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Home / Blog / Ringmere vs Fasthosts AI Receptionist: an honest comparison

Ringmere vs Fasthosts AI Receptionist: an honest comparison

Fasthosts starts £10 a month cheaper and bills per call. Ringmere bills per minute and books appointments on every plan. We make Ringmere, and here is the honest comparison, including when Fasthosts is the better buy.

7 min read

First, the disclosure: we make Ringmere, so read this knowing who wrote it. Second, the respect: Fasthosts is a long-established UK hosting company, and its AI Receptionist is a fair product at a fair price. This comparison is about which tool fits which job.

What each one is

Fasthosts AI Receptionist is an AI call-answering service sold by Fasthosts alongside its hosting and domains. It answers calls, takes messages, answers common questions and forwards calls to your team, with appointment scheduling on its two higher plans. It is billed per call rather than per minute.

Ringmere is a UK AI receptionist built for businesses that run on bookings. It answers your calls 24/7, quotes only the services and prices you approve, checks live availability and books the appointment during the call, and puts urgent calls through to your team. Setup is self-serve and most businesses are live the same day.

Side by side

RingmereFasthosts AI Receptionist
Entry price£49 a month, 150 call minutes included£39 a month, 30 calls included
After the allowance£0.25 a minute (£0.20 on Pro), with a safety ceiling£0.49 a call on Lite, £0.39 on Plus
Other plans£99 (240 minutes) and £249 (700 minutes)£69 (100 calls) and £99 (unlimited calls)
Booking appointmentsEvery plan, into Google Calendar or the built-in diaryPlus and Unlimited, by linking a tool such as Calendly or Cal.com
ChannelsPhone on every plan; two-way WhatsApp and SMS on Growth and ProPhone, with summaries by email; a website call function on Unlimited
Languages30+ languages on Growth and ProEnglish and 30+ more
Free trial14 days. You add a card when the trial starts, and nothing is charged for 14 daysOne month. A payment method is required and it converts to paid automatically
DataStored in the UK. Every sub-processor is named in our privacy policy, and some process outside the UK under UK GDPR safeguardsHosted in EU-based data centres; it says calls are not recorded
Health informationBuilt for clinics and practices; escalates anything clinicalIts terms bar configuring the AI to collect special category data, which includes health data

Fasthosts details are from its public product page and terms as read on 19 September 2026; confirm current pricing and features on its own site. All prices exclude VAT.

Per call or per minute: do the sum for your own phone

The two pricing models reward different businesses. Per-call billing is kind to long conversations and hard on volume: 75 calls in a month on Fasthosts Lite is £39 plus 45 extra calls at £0.49, about £61. The same 75 calls at two minutes each fit inside Ringmere’s £49 plan. Turn it round, and a business taking 25 ten-minute calls a month is better off on Fasthosts, because 250 minutes would run past Ringmere’s Starter allowance. Count your calls and their length before you compare the headline prices.

When Fasthosts is the right choice

  • You already host with Fasthosts and want one supplier and one bill
  • Your calls are few and long, which per-call pricing does not penalise
  • You want a full month to try it before paying
  • You would rather your calls were not recorded at all
  • You already run your diary in Calendly or Cal.com

When Ringmere makes more sense

  • You want appointments booked on the entry plan, not from the second tier up
  • Your diary is in Google Calendar and you want the slot confirmed on the call, with no double-booking
  • You want the same receptionist to answer WhatsApp and text messages as well as the phone
  • You run a clinic, a dental or physio practice, or anywhere callers mention their health
  • You run a restaurant or a hotel: Ringmere takes table reservations, takeaway orders and room bookings

The honest bottom line

A hosting company’s add-on and a purpose-built booking receptionist are different tools. Both have free trials, so use them: try Fasthosts for its month, and put Ringmere on your line free for 14 days → (cancel anytime). Your own callers will tell you which fits. For the wider market, see our comparison of the best AI receptionists in the UK.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fasthosts AI Receptionist cheaper than Ringmere?
Its entry price is lower: £39 a month against £49, both excluding VAT. They meter differently. Fasthosts Lite includes 30 calls a month and then charges £0.49 a call, while Ringmere Starter includes 150 call minutes and then £0.25 a minute. Fasthosts lists appointment scheduling from its £69 Plus plan; Ringmere books appointments on every plan. Prices as published on 19 September 2026.
Does Fasthosts AI Receptionist book appointments?
On its Plus (£69) and Unlimited (£99) plans, by linking a scheduling tool such as Calendly or Cal.com. Its £39 Lite plan lists call forwarding, email notifications and multi-language support, but not appointment scheduling. Ringmere books into Google Calendar or its own built-in diary on every plan, with no separate scheduling tool to pay for.
Can a clinic or practice use Fasthosts AI Receptionist?
Read its terms first. They say customers must not configure the AI to request or collect special category data, which under UK GDPR includes health information. Ringmere is built for clinics and practices: it takes a brief reason for the visit, never gives clinical advice, and escalates anything clinical or urgent to your team.
Where is my call data hosted?
Fasthosts says call data is hosted in its EU-based data centres, that it does not record calls, and that it does not train AI on your data. Ringmere stores customer data in the UK with backups in the EU, and names every sub-processor in its privacy policy. Some of those process outside the UK under UK GDPR transfer safeguards.
What is the best Fasthosts AI Receptionist alternative?
If you want appointments booked on the entry plan, a direct Google Calendar connection, WhatsApp and SMS as well as the phone, or UK data storage, Ringmere is the natural alternative from £49 a month. If you already host with Fasthosts and want one supplier, or your calls are few and long, Fasthosts is a sensible choice.

Keep reading

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