Services that answer, screen or text back the calls you miss, from AI receptionists to real people, with real prices.
Our pick for you
$19/mo per user
Small teams wanting a shared business number with texting on their own phones.
Not for: Businesses needing UK local numbers or a traditional desk-phone system.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on quo.comVisit Quo (formerly OpenPhone) (opens in a new tab)
Starter $19/user/mo billed monthly ($15 billed annually); Business $33 ($23); Scale $47 ($35). Taxes and fees added at checkout.
Our pick for you
$24.95/mo
Low-volume solo operators wanting the cheapest per-call AI answering.
Not for: Businesses with hundreds of calls a month (per-call costs add up).
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on upfirst.aiVisit Upfirst (opens in a new tab)
Starter $24.95/mo billed monthly for 30 calls ($20/mo annual), $1.50/extra call. Premium $59.95/90 calls; Pro $159.95/300; Scale $299/600. Spam and calls under 15s not billed. 14-day trial, no card.
Our pick for you
$49/mo
Solo trades and small shops wanting a cheap AI answering service that texts call summaries.
Not for: Businesses that want a human answering, or very high call volumes.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on heyrosie.comVisit Rosie (opens in a new tab)
Professional $49/mo, 250 minutes; Scale $149/1,000 min; Growth $299/2,000 min. Annual billing = '2 months free'. Overage not stated. Website chat free; website texting add-on $50/mo.
Our pick for you
£69/mo
UK trades (it's aimed at electricians) wanting an AI receptionist that books into Google Calendar and texts confirmations.
Not for: Businesses wanting a long-established provider or deep job-management integrations.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on supportive-ai.comVisit Supportive AI (opens in a new tab)
Starter £69/mo includes 40 calls, then £1.75 per call. Standard £119 (150 calls, £1.25 each after), Business £229 (250 calls, £1.00 each after). Trial covers up to 50 calls. No setup fee, cancel any time. The page doesn't say whether prices include VAT.
Our pick for you
$79/mo
Small local businesses wanting a low-cost 24/7 AI agent with flat per-agent pricing.
Not for: Businesses needing human receptionists or complex intake.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on goodcall.comVisit Goodcall (opens in a new tab)
Priced per AI agent (one per location). Starter $79/agent/mo billed monthly ($66 on annual, 15% off); 100 unique customers/mo then $0.50/customer. Growth $129, Scale $249. No per-minute charges. Title says 'Free Trial' but no length stated.
Our pick for you
$250/mo
Businesses wanting friendly live US-based receptionists answering in their name.
Not for: High-call-volume trades; per-minute pricing gets expensive fast.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on ruby.comVisit Ruby (opens in a new tab)
Receptionist Plan 1: 50 minutes for $250/month; 100 min $395; 200 min $720; 500 min $1,725. Live chat from $143/mo (10 chats). Overage and trial not stated. AI enhancements included at no extra cost.
Our pick for you
$300/mo
Businesses where every call is high-value and a human voice with intake and booking matters.
Not for: Very price-sensitive solo trades with high call volumes of low-value calls.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on smith.aiVisit Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists (opens in a new tab)
Human receptionist Starter $300/mo for 30 calls ($11.50/call overage); Basic $810/90 calls; Pro $2,100/300 calls. Month-to-month; 10% off for 12-month term. No free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee (refund up to $1,000).
Our pick for you
On request
UK businesses wanting a premium, established live answering service.
Not for: Budget-conscious sole traders wanting transparent self-serve pricing.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on moneypenny.comVisit Moneypenny (opens in a new tab)
UK pricing page shows no prices, only a contact form/phone line; services include telephone answering, AI receptionist, appointment booking, payment taking.
Our pick for you
On request
Established local businesses wanting reviews, webchat, texting and payments under one inbox.
Not for: Solo trades on a tight budget wanting self-serve pricing.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on podium.comVisit Podium (opens in a new tab)
No prices published: 'talk to our sales team for details'. AI Employee add-on available on any plan.
Our pick for you
£8.99/mo
Sole traders with low call volume who want the cheapest possible AI answering to try.
Not for: Busy lines. The included minutes are small, so a busy month means buying extra credit.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on reception-genie.comVisit Reception Genie (opens in a new tab)
Basic £8.99/mo (£7.99 billed annually) for about 20 call minutes. Pro £17.99 (about 50 minutes) adds calendar booking and call transfer. Enterprise £29.99 (about 110 minutes). Extra minutes roughly £0.14–0.21 each. Free tier is web only. The page is inconsistent about whether annual billing is required.
Our pick for you
$30/mo per user
Office teams of 3+ handling sales/support calls with CRM integrations.
Not for: Solo operators (3-license minimum).
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on aircall.io · billed yearlyVisit Aircall (opens in a new tab)
Essentials $30/license/mo billed annually, minimum 3 licenses; Professional $50/license; monthly-billed price not shown (annual = 25% discount). AI Voice Agents from $100/mo minimum. 'Free access' offered, no trial length stated.
Our pick for you
£45/mo
UK businesses that want a real person answering 24/7 and booking appointments.
Not for: Tight budgets with lots of calls. Per-minute costs add up quickly.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on answerconnect.co.ukVisit AnswerConnect UK (opens in a new tab)
Smallest plan £45/mo for 25 minutes, then £1.85 per minute. Featured plans: £205 (150 min, £49.99 setup), £245 (250 min, no setup), £395 (350 min, £49.99 setup), with extra minutes at £1.75. Another page on the same site lists lower prices (£195/£225/£375), so check at sign-up. No lock-in. VAT not stated.
Our pick for you
$150/mo
Small businesses wanting to try an AI answering agent free before paying.
Not for: Businesses that need a live human on every call.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on smith.aiVisit Smith.ai AI Receptionist (opens in a new tab)
Free plan: 25 real calls/mo ($3.00/call overage). Pro $150/mo (75-300 call tiers, per-call rates $2.00-$1.67, overage $2.50-$2.17); Enterprise $500/mo. Month-to-month, 30 days' notice to cancel. Page pairing of tiers to totals not fully explicit.
Our pick for you
See site
Teams wanting an AI-heavy cloud phone system with transcription.
Not for: Solo trades who only need one number.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on dialpad.comVisit Dialpad (opens in a new tab)
Plan prices on the pricing page are JavaScript-rendered and could not be read; AI Agent priced via credit pools (contact sales). 'Try free' shown without stated length.
Our pick for you
See site
Growing teams wanting a full business phone system with desk phones and call queues.
Not for: Solo operators who just need a second number on their mobile.
Price checked 8 Oct 2026 on ringcentral.comVisit RingCentral (opens in a new tab)
RingEX per-user prices are rendered by a 'Number of users' selector and were not readable from the page; only 'Save up to 33% by paying annually' visible. Add-on AI Receptionist 'Starts at $39'. 14-day trial for new subscribers (up to 20 lines, no SMS).
Need more than one thing? Build a full stack for your business.
What to set up so calls you can’t answer still turn into jobs, from free phone settings to AI and human answering. Real prices for the US and UK.
What Quo does for a small US business: a second number on your mobile, automatic replies to missed calls, an optional AI agent and real prices.
A proper business number and phone system on your mobile.
6 tools
Let customers book a slot without the back-and-forth.
19 tools
Send professional quotes and invoices, and chase less.
15 tools
Get paid by card, link or on the spot.
17 tools