Where a person wins
Your front desk knows the customer who calls every spring, hears when someone is upset, and checks people in, files and takes payments between calls. Software only covers the phone part of that job.
Zygo Local · Phones
What an AI receptionist costs, next to the alternatives
The short answer
A receptionist earns a median $18.27 an hour in the U.S. (May 2025), before payroll taxes and benefits. Ruby and Smith.ai, two live answering services, start at $250 and $300 a month. Goodcall and Smith.ai list paid AI receptionist plans from $79 and $150 a month. Ben Johnson's $2,000 founding sprint builds call handling and follow-up in the owner's name.
Prices read off each vendor's own page, Oct 27, 2026.
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Three ways to answer the phone
| Option | Starts at | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| A person at the front desk | $18.27/hr | Median U.S. receptionist wage, May 2025 ($38,010 a year), before payroll taxes and benefits. Covers the hours they work, one call at a time, alongside everything else at the desk. 1 |
| Ruby (live answering service) | From $250/mo | $250 for 50 receptionist minutes a month, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500. Billed by the minute. 2 |
| Smith.ai live receptionists | From $300/mo | $300 for 30 calls a month ($11.50 a call after that), $810 for 90 ($10.50 after), $2,100 for 300 ($8.50 after). Billed by the call. No setup fee listed. 3 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | From $150/mo | Pro plan: $150 a month with 75 calls included, month to month. A free plan covers 25 calls a month. 4 |
| Goodcall (AI receptionist) | From $79/mo | $79 a month for up to 100 unique customers, $129 for 500, $299 for 2,000. Billed by customer, not by the minute; spam and wrong numbers don't count. 5 |
The way each one bills matters as much as the sticker. Ruby counts minutes, so long calls cost more. Smith.ai's live plans count calls. Goodcall counts unique customers, so the same customer calling three times in a month is one. Before you compare, pull last month's call log and write down two numbers: how many calls came in, and how many came in after hours.
These are the vendors whose prices I could read on their own pages. Plenty of others publish nothing and quote on a sales call, so they aren't here.
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AI receptionist vs a person
Where software wins
It picks up at 2 a.m. and on Sunday. It takes three calls at once while the desk is with a patient or the crew is on a roof, and it never puts anyone on hold. It also writes every call down.
Where AI gets it wrong
A badly set-up AI receptionist quotes the wrong hours, books a job you don't do, or loops a caller who wanted a human. The fix is a short script you approve, a clear way to reach a person, and someone reading the call log for the first few weeks.
What I'd usually suggest
Keep the person. Put software on after hours and overflow, so the calls nobody could answer still get a reply. That costs a fraction of a second hire.
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Alternatives for home services
HVAC, plumbing, electrical and roofing shops mostly miss calls because everybody is on a job. An AI receptionist is one answer. Here are four others. For a lot of shops I'd try the first one before anything else.
Missed-call text back
Calls still ring to you. Anyone you don't pick up gets a text from your business within a minute, and they can tell you what they need by reply. Usually the cheapest fix when the problem is calls during jobs. How it works, with a calculator.
An answering service for overflow
A live person takes the calls you can't, by the minute or by the call. Good for upset customers and urgent jobs. You pay for every minute, so it gets expensive on busy weeks.
Call routing to whoever is on call
After hours, the business line forwards to the tech or partner on call that night. It costs almost nothing, and it only works if someone is willing to pick up at 9 p.m.
A booking link everywhere
On your Google listing, your site and your voicemail greeting. Some callers would rather pick a time than talk. It won't help the caller with a burst pipe.
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Packaged receptionist or a sprint in your name
Some local IT firms now sell an AI receptionist as a package, and so do plenty of national companies. If answering the phone is the whole problem, one of the plans above at $79 to $150 a month costs less than I do. Buy one and run it.
My 30-day sprint is for owners whose problem keeps going after the phone call. Three things are different:
- You own the accounts. Every account is opened in your business name. So is the carrier registration that lets software text from your number (A2P 10DLC, explained on the missed-call page). If we stop working together, the number and its texting history stay with you.
- It's wired into what you already use. The calendar, the job or practice software, the shared inbox. A call becomes a booked appointment or a job ticket instead of a message somebody has to retype.
- It covers what happens after the call. The estimate that went quiet, the paperwork the client still owes, the reminder before the next appointment.
The founding sprint is $2,000 for 30 days, and I pay for the tools during it. After day 30 you can run it yourself or keep me on at $1,500 a month (regular $2,500). Every sprint comes with a written guarantee, spelled out in the one-page plan before you decide. How the 30 days run · What AI help costs in general
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Who's doing the work
I'm Ben Johnson. My family and I live in Montgomery. Most of my career happened on a screen, and I want the next chapter to be with businesses I can drive past.
At Amazon I managed hundreds of millions of dollars a year in business. Then I built and ran a portfolio of consumer brands that grew to $80M+ a year. Today I lead growth and operations for a handful of consumer brands and media companies, mostly by fixing how leads, orders and money move through each business.
I do the work myself. The person who walks through your business in week one is the person who builds your system.
15 yrs in growth. 0 yrs in your trade. You'd teach me that part.
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Questions owners ask
What is the cost of an AI receptionist?
Paid plans from two vendors checked on October 27, 2026 start at $79 a month (Goodcall, up to 100 unique customers) and $150 a month (Smith.ai AI Receptionist, 75 calls). Smith.ai also lists a free plan for 25 calls a month. Prices go up with call volume, so count your calls before you compare.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
On published prices, yes. The live answering plans checked here start at $250 a month for 50 minutes (Ruby) and $300 a month for 30 calls (Smith.ai), while paid AI receptionist plans start at $79 and $150 a month. A live service still handles an angry or confused caller better, which is why plenty of businesses use one for overflow only.
AI receptionist vs human receptionist: which should a small business pick?
A person at the desk does much more than answer the phone, and knows your regulars by voice. An AI receptionist answers at 2 a.m. and takes three calls at once. My usual advice is to keep the person and use software for after hours, overflow and the follow-up nobody has time for.
How is a 30-day sprint different from buying an AI receptionist?
A packaged receptionist answers the phone. The sprint ($2,000 at the founding rate) sets up call handling in your business name, wires it into the calendar and job software you already use, and covers what happens after the call: the quote, the follow-up and the review request. If answering the phone is the whole problem, a packaged product costs less.
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Receptionists (May 2025 wage data), read 2026-10-27.
- Ruby, pricing page (virtual receptionist plans), read 2026-10-27.
- Smith.ai, receptionist pricing page (live receptionist plans), read 2026-10-27.
- Smith.ai, AI Receptionist pricing page, read 2026-10-27.
- Goodcall, pricing page, read 2026-10-27.
Next step
Not sure which one your phones need?
Pick a time on my calendar, or email me and ask for a one-page plan for your business. I'll write down what I'd fix first, what it costs, and the guarantee that comes with it.
Zygo Consulting, Ben Johnson, Montgomery, TX. AI implementation for local businesses in Montgomery, The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, Magnolia and north Houston.