How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost?
Published starting prices, setup fees and contract terms for 21 AI receptionist and automation vendors, and what to ask the 7 that don't publish a price.
Updated Oct 2, 2026 · 8 min read
Key points
- 14 of the 21 AI and automation vendors we checked publish a price; the other 7 quote only after you contact them.
- Monthly starting prices run from $40/mo at Hyperleap AI to $400/mo at My Salon Desk, and they are charged by plan, minutes, calls, responses, credits, outlets or workflow runs.
- 10 of the 21 state a setup fee policy: 8 charge none, AgentZap lists a $499 one-time fee, and My Salon Desk charges an onboarding fee equal to one month of the plan.
- 12 of the 21 state month-to-month terms. Ask who keeps the phone number, recordings and data if you cancel.
7 of the 21 AI receptionist and automation vendors we checked do not publish a price. We read all 21 websites on October 1, 2026 and recorded every price, fee and contract term each one publishes. This guide lays out the prices that are public, the costs that sit behind the headline number, and what to ask the vendors that keep pricing private.
Every vendor named below links to its profile, and each profile links to the pages the figures came from.
How do AI receptionist vendors charge?
The label covers several products, and they are priced in different units:
- Flat monthly plan. Clara AI and AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow) charge a flat monthly subscription by plan. Zellyfi's is a monthly subscription per website. Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk) bundles phone, web chat, SMS, a CRM and automations into one plan with 200 voice minutes a month.
- By minutes. AgentZap and MedReception AI include a monthly allowance of call minutes and bill per-minute overage. Abby Connect and Ruby price by usage minutes; Ruby's receptionists are live humans and it also sells chat plans by the number of chats, and Abby Connect mixes human and AI answering on one minutes plan. My Salon Desk prices by the number of calls included.
- Per call. Smith.ai bills per call, at $2.00/call on its $150/mo AI plan, with a free tier that covers 25 calls a month.
- By responses or credits. Hyperleap AI sells monthly allowances of AI responses and SignalCore works in credits. Zellyfi states that its agent works on the website and does not answer phone calls, so check whether a plan answers calls at all before comparing it on price.
- Per outlet or per run. BookingBee.ai charges per outlet per month, tiered by staff count. Keragon is workflow automation rather than a receptionist, priced by the number of workflow runs.
Only 2 of the 21 are built only for med spas: AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow) and MedspAI. The rest serve med spas alongside other industries, which is one more reason to check what a plan actually covers before comparing prices.
What do AI receptionists cost per month?
13 of the 21 publish a monthly starting price in dollars, from $40/mo to $400/mo. Sorted from lowest to highest:
| Vendor | Published starting price | What the price covers | Minimum term as stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyperleap AI | $40/mo | Chat AI front desk; 3,000 AI responses/month, 1 AI agent | No contract; cancel anytime |
| Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk) | $99/mo ($79/mo billed annually) | AI phone receptionist plus web chat, SMS, CRM and automations; 200 voice minutes/month | No contract; cancel anytime |
| BookingBee.ai | $99 per outlet/mo | AI voice receptionist and booking, per outlet, up to 8 staff | Not published |
| Clara AI | $99/mo | Voice AI receptionist, 24/7 answering; direct booking on higher plans | No long-term contract |
| AgentZap | $109/mo | AI phone receptionist; 150 minutes included, 24/7 answering | No contract on standard plans; managed option on a 6-month term |
| Keragon | $149/mo ($99/mo billed annually) | Workflow automation; 200 workflow runs/mo | Not published |
| Smith.ai | $150/mo (free tier: 25 calls/mo) | AI receptionist billed per call | No contract; month-to-month |
| Abby Connect | $165/mo | Human and AI call answering; 50 Abby Minutes/month | No contract; month to month |
| Zellyfi | $179/mo | AI chat agent on 1 website, trained on the business | No long-term contract |
| AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow) | $199/mo | Med spa AI front desk; up to 300 AI calls/month | No contract; month-to-month |
| Ruby | $250/mo | Live human receptionists; 50 minutes/month | Not published |
| MedReception AI | $299/mo | Self-build AI receptionist; managed plans start at $495/mo | No contract; month-to-month |
| My Salon Desk | $400/mo | Virtual reception service; 35 calls/month, 35 hours of coverage a week | No commitment on listed plans; some plans may require a 3 month contract after the first month |
| SignalCore | €79/mo | AI agents on WhatsApp, Instagram, voice and web chat; 30 credits/month | No lock-in; cancel anytime |
SignalCore publishes its plans in euros rather than dollars. MedReception AI's $299 plan is its self-build option, where you build and maintain the receptionist yourself on its platform; its managed plans, with setup done by the vendor, start at $495/mo.
These prices buy different things. My Salon Desk's $400 entry plan is 35 calls a month. Hyperleap AI's $40 plan is a chat agent for a business's website and messaging channels. Work out your monthly call volume first, then price the same volume at each vendor.
Which vendors do not publish a price?
These 7 of the 21 ask you to contact them first: Hello Patient, Krazimo, Liine, MedspAI, Podium, Recura and Relay AI (chatbotservices.net).
What they say instead varies. Hello Patient says pricing is usage-based and modelled on a call. Liine says pricing is usage-based and customized to each practice. Podium asks you to request a custom quote. MedspAI lists five plans with the contents of each and sends visitors to a pricing request form for the price. Recura describes packages on its pricing page with no prices shown. Relay AI's site has a pricing link in its navigation, but no prices appear on the pages we saved. Krazimo builds custom systems and takes enquiries through a contact form.
A private price is not a sign of a bad product. It does mean the quote is the only number you will get, so get it in writing before you compare it with anything in the table above.
What costs sit behind the headline price?
