AI receptionist pricing in 2026, provider by provider
What RingCentral, Nextiva, Ooma, Ruby and others publish for AI receptionist pricing in 2026, and how CallSprout's by-the-second billing compares.
Try to find the AI receptionist price on RingCentral, Dialpad, 8x8 or GoTo Connect. You won't. And the providers that do publish numbers don't agree on what a number should measure: some count conversations, some count minutes, and some bolt the AI on as one more line item.
That makes a simple question hard. Whether it's after hours, the lunch rush, or your one receptionist already on another line, an AI receptionist can answer the call. What it costs you depends on base fees, usage charges and extras that sometimes only show up on the invoice.
Below is what the major providers charge in 2026, laid out so you can compare them side by side. After that, we cover how CallSprout prices Sage, our AI voice agent, and why billing by the second matters.
Providers that only quote
Some of the biggest names in business phones don't publish an AI receptionist price. To get a number, you talk to sales, sit through a demo, and often sign a contract.
Per their published pricing as of August 2026:
- RingCentral publishes no AI receptionist price. Quote only.
- Dialpad publishes no AI receptionist price. Quote only.
- 8x8 publishes no AI receptionist price. Quote only.
- GoTo Connect publishes no AI receptionist price. Quote only.
For a small business that's a warning sign. It usually means the real cost depends on seat counts, tiers and add-ons, and if you can't see the price on the page, you're budgeting by guesswork.
Per-conversation and per-minute pricing
Other providers do publish numbers, but the structures vary a lot.
Per their published pricing as of August 2026:
| Provider | Published pricing |
|---|---|
| Nextiva AI Receptionist | $99/mo including 100 interactions, then $0.99 each |
| Ooma AI Receptionist | From $49.99 per license for 100 minutes |
| Zoom | $0.30/min, or prepaid minute bundles |
Look at the structure, not just the headline number. Nextiva's plan includes a bundle of interactions and then bills per conversation, and a per-conversation fee means a 20-second call and a 5-minute call cost the same. Ooma and Zoom both sell minute bundles, so your effective rate depends on how close you land to the bundle you bought.
Ooma's entry tier includes 100 minutes. Go past it and you're into a higher tier. In every case above, the AI is an add-on stacked on top of your base phone bill, not something included.
Reseller and answering-service pricing
Some AI receptionist offers are really a repackaged answering service, or a live team with AI layered on top. That can work. The stacked fees get steep, though.
Per their published pricing as of August 2026:
- Grasshopper partners with Smith.ai on a virtual receptionist that starts at $95/mo, billed separately from your Grasshopper plan.
- Smith.ai adds $3.00 per call when a live agent takes over from the AI.
- Ruby publishes plans from $250/mo at 50 minutes up to $1,725/mo at 500 minutes.
- Dialzara overage runs $0.35 to $0.48/min depending on tier.
- Rosie sells tiered minute bundles (250, 1,000, and 2,000) and moves your account up to the next tier when you exceed them.
- Simple Phones prices by call volume rather than minutes, starting at $97/mo for 100 calls, and releases your phone numbers if you exceed your tier or cancel.
That last one deserves a pause. Losing your number because you outgrew a tier is the opposite of what an AI receptionist should do for a growing business. A tier that bumps you up on its own, as Rosie's does, is more predictable, but your bill still moves without you touching anything. For a wider look at how these models stack up, see AI receptionist vs answering service, and compare Sage with Smith.ai, Ruby, and Rosie.
Every figure above comes from the provider's own public pricing or support pages, checked in August 2026. Vendors change pricing often, so confirm the current number on their site before you decide.
Where the pricing models trip you up
Strip away the branding and most AI receptionist pricing runs into the same few problems.
- Hidden totals. Quote-only pricing means you can't budget until you're on a sales call.
- Add-on stacking. The AI is extra, layered on a base plan, so your real cost is two or three line items.
- Per-call and per-conversation fees. When the meter counts conversations instead of time, a 20-second call costs the same as a long one, and you pay for time you never used. If a provider bills per minute, ask whether it rounds partial minutes up, because the same problem hides there.
- Bundles and caps that punish growth. With prepaid minute or call bundles, a busy month either bumps you to a higher tier or, with some providers, costs you your number.
- Contract terms. Check the term length and renewal terms behind any price you compare.
To dig into what drives these numbers, our breakdown of how much an AI receptionist costs goes through them in detail.
How CallSprout prices Sage
We went the other way on all three counts.
AI is included, not a costly add-on. Sage comes with your plan, so you aren't stacking a receptionist fee on top of a phone bill. Pricing is transparent and published: per-seat prices are on our pricing page, and Sage is billed only when she answers, with no usage minimums.
Sage is billed by the second. She costs $0.39 per minute after the first 30 seconds of each call are free, and there are no minute caps. A quick 20-second call costs nothing. A call that runs a little over a minute bills for the exact seconds used, not a rounded-up minute.
Because the meter runs by the second after those 30 free seconds, you never pay for time you didn't use, and there's no cap that turns your number off or drops you into surprise overage rates. Every call gets answered, and you pay for what happened. Full details are on our pricing page.
Sage does real work on those calls, too. She answers 24/7, captures the caller's details, routes the call based on what you set up, and can book appointments straight into your calendar when connected to your scheduling system. For more on how the AI voice agent fits into your phone system, see that page.
Booking and calendar features work through your existing scheduling system and depend on that system offering a compatible API. Availability varies by provider.
Three questions to ask any provider
Look past the headline monthly rate. Is the AI included, or an add-on? What are the contract terms? And how does the meter run: per conversation, per rounded minute, or by the second with no caps?
Those three questions narrow the field quickly.
With CallSprout, Sage answers every call day and night, the AI needs no separate subscription, pricing is published, and she's billed by the second with the first 30 seconds of each call free. If you'd like to hear her, see our pricing or contact us to set up a live callback, and listen to how she handles a real call to your business.
