Question 1

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

Accepted Answer

AI receptionists range from about $24.95 to $300+ per month, depending on the pricing model and call volume. Two models dominate. Per-call pricing charges a flat rate regardless of call length — Aira's Starter plan is $24.95/mo for 30 calls, Growth is $49.95/mo for 100 calls, and Business is $159.95/mo for 500 calls, with all features included on every plan. Per-minute pricing charges by call duration and is common at competitors like Ruby Receptionists and Smith.ai — a 3-minute call at $2/min is $6, and overage charges can push monthly bills well above the listed plan price. For predictable budgeting, per-call pricing wins. For low-volume usage under 10 calls a month, both models are comparable.

Question 2

Is an AI receptionist worth it?

Accepted Answer

An AI receptionist is worth it when you're losing calls and the cost of a missed call exceeds the monthly plan fee. Research shows 62% of business calls go unanswered, and the average service business loses about $1,200 per month to missed calls. If a single new customer is worth more than $50 to $150, an AI receptionist that answers every call pays for itself inside the first month. AI receptionists answer 24/7, don't take breaks, handle Spanish and English fluently, and cost under $50/mo on entry plans. The fit is weaker if your call volume is below 5 to 10 per month, or if every call genuinely requires a human with deep domain knowledge, like complex legal intake.

Question 3

What does an AI receptionist do?

Accepted Answer

An AI receptionist answers incoming business calls on behalf of a human receptionist. It greets the caller with your business name, identifies the reason for the call, answers common questions from your FAQ or website, books appointments directly into your calendar, takes messages with the caller's name and phone number, and transfers urgent calls to a team member's cell phone. Modern AI receptionists like Aira run 24 hours a day, handle multiple callers simultaneously, speak 30+ languages with automatic detection, and integrate with CRMs and scheduling tools. Unlike a traditional answering service, an AI receptionist doesn't read from a script — it holds a real conversation and adapts to what the caller actually needs.

Question 4

Can I use AI to answer calls?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can use AI to answer your business calls, and the technology is legal and widely adopted. The FCC confirmed in 2024 that AI-generated voices fall under existing phone regulations, but inbound AI answering — where a caller dials your business and an AI picks up — is legal everywhere in the United States with no disclosure requirement. Outbound AI calls require different handling. Setting up AI call answering takes under 15 minutes with a service like Aira: you forward your existing business number, configure which questions the AI should answer, and decide which types of calls should transfer to a human. The AI handles the conversation, books appointments, and sends you a text for every call.

Question 5

What is the best AI answering service?

Accepted Answer

The best AI answering service depends on what you're optimizing for. For cost predictability and multi-language support, Aira is our pick — $24.95/mo starting price, per-call pricing, 31 languages with automatic detection. For legal intake with human backup, Smith.ai leads with deep Clio and MyCase integrations. For restaurants, Slang.ai has category-specific focus. For enterprise teams already on RingCentral, RingCentral AI Receptionist is the path of least resistance. The meaningful differentiators across all of them are pricing model (per-call vs per-minute), minimum call volume, languages supported, contract length, and CRM integrations. Compare those four dimensions against your actual call volume and your most common caller language before choosing.

Question 6

Is there a free AI answering service?

Accepted Answer

A few AI answering services advertise free plans, but they typically cap calls at a very low number or require paid upgrades to unlock essential features like transfers, appointment booking, or multi-language support. If you only need to handle 1 to 3 calls per month, a free tier may be enough. Most businesses that actually need a receptionist exceed those limits by the second day of a busy week. Aira does not offer a free tier — the lowest paid plan is $24.95/mo for up to 30 calls, with every feature included and no long-term contract. For one or two calls a month, Google Voice's voicemail is effectively free, though it's a recording rather than a conversation.

Question 7

What is the average cost of an answering service?

