People charge between £45 and £1,499 per month for AI receptionists in the UK in 2026. The cheapest option (CallAgentAI Starter at £45/mo) covers only 90 minutes. The most expensive mainstream tier (Eldris Voice Scale at £1,497 or CallAgentAI Enterprise at £1,399) covers 4,000+ minutes with multilingual handling. Hybrid human-plus-AI services (Smith.ai) sit between £300 and £1,900 monthly. Setup fees range from zero (commodity) to £2,500+ (bespoke). This breakdown covers 12 named platforms.
How much do people charge for AI receptionists in the UK?
People charge anywhere from £45 to £1,499 per month for AI receptionists in the UK in 2026, with most paid plans clustering between £349 and £997. Per-minute pricing on developer platforms (Vapi, Retell, Bland) sits at £0.05 to £0.09 platform-only, with all-in costs of £0.12 to £0.15. Setup fees range from £0 to £2,500+. Statista's UK AI market reports place the conversational AI segment at roughly £1.4 billion in 2025, growing 35% year on year.
What are the live AI receptionist rates from named UK and global platforms?
Live AI receptionist rates from the dozen platforms most often surfaced in UK SERP queries split into five distinct tiers. Each tier targets a different buyer profile.
Live 2026 AI receptionist rate card
| Platform | Tier | Monthly | Setup | Minutes | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CallAgentAI | Starter | £45 | £0 | 90 | 1 |
| AI Receptionist (.com) | Solopreneur | ~£99 | £0 | 200 | 1 |
| JustCall Agent Max | Standard | ~£249 | £0 | 300 | 1 |
| Ringly | Grow | ~£349 | £0 | 1,000 | 1 |
| Synthflow | Pro | ~£375 | £0 | 2,000 | 1 |
| Smith.ai | Starter | ~£300 | £0 | Variable | 1 (hybrid) |
| Eldris Voice | Starter | £497 | £497 | 500 | 1 |
| Synthflow | Growth | ~£900 | £0 | 4,000 | 1 |
| Eldris Voice | Growth | £997 | £997 | 1,500 | 3 |
| CallAgentAI | Enterprise | ~£1,399 | £0 | 17,500 | Multiple |
| Eldris Voice | Scale | £1,497 | £997 | 4,000 | 6 |
| Smith.ai | Premium | ~£1,900 | £0 | Variable | 1 (hybrid) |
The headline numbers obscure five things: per-minute overage rates, multilingual surcharges, integrations, the difference between AI-only and AI-plus-human delivery, and the difference between commodity script-readers and domain-trained operators. A £45 plan with 90 minutes is not comparable to a £349 plan with 1,000 minutes.
What are the published rates by service category?
Published rates for AI receptionists in the UK split cleanly into five categories in 2026. Each category serves a different combination of call volume, complexity, and engineering resource.
Rates by service category
| Category | Monthly range | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|
| Per-minute developer platforms | £0.05–£0.15/min | Builders with technical staff |
| Commodity self-serve | £45–£249 | Sole traders, very low volume |
| No-code mid-market SaaS | £300–£900 | Predictable mid-volume SMB |
| Domain-trained managed | £497–£1,497 | Complex services, multilingual |
| Hybrid human+AI | £300–£1,900 | Buyers wanting human escalation |
Per-minute pricing is the cheapest headline cost but exposes the buyer to volume swings — a busy week can double the bill. Commodity self-serve is the lowest fixed-cost option but the most limited; script-reading operators cannot quote live prices or switch language mid-call. No-code mid-market SaaS is the largest category by buyer count. Domain-trained managed services are where most professional-services SMBs end up once they outgrow commodity tools. Hybrid human-plus-AI (Smith.ai dominant) blends US-based human agents with AI handling.
The ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings places median UK receptionist pay at approximately £24,000 — the upper end of every published AI plan remains less than half the in-house equivalent. Ofcom's Communications Market Report confirms voice remains the dominant inbound channel for UK service enquiries.
How does AI receptionist pricing compare to traditional call answering services?
AI receptionist pricing compares favourably to traditional UK call-answering services on a per-minute basis. A £997 monthly plan with 1,500 minutes works out to £0.66 per minute. A traditional human bureau (Moneypenny, AllDayPA, Answer4u) charges £1.20 to £2.95 per minute on equivalent volume. Hybrid services (Smith.ai) sit at £1.50 to £2.50. AI-only plans include 24/7 coverage in the base; bureaus typically surcharge for evenings, weekends, and public holidays.
