Answering Service Pricing 2026: Monthly and Per-Minute Plans Compared

As of October 12, 2026, live service plans and prepaid packages cost $150 to $1,160 (low end AnswerAmerica, prepaid message-taking only, no transfers; unused credits roll over) for 100 three-minute calls a month, and the median is $406. AI answering services charge $75 to $270 for the same calls. The bill depends on billing unit, rounding and any prepaid minimum.

Answering service pricing: monthly plans and per-minute rates

Prices checked against each vendor's own pricing page on October 12, 2026.

Our arithmetic: each monthly vendor's cheapest published plan for that volume plus overage, at 3-minute calls. AnswerAmerica shows upfront cash for enough credits, not a monthly fee; unused credits roll over. Taxes, pass-through fees, setup fees and add-ons are not included. How we price.

Answering Legal and Nexa do not publish plan prices, so their cost cells read "Quote only". AnswerConnect and LEX Reception have published plans in the table. Alert Communications serves law firms alone and stays out of the price ranges on this page. AnswerConnect, LEX Reception and AnswerForce are one company: each contract is with "AnywhereWorks, Inc." (AnswerConnect, LEX Reception and AnswerForce terms, read October 7, 2026), so one is not an alternative to another. AnswerForce's prices are in the table. See who owns which answering service.

How answering services bill: per minute, per call or a monthly bundle

A monthly bundle of minutes. PATLive charges $479/month for 300 minutes, then $1.89 a minute past the allowance. Overage can cost more per minute than the plan itself: Ruby's 100-minute plan is $395 ÷ 100 min = $3.95/min, and past it Ruby charges $4.50 a minute.

Prepaid message taking. AnswerAmerica requires $50 prepaid for 34 calls upfront, then spends one credit per call. Unused credits roll over. Its price page says wrong numbers are free, while its terms charge a credit for every call (AnswerAmerica terms, read October 9, 2026).

Per call. Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists charges $810/month for 90 calls, then $10.50 a call past it, so a longer call does not raise the bill. ReceptionHQ sells message-taking the same way, $170/month for 100 calls, and calls with transfers as ReceptionistPlus, $260/month for 100 calls.

Pay as you go. AnswerFirst charges $30/month plus $1.60 to $1.95 a minute. The rate falls with usage, in bands AnswerFirst does not publish, which is why its costs in the table are ranges. MAP Communications charges $49/month plus $1.37 a minute on the same model.

A "flat rate" in this market is a fixed price for an allowance of minutes or calls, with overage past it. Per-minute vs flat-rate answering service pricing works out where each model costs less.

What raises the bill past the plan price

Rounding and the minimum per call

• Ruby: 60 seconds, rounded up per call
• AnswerConnect: Whole minute, rounded up
• Moneypenny: 30 seconds per call, rounded up after adding wrap-up and dispatch time
• PATLive: 6 seconds, with a 1-minute minimum per call
• Go Answer: 1 second

AnswerConnect's terms say "any partial minutes will be rounded up to the nearest whole minute" (answerconnect.com/termsofservice, read October 7, 2026). PATLive bills by the six seconds, but a 10-second wrong number still costs a full minute: "All receptionist minutes are billed in six-second increments, with a one-minute minimum." (patlive.com/terms-of-use, read October 7, 2026)

Time billed after the caller hangs up

• MAP Communications: After-call work with no cap, plus other work on your account
• Moneypenny: Wrap-up up to 180 seconds per call, transfer dial-out, every dispatch leg; queue time not billed
• Ruby: Hold time and after-call work; talk after a transfer not billed
• Go Answer: Summary and disconnection minutes; voicemail and IVR $0.15/min; hold and ring time not billed
• Nexa: Hold, outbound ringing, after-call work, "system time" as a percentage of talk time, AI agent time

MAP Communications bills "any time a receptionist spends completing any information on your call after the caller has hung up, or we perform other work on your account" (mapcommunications.com/terms, read October 7, 2026), and publishes no cap. Moneypenny caps the same wrap-up time at "180 seconds per call" (Moneypenny phone answering terms, read October 7, 2026), then rounds the total up.

Spam, robocalls and wrong numbers

• AnswerFirst: Billed ("The answer is YES"); numbers cannot be blocked
• AnswerConnect: Only the first 30 calls under 30 seconds each month are free
• PATLive: No exemption for spam calls (spam chats are free)
• Specialty Answering Service: Robocalls, faxes and dead air capped at 30 billable seconds; live telemarketers billed
• Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists: Spam, misdials and callers who leave no message are not counted when caller ID passes

AnswerFirst's help center asks "Am I billed for spam, robo calls and solicitation calls?" and answers "The answer is YES." (support.answerfirst.com, read October 7, 2026) At AnswerConnect, "If you receive more than 30 of these short calls in a given month, the additional ones will start counting toward your bill." (answerconnect.com help center, read October 7, 2026) More in which answering services charge for spam calls.