Setup and onboarding. 10 of the 21 state a policy. 8 state there is none: Abby Connect, BookingBee.ai, Hyperleap AI (managed setup is optional and free), Liine (onboarding with no implementation fee), MedReception AI, MedspAI, AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow) and Zellyfi (none on its AI assistant plans). Two charge: AgentZap lists a $499 one-time training and setup fee, and My Salon Desk states an onboarding fee equal to one month of the plan price. The other 11 do not state a policy, so ask.
Overage and add-ons. Usage-priced products bill when you go over. AgentZap's overage runs from $0.70 to $0.85 per minute depending on plan. Keragon bills $0.02 to $0.15 per workflow run beyond each plan's allowance. MedReception AI charges $1.25 for each extra AI minute on its Essential plan, plus $99/month each for after-hours and voicemail add-ons on that plan. Smith.ai lists per-call add-ons, for example appointment booking at $1.50 and call recording and transcription at $0.25.
Paying annually. Two vendors list both a monthly and an annual rate: Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk) lists $79/mo billed annually against $99 monthly, and Keragon lists $99/mo billed annually against $149 monthly.
Niche pricing. My Salon Desk publishes separate prices for med spas and medical practices that sit above its salon and spa prices: $495 against $445, $1,150 against $950, and $1,850 against $1,550 on its three higher tiers.
How long will you be locked in?
12 of the 21 state month-to-month terms: AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow), Abby Connect, AgentZap, BookingBee.ai, Clara AI, Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk), Hyperleap AI, MedReception AI, MedspAI, SignalCore, Smith.ai and Zellyfi. The strings that do exist are worth reading closely:
- AgentZap's managed option runs on a 6-month term, and its Professional plan lists the setup fee waived on a 6-month term.
- MedspAI says customers can go month-to-month or sign a 6-month commitment.
- My Salon Desk says some plans may require a 3 month contract after the first month.
- Liine sets the initial term in an order form, renews automatically, and requires written notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the term ends. Its terms also state that purchases are final and non-refundable, except as its agreement provides.
14 of the 21 publish how cancellation works, and the refund rules differ. Abby Connect lets you cancel at any time in the first 30 days of a paid subscription and asks for at least 30 days notice to stop a renewal. AgentZap states a 30-day money-back guarantee for new subscribers and Clara AI states one for first-time subscribers, with one-time fees non-refundable at AgentZap. My Salon Desk states no refunds for any plan or add-on, Ruby states its fixed monthly fee is non-refundable with a money-back guarantee period for some new customers, SignalCore states payments are final except in listed cases, and MedReception AI states no refunds for unused minutes.
Can you try before you buy?
6 of the 21 state a free trial: Abby Connect, Hyperleap AI, Keragon, MedspAI, SignalCore and Smith.ai. 13 offer a free demo or audit. Where a trial exists, use it on your real call volume with your own greeting and booking flow, and listen to the transcripts. That tells you more than a demo with a salesperson in the room.
What should you ask before you sign?
Proof is scarce in this category: 4 of the 21 publish a case study result. Clara AI's names the client Elevate Aesthetics & Wellness and states its after-hours call booking rate went from 0% to 94%, with $9,400 in monthly revenue recovered, as stated by the vendor. BookingBee.ai's published result is from a salon and Hello Patient's is from an urgent care client. Ask each vendor for results from a practice shaped like yours.
Then put these questions to everyone on your shortlist:
- What does the plan include at my call volume, and what is the overage rate?
- Is there a setup, training or onboarding fee?
- What is the minimum term, how does it renew, and how do I cancel?
- Is any of the fee refundable if I stop in the first month?
- Who keeps the phone number, the call recordings and the data after I cancel? Get the answer in writing.
- Will you sign a BAA? 12 of the 21 state a position on HIPAA or a BAA: 11 state compliance, a BAA or HIPAA-related safeguards, and Smith.ai states that it is not HIPAA-compliant and cannot handle protected health information. If your receptionist will discuss treatments, get the answer in writing.
- Which scheduling software do you book into, and what happens to calls it cannot handle?
Get the answers in writing, then compare the vendors in the AI & Automation Tools category, where each one is scored on how much of this it publishes.
Questions and answers
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
Among the 14 of 21 vendors that publish a price, monthly starting prices run from $40/mo at Hyperleap AI to $400/mo at My Salon Desk. What the price buys differs: some plans are flat, some bill by minutes, calls, responses or credits, and one charges per outlet.
Which AI receptionist vendors publish their pricing?
Abby Connect, AgentZap, BookingBee.ai, Clara AI, Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk), Hyperleap AI, Keragon, MedReception AI, My Salon Desk, Ruby, SignalCore, Smith.ai, Zellyfi and AI Receptionist Med Spa (Wellgrow) publish a price. Hello Patient, Krazimo, Liine, MedspAI, Podium, Recura and Relay AI (chatbotservices.net) do not.
Is there a setup fee for an AI receptionist?
10 of the 21 vendors state a policy. 8 state there is none. AgentZap lists a $499 one-time training and setup fee, and My Salon Desk states an onboarding fee equal to one month of the plan price. The other 11 do not state a policy, so ask before you sign.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
12 of the 21 state month-to-month terms. The strings that do exist: AgentZap's managed option runs on a 6-month term, MedspAI offers a 6-month commitment as one option, My Salon Desk says some plans may require a 3 month contract after the first month, and Liine sets the initial term in an order form that renews automatically.
Can an AI receptionist handle protected health information?
12 of the 21 vendors state a position on HIPAA or a Business Associate Agreement. 11 of those 12 state HIPAA compliance, a BAA or HIPAA-related safeguards, and Smith.ai states that it is not HIPAA-compliant and cannot handle protected health information. If your receptionist will discuss treatments with patients, get the vendor's BAA position in writing.