For UK businesses with multilingual callers, the gap widens. Traditional bureaus charge £50–£200 per added language and rarely offer more than two; managed AI services like Eldris Voice include six languages standard on Growth and Scale.
What additional fees should you watch for in AI receptionist pricing?
Five additional fees regularly inflate the headline AI receptionist rate in the UK in 2026. Most are disclosed deep in the terms; some are not disclosed at all until the bill arrives.
The five fee categories that inflate the bill
- Per-minute overage — Fixed plans carry a minute cap. Overages run £0.10 to £0.45 per minute, fastest-burning at the commodity tier.
- Multilingual surcharge — £50–£100 monthly per added language on platforms that don't bundle.
- Setup and onboarding fees — Free on commodity, £497–£997 on domain-trained, £2,500+ on bespoke regulated builds.
- Phone number provisioning — £5–£20 per inbound number per month on some platforms.
- Integration fees — CRM, calendar, and webhook connectors sometimes attract £50–£250 monthly each.
A buyer choosing a £349 no-code plan with two added languages, a 1,400-minute month (vs 1,000 included), and a CRM connector can find their bill at £549 — within £50 of a £597 fully-managed Starter tier. Model total monthly cost, not floor price.
How should you compare AI receptionist rates before buying?
Comparing AI receptionist rates comes down to four questions, applied uniformly across every shortlisted vendor.
- All-in monthly cost at my expected call volume? Add overage projections to base price.
- All-in cost with my language requirements? Add multilingual surcharges if applicable.
- Year-one total? Monthly × 12 + setup + onboarding services charges.
- Cost per qualified conversion? Divide all-in cost by conversions the system credibly delivers monthly.
The fourth is the only one that matters long-term. A £997 operator booking one extra qualified client monthly at £1,500 value pays for itself faster than a £349 plan that converts at half the rate. See our Smith.ai comparison for hybrid-vs-AI context.
Frequently asked questions
How much do people typically charge for AI receptionists in the UK?
People charge between £45 and £1,499 per month in 2026. Most paid plans cluster between £349 and £997. Commodity self-serve starts at £45 (CallAgentAI Starter), no-code SaaS sits at £300 to £900, domain-trained managed services run £497 to £1,497, hybrid human-plus-AI services £300 to £1,900.
What is the cheapest AI receptionist plan in the UK?
The cheapest published plans are CallAgentAI Starter at £45 monthly (90 minutes) and AI Receptionist (.com) Solopreneur at ~£99 (200 minutes). Both are commodity script-readers with limited capability. Per-minute developer platforms (Vapi at £0.05 platform-only) are cheaper headline but require engineering work to deploy.
What is the most expensive AI receptionist plan in the UK?
The most expensive mainstream plans are Smith.ai Premium at ~£1,900 (hybrid) and Eldris Voice Scale at £1,497 (domain-trained, six languages, 4,000 minutes). Enterprise platforms (PolyAI, Cognigy) sit at £120,000+ annually but are accessible only to large contact-centre buyers.
Do AI receptionist rates include multilingual handling?
Multilingual handling is included on some platforms (NextPhone, AI Receptionist (.com), Dialzara, Eldris Voice Growth and Scale) and surcharged on others (£50–£100 monthly per added language). Always ask: "Is multilingual included in the published price, or is it a surcharge?" before signing.
What is the average AI receptionist rate UK SMBs actually pay?
The average rate UK SMBs pay in 2026 is roughly £400 to £700 monthly. This reflects clustering in the no-code mid-market band (£300 to £900) and the lower domain-trained tier (£497 to £997). Sole traders pay below; complex multilingual or regulated buyers pay above.
Are AI receptionist rates rising or falling in 2026?
Rates are flat-to-falling at the commodity tier and roughly flat at the domain-trained tier in 2026. Underlying inference costs (LLM tokens, voice generation) have fallen. Bundled features (multilingual, integrations) have expanded. Net effect: more capability per pound at the same headline price.
Hear it for yourself
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The fastest way to judge an AI receptionist is to ring one. Ask about pricing, ask about languages, ask it to qualify you. Then decide.