Setup and other fees

• Answering Legal: No standard setup fee; the terms list a separate fee for extensive setup
• Go Answer: Marketing says no setup fees; the terms say $50 or $75
• AnswerForce: $75 on the Intro plan, none from 300 minutes
• Moneypenny: Non-refundable, amount not published; first and last month paid up front
• MAP Communications: Not published

Go Answer's pricing page says "No, we don't charge any setup fees." Its terms say "Go Answer charges a $50 or a $75 set-up fee depending on the plan chosen" (goanswer.io/terms-conditions, read October 7, 2026). The terms are the contract. MAP Communications adds a "Telecom Fee - This fee is charged at $.024 per call" (mapcommunications.com/terms, read October 7, 2026), and PATLive's pricing page notes "Prices don't include taxes and fees." (patlive.com/pricing, read October 5, 2026) The full list is in answering service hidden fees.

Contract, notice and your phone number

• AnswerConnect: 90-day minimum, then written notice; a partial month is billed in full
• Moneypenny: Month-to-month; one full calendar month notice by phone
• Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists: Cancel 30 days before the cycle ends or the next month is billed; annual plans prepaid and non-refundable
• Go Answer: "Cancel anytime", but the FAQ asks for 30 days written notice; no proration
• PATLive: Month-to-month

AnswerConnect's marketing says "No fixed contract. We don't need a commitment" (answerconnect.com/why, read October 7, 2026), while its terms set "a minimum period of 90 calendar days" (answerconnect.com/termsofservice, read October 7, 2026). Port your number out before you cancel: at PATLive, "Any phone numbers remaining on the Account become property of PATLive and may not be available for porting or reuse once a cancellation is effective." (patlive.com/terms-of-use, read October 7, 2026) Contract terms for every service are in month-to-month answering services.

What vendors' own cost guides leave out

PATLive's blog says "The average cost for per-minute rates is $0.75 to $1.50 per minute" (patlive.com/blog, read October 7, 2026). PATLive's own overage runs $1.49 to $2.29 a minute, and its 300-minute plan works out to $479 ÷ 300 min = $1.60/min.

Moneypenny's 24/7 page says "Our pricing plans start from as little as $132 per month" (moneypenny.com/us/24-7-answering-service, read October 7, 2026). Its pricing page starts at $165/month (50 minutes).

That gap is why every price here cites the vendor's own published plan or package source with its read date.

What an answering service costs at 50, 100 and 200 calls

Within PATLive, the cheapest monthly plan changes as volume grows, at three minutes a call:

• 50 calls (150 minutes): $189/month for 100 minutes, plus $2.09 a minute for the other 50 minutes: $293.50.
• 100 calls (300 minutes): $479/month for 300 minutes covers them exactly, or $4.79 a call.
• 200 calls (600 minutes): $759/month for 500 minutes, plus $1.79 a minute for the last 100 minutes: $938.

At 100 calls, Ruby costs $1,160, which is $681 a month more than PATLive, or $8,172 a year. ReceptionHQ's per-call plan covers the same 100 calls for $170, but it takes messages and does not transfer calls. Its ReceptionistPlus plans, which do transfer, cost $260 before the transfer fee.

Run your own volume and call length in the answering service cost calculator.

24/7 answering service pricing for a small business

At 50 calls a month, live service plans and prepaid packages cost $80 to $620. At 100 calls, they cost $150 to $1,160. AnswerAmerica figures are upfront cash purchases whose unused credits roll over. Some monthly services write extra charges for nights, weekends or holidays into their terms:

• ReceptionHQ: calls "outside of 5am to 7pm Monday to Friday local time in Phoenix, Arizona or on a United States Federal Holiday" carry a surcharge "of $0.20 per call for MessageExpress subscriptions" and "$0.30 per call for ReceptionistPlus subscriptions" (receptionhq.com terms, read October 7, 2026).
• MAP Communications: "a flat fee charged on seven major holidays", with neither the amount nor the holidays published (mapcommunications.com/terms, read October 7, 2026).
• Nexa: a "Holiday-related fee for the following holidays" that lists eight US holidays (nexa.com terms, read October 7, 2026).

English around the clock is not Spanish around the clock. PATLive's Spanish line is "Available from 8 am to 10 pm ET" (help.patlive.com, read October 7, 2026). Ruby says "Ruby's bilingual service and outgoing call assists are available Monday to Friday, 5am to 6pm Pacific / 8am to 9pm Eastern." (ruby.com/faqs, read October 7, 2026) Compare bilingual answering service pricing and after-hours answering service pricing.

Live vs AI answering service pricing

AI answering services answer with software instead of a receptionist. At 100 three-minute calls they cost $75 to $270, and the median live service costs 2.3 times the median AI one.

