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How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?

From published price lists: flat monthly plans from about £25 to £99 at entry level, scaling by included calls or minutes, with some providers quoting instead of publishing. Our own pricing is in the table with everyone else's, and every figure links to its source.

Published prices, checked 22 July 2026

ProviderPublished priceWhat it includes
Kalvo (ours)£49/mo for 100 call minutes; £99 for 400; £199 for 1,00024/7, booking on the call, transcripts, website chatbot and email included
Moneypenny AI ReceptionistFrom £25/mo; full pricing by tailored quoteTheir AI answering, quoted to your call volume and needs
IONOS AI Receptionist£39/mo for 30 calls; £69 for 100; £99 unlimited (ex VAT)24/7 answering; higher tiers add scheduling and a website chat agent
CyberstaffStates plans from £30/mo, 100 to 600 minutes; overage £0.20 to £0.30/min24/7 answering on minute-based tiers
RingCentral AI ReceptionistNo published UK price; add-on quoted by their sales team24/7 answering, routing and lead capture inside the RingCentral platform
Smith.ai (US)$300/mo for 30 calls; overage from $8.50/call; booking $1.50/call extraAI backed by live North American agents, 24/7

Prices are the providers' own published figures on the linked pages, checked 22 July 2026. Smith.ai prices in USD as published. No prices are estimated.

How to read the pricing models

AI receptionists price three ways: by included calls, by included minutes, or unlimited. Call-based plans suit short, predictable calls; minute-based plans mean a chatty caller uses more of your allowance but a two-second wrong number barely counts. Unlimited plans trade a higher flat fee for no counting at all.

The comparison that cuts through: estimate your monthly answered calls and average length, then price that month on each provider's model including overage. A plan that looks £10 cheaper can invert at your real volume.

What the price buys, against what a missed call costs

Every plan on this page costs less per month than the estimated value of a single missed customer call, which is the arithmetic that makes the category work. The honest caveat: that only holds if the receptionist genuinely resolves calls for your kind of business, which no pricing table can tell you.

Two of our other guides go deeper: the human answering cost guide prices the traditional market, and do AI receptionists work covers the capability question this page deliberately leaves open.

£1,200

the estimated cost of a single missed customer call

Source: BT Business research, 2014

Common questions

What does a typical UK AI receptionist cost per month?

On published UK price lists, flat plans run from about £25 to £99 a month at entry level, rising with included calls or minutes. Kalvo sits at £49 for 100 call minutes. Quote-only providers can land anywhere, which is why the linked price pages matter more than any average.

What is usually included, and what costs extra?

Check four things against the headline price: whether 24/7 is included, whether appointment booking is included or an add-on, what happens beyond your call or minute allowance, and whether transcripts cost extra. On this page, booking is included at Kalvo and IONOS but priced per call at Smith.ai, and overage models differ everywhere.

How does AI pricing compare to a human answering service?

Published UK human answering runs from roughly £45 to £230 or more a month, with per-call rates around £2 to £3 where printed, because people answer one call at a time. AI answering is typically cheaper and flat because software has no per-call cost. The full human-market pricing, with sources, is in our telephone answering cost guide.

Are there setup fees or contracts?

Mostly not in the AI market: rolling monthly plans without setup fees are the norm among the providers listed here, and several offer trials. Always confirm on the provider's pricing page before signing; the links in the table go straight there.

Is the cheapest option the best value?

Only if it resolves your calls. A cheap receptionist that takes messages you then have to action has moved your work, not removed it. Compare on cost per resolved call: divide the monthly price by calls it fully handles, bookings included. A trial week of transcripts gives you that number.

Related pages

Kalvo pricing in fullBest AI receptionist in the UKTelephone answering service costs (UK)Do AI receptionists actually work?

One flat price, published above.

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