Every price on this page was read off the vendor's own pricing page on August 22, 2026, and every row links its source. That includes the vendors that are cheaper than us — because a cost guide that hides the cheap options isn't a cost guide, it's an ad.
Short version: AI-only answering runs $25–$350/mo depending on how it bills. AI-plus-human hybrids start around $300. Human answering services run $250–$1,725. Handled sits at $149–$1,200 plus a $500 setup — top of the AI band, and this page explains exactly what the difference buys.
Sorted roughly by entry price. “Cheapest plan that answers” exists because the lowest sticker price is not always a phone line — Frontdesk AI's $20 plan includes zero voice minutes.
| Service | How it bills | Entry plan | Cheapest plan that answers | Overage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dialzara | Per minute | $29/mo · 60 min | $29/mo | $0.35–0.48/min by tier | their site ↗ |
| Upfirst | Per call | $24.95/mo · 30 calls | $24.95/mo | $0.70–1.50/call by tier | their site ↗ |
| Rosie | Per minute | $49/mo · 250 min | $49/mo | not published | their site ↗ |
| Hey Jodie | Unlimited flat | $49/mo · unlimited minutes | $49/mo | none — uncapped | their site ↗ |
| Goodcall | Per unique customer | $79/mo · 100 customers | $79/mo | $0.50 per extra customer | their site ↗ |
| Frontdesk AI (My AI Front Desk) | Per minute (credits) | $20/mo · 0 voice minutes | $99/mo · 200 min | $0.25/min in credits | their site ↗ |
| Handled | Per minute, built for you | $149/mo · 200 min + $500 setup | $149/mo | $0.15–0.25/min by tier | pricing → |
| Smith.ai (AI + humans) | Per call | $300/mo · 30 calls | $300/mo | $8.50–11.50/call by tier | their site ↗ |
| Ruby (human receptionists) | Per minute | $250/mo · 50 min | $250/mo | not published | their site ↗ |
Prices change. Every row was checked August 22, 2026; the source link is the truth if they moved.
The market bills four different ways, and comparing sticker prices across them is how people end up surprised. This is the part most cost articles skip.
Dialzara, Rosie, Frontdesk AI, Handled — and Ruby's humans. Fair when calls are short, and the overage rate is the number that matters: a $29 plan with 60 minutes at $0.48/min over is a $77 bill the first month the phone actually rings.
Upfirst and Smith.ai. Predictable per conversation, expensive if your calls are quick — Smith.ai's entry plan works out to $10 a call, which only makes sense when a missed call costs you hundreds.
Goodcall's model: unlimited minutes, but 100–500 distinct callers a month included, then $0.50 each. Clever for repeat-caller businesses; read it twice if most of your callers are new.
Hey Jodie: $49–$199, uncapped, no overage. The catch is what the price doesn't include anywhere in the market — nobody at this price point loads your price list, tunes your booking rules, or checks the line after real calls. That work is either your evenings or someone's fee.
Handled runs $149 to $1,200 a month, plus a $500 one-time setup— the top of the AI-only band, with the only setup fee on this page. If that were hidden three scrolls deep, you'd be right not to trust the rest of the table.
The setup fee is the product. A person builds your line from your actual price list and booking rules before it takes a call, and keeps tuning it after real calls come in. Every call answers in English or Spanish from the first ring. It can answer in a cloned version of your own voice. And it opens every call by saying it's an AI, the way the FCC and state law require — which not everyone in this market does.
Don't buy Handledif you want the lowest possible price and enjoy configuring software — Dialzara at $29 or Goodcall at $79 are real products, and we've compared ourselves to them honestly at /vs/dialzara and /vs/goodcall. Buy Handled if you want to forward your number, talk to a person, and have the line answering — correctly, bilingually, in your voice — 48 hours later.
Three plans · $500 setup · cancel anytime. Website and app prices are public too — see /pricing.
One line for a one-person shop. $500 setup. 30 days to get your money back. Quieter phone? Line is $149/mo for 200 minutes.
For a phone that rings all day. Every call lands in the software you already use. Tuned every month.
For barbershops, insurance offices, dental, legal, real estate and medspas.
Need more than the phone?
Add a website, an app, or someone to run your social media.
Put your plan togetherAs of August 22, 2026, published prices for AI-only phone answering run from about $25 to $350 a month. The cheapest plan that actually answers calls is around $25–29 (Upfirst, Dialzara), the middle of the market is $79–199 (Goodcall, Frontdesk AI, Hey Jodie, Handled's Line at $149), and hybrid AI-plus-human services start around $300 (Smith.ai). A traditional human answering service runs $250 to $1,725 a month (Ruby).
Because the billing units differ. Some charge per minute (Dialzara, Rosie, Handled), some per call (Upfirst, Smith.ai), one per unique customer (Goodcall), and some are flat unlimited (Hey Jodie). A $49 unlimited plan can cost more than a $149 plan in what it doesn't do — setup, tuning, booking rules, Spanish. The only honest comparison is minutes you'll actually use times the rate, plus what a person does for you before and after launch.
Almost nowhere — and that's worth understanding rather than celebrating. Of the nine services on this page, Handled is the only one charging a setup fee ($500). Everyone else hands you a dashboard and the setup is your evening. The fee is what it costs for a person to load your price list, hours and booking rules, and keep tuning the line after real calls. If you'd genuinely rather do that yourself, several vendors above are cheaper and we list them by name.
Three patterns, all published in fine print: overage rates (a $29 plan at $0.48/min becomes $77 the month you actually get calls), credit systems where included credits expire monthly, and entry plans that don't answer calls at all — Frontdesk AI's $20 Basic includes zero voice minutes. Always find the overage rate before comparing base prices.
Often, yes — and it would be dishonest to say otherwise. If you want the lowest price and don't mind configuring it yourself, Dialzara at $29 or Goodcall at $79 are real products. Where the cheap tier breaks is when the AI needs to quote your prices, follow your booking rules, and answer in Spanish — that's setup and tuning work, and it's the part you're paying for at the top of the band.