There are three ways to make sure your business calls get answered: an AI receptionist, a human answering service, or a receptionist on your payroll. They are priced in very different ways, which makes them hard to compare. This guide puts them side by side, using the prices each provider publishes on its own website.
The short answer
- An AI receptionist usually costs a fixed amount each month, with a set number of calls or minutes included. Most of the entry plans in this guide cost under £50 a month, and the biggest plans run to about £100 to £250 a month for busy lines.
- A human answering service charges by the call, the message or the minute. Published prices start at a few pounds a month for a handful of calls, but many services only quote on request.
- A full-time receptionist on the National Living Wage costs a UK employer about £28,300 a year, once employer National Insurance and pension are added. That covers 37.5 of the 168 hours in a week.
AI receptionist prices
These are the entry plans, as each company published them on 15 October 2026. Most UK providers show their prices before VAT.
| Service | Entry plan a month | Included | Each extra | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilly | £29 | 40 calls | 50p a call | 14 days, no card |
| Fasthosts | £39 + VAT | 30 calls | 49p a call | 1 month |
| Hey Jodie | £49 + VAT | Unlimited minutes | Nothing extra | 7 days, no card |
| Ringmere | £49 + VAT | 150 minutes | 25p a minute | 7 days |
| Moneypenny AI Receptionist | From £49, by quote | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| BT AI Receptionist | Not shown, sold in 100-minute bundles | 100 to 14,000 minutes | Overage at a higher rate, if switched on | Not stated |
| My AI Front Desk (US) | $99, or $79 a month paid yearly | 200 minutes | $0.25 a minute | 7 days |
The bigger plans follow the same pattern:
- Tilly: £59 a month for 150 calls, or £149 for 400 calls and up to three receptionists.
- Fasthosts: £69 + VAT for 100 calls (then 39p a call), or £99 + VAT for unlimited calls.
- Hey Jodie: £99 + VAT or £199 + VAT, both with unlimited minutes. Appointment booking starts on the £99 plan.
- Ringmere: £99 + VAT for 240 minutes across calls and chat, or £249 + VAT for 700 minutes.
Sources, checked on 15 October 2026: Fasthosts, Hey Jodie, Ringmere, Moneypenny, BT Business and My AI Front Desk. Tilly's prices are its current prices. For features as well as prices, see our side by side comparison, or the full comparisons with Moneypenny and BT.
What changes the price of an AI receptionist
Calls or minutes. Some plans count calls and some count minutes. If your callers tend to talk for a while, a plan priced by the call is easier to predict. If most calls are short, minutes go further. Unlimited plans cost more at the start but never surprise you.
What counts. Check what happens to short calls, wrong numbers and sales calls. Tilly counts a call only when she answers it and it lasts 10 seconds or more, and sales calls she screens out are never counted.
Which features need a bigger plan. Appointment booking, text alerts and connections to your other software often sit on the second plan up. On Tilly, booking and text alerts are on Pro and Business; on Fasthosts, booking starts on Plus; on Hey Jodie, it starts on Professional.
What happens when you go over. Some services charge for each extra call or minute, and some stop answering until you buy more. BT, for example, says its AI Receptionist stops answering when a bundle runs out, unless you buy more minutes or switch on overage. Tilly carries on and adds extra calls to your next invoice.
VAT. Most providers quote prices before VAT. If your business is not VAT registered, add 20% to compare like with like.
How much does a telephone answering service cost in the UK?
A human answering service puts your calls through to receptionists in a call centre, who answer in your business name and pass on messages. Few of them publish prices. These four show how differently they charge:
| Service | Price | How it is charged | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connect Communications (Classic) | From £14.99 + VAT a month for 5 messages, up to £153.99 + VAT for 100 | By the message: wrong numbers and sales calls are not charged | Live receptionists 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Out of hours, callers can leave a message |
| Icon Offices | £4.99 a month including VAT, with 6 calls; then 10 calls for £20 including VAT | By the call, and a call put through to you uses 2 | 24/7 |
| Moneypenny (Telephone Answering Service) | By quote | Call volumes and hours of cover. Smaller schemes have a three-month minimum contract | 8.30am to 6pm as standard, with evenings, weekends and 24/7 on request |
| alldayPA | By quote | By the call or by the minute, your choice | 24/7 |
Sources, checked on 15 October 2026: Connect Communications, Icon Offices, Moneypenny and alldayPA.
The appeal of a human service is a person on the line. The catch is that cost rises with every call, and evening and weekend cover often costs extra or is not offered at all.
A worked example: 40 calls a month
Say 40 calls a month need answering, and each one ends with a message. On the published prices above, that would cost:
| Service | What you would pay a month |
|---|---|
| Fasthosts Lite | £39 + 10 extra calls at 49p = £43.90 + VAT |
| Hey Jodie Basic | £49 + VAT |
| Ringmere Starter | £49 + VAT, as long as the calls average under 3 minutes 45 seconds |
| Connect Communications | £82.49 + VAT, on the 50-message tariff |
| Icon Offices | £4.99 for 6 calls, plus bundles of 30 and 10 calls (£59 and £20) = £83.99 including VAT |
Tilly's Starter plan is £29 a month with 40 calls included, then 50p for each extra call, so you can work out your own figure the same way. Bear in mind what the price buys: the human services above use people, Connect's live receptionists work weekdays only, and the AI services answer around the clock.
What a salaried receptionist costs
A full-time receptionist aged 21 or over, paid the National Living Wage for 37.5 hours a week, costs an employer about £28,309 a year, or £2,359 a month, with employer National Insurance and the minimum pension contribution. A part-time receptionist on 20 hours a week costs about £14,661 a year.
Recruitment, holiday cover and equipment come on top. Our guide to what a receptionist costs in the UK works through every figure from the official 2026 to 2027 rates.
What is the cheapest AI receptionist?
The cheapest is the one that costs least for the calls you actually get, which is not always the plan with the lowest headline price. To compare fairly:
- Count the calls you miss in a typical month, from your phone's call log.
- For each plan, work out what that number of calls would cost, including any extra calls or minutes.
- Check whether the features you need, such as booking or text alerts, are on that plan or the next one up.
- Check the free trial, whether you need a card to start, and whether there is a minimum contract.
A plan that includes enough calls for a normal month, with a fair price for extras, is usually cheaper over a year than one that looks low but charges heavily for busy weeks.
Is an AI receptionist worth it?
It is worth it when the calls it answers bring in more than it costs. If one extra job a month covers your plan, and you miss more calls than that, it pays for itself. Our missed-call calculator works this out from your own numbers, without averages or surveys.
It is less likely to be worth it if you rarely miss a call, or if most of your callers need a person to make a judgement there and then. And it only does the phone: if you need someone to greet visitors or run an office, a person in the building is still the answer. Many businesses use both, with an AI receptionist covering lunch, holidays, evenings and busy spells.
What else to check before you sign up
- Contract. Some services ask for a minimum term. Tilly has none: pay monthly or yearly and cancel online.
- Your number. Most services either give you a new number or let you forward your own. Your phone network may charge for forwarded calls, so check your plan. Our guide to diverting calls on a UK mobile has the codes.
- Recordings and transcripts. Some AI services record every call and some record none. Decide which you need.
- Hours. Human services often cover office hours as standard. AI services answer at any hour.
- A test call. Hear the service answer before you commit. You can listen to Tilly's sample calls or read how set-up works.
Prices for other companies come from their own websites, checked on 15 October 2026, and are shown as they publish them. Prices change, so check with each provider before you buy. Tilly's prices are its current prices. Tilly is not connected with any other company named here, and all trade marks belong to their owners.