Price changes

Every change to the price index since its first edition, newest first. Prices were last checked against every vendor's own page on October 12, 2026; a weekly re-check that finds nothing new moves only that date, and adds nothing here.

October 12, 2026Added NextPhone Pro, Growth and Scale from its public pricing page. All three plans include unlimited calls with no per-minute charge or overage fee.Vendors: NextPhone
October 12, 2026Rechecked the indexed plan prices on vendor pages; no priced row changed. Corrected the Nextiva exclusion note: XBert AI Receptionist is presented as an add-on to per-user business phone plans, with no published add-on price or AI allowance. Nextiva remains outside the comparable price table.Vendors: nextiva
October 9, 2026Clarified Alert Communications and Nexa trial summaries from "None" to "None found": the reviewed public pages do not offer trial terms, but do not establish that no private offer exists.Vendors: Alert Communications, Nexa
October 9, 2026Clarified LEX Reception trial wording from "None" to "None found": the reviewed vendor pages publish no trial offer, but do not establish that the company never offers one.Vendors: LEX Reception
October 9, 2026Added AnswerForce published 1,200, 1,500, 2,000, 3,500, 5,000 and 10,000-minute plans from the pricing page JavaScript captured October 7, 2026. Each lists $1.85 per additional minute or chat. A prior pass missed these plans because its text capture stopped at 1,000 minutes.Vendors: AnswerForce
October 9, 2026AnswerConnect and LEX Reception priced from their own /plans-direct pages, including setup fees and larger plans. PATLive added its 2,000 to 5,000-minute tiers. AnswerAmerica added with exact prepaid credit packages; comparison costs show the least upfront package purchase covering the call volume, with unused credits rolling over. Its terms charge wrong numbers and hangups, contrary to its price page. ReceptionHQ MessageExpress named in full. Specialty Answering Service cancellation summary and setup-fee summaries corrected. AI product terms added for Go Answer, Moneypenny and Smith.ai. The initial AnswerForce text capture appeared to stop at 1,000 minutes; the larger plans were later found in saved page JavaScript.Touches the whole index
October 9, 2026Published plans that were on pages already read but missing here. ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus added as its own live row (messages and call transfers, no scope note; read October 5, 2026): from $35 a month plus $2.99 a call to $2,440 for 1,000 calls, from its ReceptionistPlus page and the price table in ReceptionHQ's terms (read October 7, 2026), with its own billing terms ($0.30 a call after hours, $0.30 per transfer). ReceptionHQ (MessageExpress, still message-taking only): 150, 250, 350 and 450 calls ($250, $395, $540 and $675) from the same terms table. Specialty Answering Service: 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 minutes ($2,929, $5,649 and $10,599, overage $1.19 to $1.09 a minute) from its pricing page (read October 5, 2026), and hold time added to what its per-minute billing covers, from its rates page (read October 7, 2026). Go Answer: 1,700, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000 minutes ($1,870, $2,750, $5,500 and $11,000, overage $1.40 and $1.25 a minute) from its pricing page (read October 5, 2026). Ruby: 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 minutes ($4,945, $6,400 and $7,875, overage $3.50 to $3.30 a minute) from its help center (read October 7, 2026).Vendors: ReceptionHQ MessageExpress, ReceptionHQ ReceptionistPlus, Specialty Answering Service, Go Answer, Ruby
October 8, 2026Plans and rates that were on the captured pages but missing here: My AI Front Desk overage $0.25 a minute (25 credits at $0.01), Go Answer 750 minutes ($825), AnswerForce 800 minutes ($1,069), ReceptionHQ MessageExpress 400 and 500 calls ($610 and $725), and ReceptionHQ's $0.20 after-hours surcharge per MessageExpress call.Vendors: My AI Front Desk, Go Answer, AnswerForce, ReceptionHQ MessageExpress
October 8, 2026Billing terms added for 18 providers from their terms, FAQ and help pages (read October 7, 2026): billing unit, rounding, time billed beyond the call, spam billing, setup fee, contract and trial. Alert Communications added (law firms only, kept out of the ranges). AnswerForce prices added from its /plans-direct page (Intro $349 for 200 minutes, Best value $389 for 300). VoiceNation now redirects to Moneypenny.Touches the whole index
October 7, 2026Ruby: overage rates added from its help center ($5.40/min on the 50-minute plan down to $3.65 on 1,000 minutes), plus the 350, 750 and 1,000 minute plans published there. Ruby's pricing page still shows no overage rate. Abby Professional overage corrected to $2.99 per Abby Minute (its terms and help center), from $3.00 computed as price divided by minutes.Vendors: Ruby, Abby Connect
October 6, 2026Sameday AI added (home services only, read October 5, 2026): Launch from $449/month with 500 minutes, Scale from $789/month with 1,000 minutes. Like Slang.ai, it is listed but kept out of the category ranges because it serves one vertical.Touches the whole index
October 5, 2026First edition: 30 providers read from their own pricing pages. AnswerConnect, AnswerForce, LEX Reception, Answering Legal and Nexa ask for a form or a sales call before showing a price, so they are listed as quote only. VoiceNation publishes the same plan table as Moneypenny (US), so that table is listed once, under Moneypenny.Touches the whole index