Accepted Answer

Traditional human answering services average $50 to $300 per month for basic call handling, scaling up to $1,500+ per month for high-volume or specialty services. Most charge by the minute, typically $1 to $2 per minute, with a minimum monthly commitment. Per-minute pricing means a busy month with longer calls can produce a bill 2 to 3 times the base plan. AI answering services cost dramatically less — $24.95 to $160/mo for comparable call volumes, with per-call pricing that doesn't spike when calls run long. A business handling 100 calls per month typically pays $800 to $1,200 on a human service and $49.95 on Aira's Growth plan. The gap closes only when calls require specialized human judgment.

Question 8

What is the cheapest AI answering service?

Accepted Answer

The cheapest AI answering services run $10 to $30 per month at the entry level, but price alone is a poor filter. The right question is lowest cost per answered call. A $10/mo plan that caps at 5 calls is $2 per call; a $24.95/mo plan that includes 30 calls is $0.83 per call. At normal small business call volumes, Aira Starter at $24.95/mo is competitive with or cheaper than most alternatives once you count overage fees and feature restrictions. If your call volume is genuinely under 5 per month, a voicemail-to-email service like Google Voice is the cheapest working option. Below that, the real cost is missed calls, not the plan fee.

Question 9

Do answering services still exist?

Accepted Answer

Yes, answering services still exist — both human and AI. The human answering service category has operated for more than 60 years and still serves medical offices, law firms, and HVAC contractors that require human judgment on every call. The newer AI answering service category has grown rapidly since 2023 as small businesses shift to 24/7 coverage at a fraction of human service pricing. What's changed is the default. Five years ago, a human answering service was the only option. Today most small businesses evaluate AI first, then add human backup only for calls that truly need it. The hybrid model — AI answers, humans handle escalations — is where many new deployments land.

Question 10

What is an automated answering service called?

Accepted Answer

Automated answering services go by several names depending on the technology. The oldest term is IVR — interactive voice response — the menu system that asks you to 'press 1 for sales.' AI receptionist and AI answering service are the modern terms for software that holds a natural conversation with the caller instead of reading from a menu. Virtual receptionist is sometimes used interchangeably with AI receptionist, though the term historically described human agents working remotely. Voice AI agent and conversational voice AI are the technical terms. The practical distinction is straightforward: IVR makes callers navigate a menu; AI receptionists answer the call, understand the reason, and either resolve it, book an appointment, or transfer to a human.

Question 11

How much does Beside AI receptionist cost?

Accepted Answer

Beside is a newer AI receptionist that raised $32M in Series A funding in November 2025 and targets service businesses like plumbers, landscapers, real estate agents, and general contractors. Beside positions itself as an AI chief of staff rather than just a receptionist, bundling call answering with additional workflow features. Public pricing hasn't been widely published at the time of writing, and quotes are handled through their sales team. For a direct cost comparison against Aira's published per-call pricing ($24.95 to $159.95/mo on month-to-month contracts, no sales call required), see the side-by-side. If you're shortlisting Beside, it's worth asking upfront whether pricing is per-call or per-minute, since that single question determines whether your monthly bill is predictable.

Question 12

Can you make money selling AI receptionist?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can make money by reselling or referring AI receptionist services, and the most common paths are affiliate partnerships, white-label reselling, and direct agency services. Affiliate programs typically pay 20 to 40% commission on the first month or a flat per-referral fee for every customer you send. White-label reselling — where you put your own brand on an underlying AI platform and charge a markup — generates higher margins but requires handling support and billing yourself. Agency resellers sell AI receptionist as part of a broader marketing services package to service businesses. Aira offers an affiliate program — see the program page for details. The sustainable opportunity is vertical specialization: salons, contractors, or law firms where you already have relationships and can add AI as a monthly service.

AI Receptionist FAQ

Cost

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

Is there a free AI answering service?

What is the average cost of an answering service?

Is It Worth It?

Is an AI receptionist worth it?

What It Is

What does an AI receptionist do?

What is an automated answering service called?

What It Can Do

Can I use AI to answer calls?

Best Service, Cheapest Service

What is the best AI answering service?

What is the cheapest AI answering service?

Category Context

Do answering services still exist?

Specific Brands

How much does Beside AI receptionist cost?

Reselling & Affiliate

Can you make money selling AI receptionist?