Same arithmetic as the live table. NextPhone's Pro plan includes unlimited calls with no usage-based charge. Not computable: Simple Phones publishes no rate past its plan's allowance, so 200 calls cannot be priced.

Among AI services with a published price, Phonely costs less than the others at 50, 100 and 200 calls: $50, $75 to $85 and $150 to $190. At Moneypenny AI, any call with sound on the line is billed. Its terms say "If the caller does not speak to the AI Receptionist (i.e. no noise is registered), the call will not be charged." (Moneypenny AI terms, read October 7, 2026) The full comparison is in live vs AI answering service cost and AI answering service pricing.

Which answering service fits which situation

Lowest prepaid cash for message taking: AnswerAmerica

At 50, 100 and 200 calls, AnswerAmerica requires $80, $150 and $280 upfront, less than any other live or hybrid service with a published price at those volumes. Unused credits roll over. ReceptionHQ MessageExpress costs $170 a month at 100 calls, takes messages only and charges extra for nights and weekends. ReceptionHQ says "overnight calls are handled by our equally skilled, English-speaking team in Australia" (receptionhq.com/faqs, read October 7, 2026).

Best for call transfers at 50 to 200 callsReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus

At 50, 100 and 200 three-minute calls, ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus costs $135, $260 and $505, less than every other live or hybrid service with a published price except the message-only services ReceptionHQ MessageExpress and AnswerAmerica. It bills per call, so call length does not move the plan price, but misdialled calls "qualify as inbound calls and may result in Usage Charges". The terms also add "Call transfer to landline or cell phone $0.30 per call for ReceptionistPlus plans", "$0.15 per unsuccessful attempt" and the after-hours surcharge quoted in the 24/7 section (receptionhq.com terms, read October 7, 2026). Long calls can cost more: "Extended call durations will require a Plus Pack to be added" (same terms).

Best per-minute plan for about 50 calls: MAP Communications

At 50 three-minute calls, MAP Communications costs $211.50, less than every other live or hybrid service with a published price that bills by the minute. ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus, billed per call, costs $135 for the same calls. At 100 calls Go Answer costs less than MAP: $345 against $403. MAP rounds partial minutes up to the whole minute (its terms do not say whether per call or per month), bills after-call work with no published cap and adds its per-call telecom fee.

Best per-minute plan for 100 to 200 calls: Go Answer

At 100 and 200 three-minute calls, Go Answer costs $345 and $700, less than every other live or hybrid service with a published price that bills by the minute. ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus costs less at both volumes, $260 and $505, before its transfer fees. A per-minute bill follows your call length: test yours in the answering service cost calculator. Go Answer bills by the second, but "We charge for live receptionist minutes, as well as, summary and disconnection minutes" (goanswer.io/faq, read October 7, 2026), its terms charge the setup fee its pricing page denies, and "a 30-day written notice is mandatory upon cancellation" (same page).

If you want a free trial first

• Posh: 7 days or 250 minutes, no card
• MAP Communications: 7 days, no card
• ReceptionHQ: 7 days, no card
• PATLive: 14 days, card required, converts automatically

A trial month can look cheaper than a paid one: ReceptionHQ's after-hours surcharge applies "except during a free trial" (receptionhq.com/faqs, read October 7, 2026).

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an answering service cost per month?

Live answering service plans and prepaid packages cost $150 to $1,160 for 100 three-minute calls, with a median of $406, on prices checked October 12, 2026. At 50 calls the range is $80 to $620, and at 200 calls it is $280 to $2,125; AnswerAmerica is prepaid and unused credits roll over. At 100 calls, ReceptionHQ MessageExpress costs $170 monthly for messages only and ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus $260 with call transfers.

Is it cheaper to pay per call or per minute?

It depends on how long your calls run. At 100 three-minute calls, PATLive's per-minute plans cost $4.79 a call and Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists, which bills per call, costs $9.15 a call. Per-call pricing keeps long calls from raising the bill, though Smith.ai's terms say extended intake "cannot exceed an average of 120 seconds".

Do answering services charge for spam calls?

Some do. AnswerFirst answers "The answer is YES" to whether it bills spam and robocalls, while Smith.ai does not count spam on lines that pass caller ID. AnswerConnect, LEX Reception and AnswerForce exempt the first 30 calls under 30 seconds each month and bill the rest.

Why is my answering service bill higher than my plan price?

Rounding, time billed after the caller hangs up, and fees outside the plan price. Ruby rounds each call up to the next minute, MAP Communications bills after-call work with no published cap, and PATLive's prices exclude taxes and telecom fees.

Is an AI answering service cheaper than a live answering service?

At 100 three-minute calls, AI answering services cost $75 to $270 a month against $150 to $1,160 for live services, including upfront prepaid purchases. The median live service costs 2.3 times the median AI one.