What an AI receptionist actually costs in the UK

AI receptionist pricing in the UK is refreshingly simple compared with hiring, but providers structure it differently, so it pays to know what you are comparing. Here is how the models work and where the real value, and the hidden costs, sit.

What a booking-capable plan costs at 50, 100 and 200 calls

Headline prices are hard to compare because providers bill by different units: minutes, calls, or nothing at all up to a fair-use limit. So we worked out the monthly bill for the cheapest plan on each provider that can book an appointment during the call, at three call volumes, assuming calls average two minutes.

Worked from the prices on each provider’s own UK site on 10 October 2026 (Sayora on 12 October), with calls averaging two minutes. Ringmere, Hey Jodie, IONOS, Fasthosts and Answer.co.uk say their prices exclude VAT; Sayora says it is not VAT-registered, so its price is the whole bill; Cyberstaff does not say. Moneypenny prices to your needs on a call, ARROW does not publish an overage rate or say whether it books into a calendar, and RingCentral AIR lists calendar booking as coming soon, so they are not in this table. Always confirm current pricing on the provider’s own site.

Three things stand out. At low volumes the cheapest booking-capable plans cost around £30 to £50. Per-call and per-minute billing rise with a busy month, while unlimited plans stay flat but either keep booking for a higher tier or leave live transfer out: Sayora’s home page says it has none. And the cheapest plan is not always the cheapest bill: the order changes between 50 and 200 calls, so price your own call volume. Who each provider suits is in our comparison of the best AI receptionists in the UK.

For comparison, a human pay-per-call answering bureau such as Answer.co.uk’s at £2.20 a call would cost £110 at 50 calls, £220 at 100 and £440 at 200, for messages rather than bookings.

Prices move, and the figures on this page were read in October 2026. For the current published entry price of every AI receptionist sold in the UK, re-read monthly with a change log and a CSV, see the UK AI receptionist price index.

The main pricing models

• Flat monthly fee with included minutes. You pay a set price for a bundle of call minutes, with a clear per-minute rate if you go over. Predictable, and usually the best value for appointment businesses.
• Per-minute or per-call. You pay for what you use. Fine when you are quiet, but the bill rises with a busy month, exactly when you can least predict it.

What a real month looks like

Minutes are easier to judge as calls. If your calls run about two minutes each, the 150 minutes on a £49 plan is roughly 75 answered calls a month. A busy month that runs 40 minutes over adds £10 at £0.25 a minute. Put the same 75 calls through a £2.20 pay-per-call service and the bill is £165. That crossover, not the headline price, is the number to compare.

What should be included

A fair plan should not nickel-and-dime you. Look for these in the price:

• A phone number included free, or the option to keep your own
• A sensible bundle of call minutes, with a transparent overage rate
• Booking straight into your calendar, not just message-taking
• SMS confirmations and missed-call follow-ups
• Escalation of urgent calls to your team, and a proper dashboard

Hidden costs to watch for

The headline price is not always the whole price. Before you sign up, check for a separate charge for the phone number, one-off setup or onboarding fees, extra charges per integration, fees for text messages, and, most importantly, whether there is a cap on overage. Usage-based billing with no safety ceiling can produce a nasty surprise if call volume spikes.

What is it worth?

The honest way to judge the price is against what it saves. One recovered booking a week often covers an entire month’s subscription, and the cover is round-the-clock, for a fraction of the cost of a hire. Set the monthly fee next to the bookings you currently miss and the decision usually makes itself.

How Ringmere prices it

Ringmere starts at £49 a month, with a local number included free, a bundle of call minutes on every plan, and a transparent overage rate (£0.25 a minute, or £0.20 on Pro) with a per-account safety ceiling so costs can never run away. Every plan comes with a 7-day free trial and you can cancel anytime, with no charge for 7 days. Prices are shown excluding VAT.

See the full breakdown on the pricing page, or start your free trial → and be live this afternoon.

Frequently asked questions