The short answer
A human virtual receptionist service costs roughly $250 to $1,725 a month, billed by the minute. An AI one costs roughly $25 to $50 a month, billed flat. The gap is that large because one is people's time and the other is software.
The number that surprises people is the per-minute rate. Ruby, one of the best-known services, works out at $3.45 to $5.00 per receptionist minute on its published plans. A four-minute call about a job you may not win costs $14 to $20 before you have quoted anything.
In this article
- What human services actually charge
- The per-minute trap
- What AI services charge
- Working out your own number
- When a human service is worth the money
- FAQ
What human services actually charge {#human}
Prices below are from published pricing pages as of September 2026. Check them before deciding — this market moves.
| Plan | Minutes included | Price | Effective per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call Ruby 50 | 50 | $250/mo | $5.00 |
| Call Ruby 100 | 100 | $395/mo | $3.95 |
| Call Ruby 200 | 200 | $720/mo | $3.60 |
| Call Ruby 500 | 500 | $1,725/mo | $3.45 |
Ruby's 200-minute plan is its most popular and covers roughly 100 calls a month. So about 100 calls answered, for $720.
Two details that are easy to miss and both cost money:
- Unused minutes expire every billing period. No rollover, no partial credit. A quiet month is money gone.
- Overage rates are not published. If your callers use more minutes than your plan includes, the pricing page does not say what each extra minute costs.
The per-minute trap {#trap}
Per-minute billing has a problem that only shows up once you are using it: a good call costs more than a bad one.
A wrong number lasts twenty seconds. A caller who asks about your services, gets a recommendation and books an appointment might run five minutes. On a $3.60/minute plan that useful call cost $18 — and the wrong number cost $1.20.
You are charged most for exactly the calls you most want to receive. And your bill goes up in your busiest months, which are usually the months you are least able to think about it.
What AI services charge {#ai}
| Service | Entry price | Billing model |
|---|---|---|
| Upfirst | $24.95/mo | Per call, 30 calls included |
| Call Agent AI | $45/mo | Flat, no per-call or per-minute overage |
| Rosie | $49/mo | Per minute, 250 minutes included |
| Ruby (human) | $250/mo | Per minute, 50 minutes included |
Note the shape of it, not just the numbers. At the entry tier, Ruby costs five times the most expensive AI option and includes 50 minutes.
We have written detailed comparisons against Rosie and Upfirst, including where each of them is genuinely the better buy.
Working out your own number {#your-number}
Do not use anyone's example. Use your own phone records.
- Count your calls last month. Your phone bill or call log has this. Most people underestimate it by half.
- Multiply by your average call length. Three minutes is a reasonable starting guess for a service business.
- That is your minutes. Now price it against the tables above.
At 100 calls × 3 minutes = 300 minutes, you would need Ruby's $720 plan and still be 100 minutes short of the next tier. The same volume on a flat $45 plan is $45.
There is a slider calculator on our virtual receptionist page that does this arithmetic if you would rather drag than multiply.
When a human service is worth the money {#worth-it}
Sometimes it genuinely is, and it is worth saying so:
- Emotionally complex calls. Legal intake after an accident, medical distress, bereavement. A person should take those.
- Very low volume, very high value. If you take six calls a month and each is worth $50,000, spend the $250.
- Regulated intake with judgement calls. Where a human needs to make a call about what to escalate.
- You want a named person your regulars recognise. Some firms genuinely value that continuity.
The realistic answer for most small businesses is a mix: AI handles the routine majority and warm-transfers anything sensitive to a person.
FAQ {#faq}
How much does a virtual receptionist cost per month? Human services run about $250 to $1,725 a month depending on minutes included — roughly $3.45 to $5.00 per minute. AI services run about $25 to $50 a month. Call Agent AI is $45 flat.
Why are human virtual receptionists so expensive? You are buying a trained person's time, with the overheads of employing and scheduling them. That is a real cost and the price reflects it honestly.
Do unused minutes roll over? Generally no. Ruby's unused minutes expire each billing period with no partial credit. Check any provider's terms — this detail is rarely on the pricing page in large type.
What happens if I go over my minutes? You pay an overage rate. Some vendors publish it, some do not — Ruby's is not on its pricing page. Flat-rate AI plans avoid the question entirely.
Is an AI receptionist as good as a human one? For routine calls — answering questions, qualifying, booking, taking a message — the outcome is very similar and available 24/7. For emotionally sensitive or genuinely unusual calls, a person is better, which is why live transfer to your team exists.