed October 10, 2026.

8.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists. Median pay, May 2025. Page last modified August 27, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

9.

Angi. HVAC repair cost guide. Updated August 4, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

10.

Angi. Water heater replacement cost guide. Updated July 20, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

11.

Angi. Roof replacement cost guide. Updated March 5, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

12.

Angi. Kitchen remodel cost guide. Updated September 4, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

13.

Answer4u. How Long Will Customers Wait on the Phone Before Calling a Competitor?. Reports a YouGov survey of 2,046 U.K. adults, fieldwork June 5 to 8, 2026, commissioned by Answer4u. Accessed October 10, 2026.

14.

CallRail. Why businesses can't afford to miss calls. Danielle Wood, September 25, 2025. Survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. Accessed October 10, 2026.

15.

Quo. Small business callback statistics in 2026: Data from 16M+ calls. Rachel Bicha, August 20, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.

16.

Vonage. Vonage Survey Reveals Increased Acceptance of AI in Customer Support. Press release via PR Newswire, November 21, 2024. 1,000 U.S. respondents. Accessed October 10, 2026.

17.

ServiceTitan. Typical call-booking rate for ServiceTitan users? The number might shock you into action. Pat McManamon, October 25, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2026.

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