How Much Does an Answering Service Cost? 8 Providers (2026)

Answering Service Pricing at a Glance

Home services businesses have four options. Here’s the cost range before we get into trade-specific numbers. (Want to see which services offer the best value? Check our 14 best answering services roundup.)

New to the category? Start with our complete guide to choosing an answering service for a small business, including what it should handle before you compare prices.

Type	Monthly Cost	Cost at 100 Calls/Mo	Emergency Handling
AI receptionist	From $0/mo	Varies by plan (Claudessa $53.50)	Yes (trade-trained services)
Human receptionist	Varies by plan (PATLive from $49/mo)	Varies by plan (PATLive $621 at 3.75 min/call)	Yes (if scripted)
Full-time hire	$2,830–3,761/mo	$2,830+	Business hours only
Voicemail	$0	$0	No — many callers hang up

The right choice depends on your trade, call volume, and how many after-hours calls you get. A solo plumber handling 40 calls/month has different needs than a 10-truck HVAC company handling 300+ during peak season. Industries with higher per-call value like law firms have different math entirely — see our legal answering service cost comparison. If budget is your primary concern, our affordable answering service guide compares 12 services by base price and by what each costs at 50 calls a month. And if you’re weighing the full cost of hiring in-house vs. outsourcing your receptionist, we break down those economics too. Full-time hire figures use receptionist wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), before payroll taxes and benefits: $2,830–3,761 a month for the middle half of wages, and $3,168 a month ($38,010 a year) at the median.

Provider-by-Provider Cost Breakdown (at 80 Calls/Month)

Forget the pricing page ranges. Here’s what you’d actually pay each provider for 80 incoming calls per month — a typical volume for a small plumbing, HVAC, or electrical business. We calculated the plan you’d need, the effective per-call cost, and the annual total. For a detailed breakdown of Claudessa’s pricing at every call volume, see our virtual receptionist pricing guide.

Provider	Plan Needed	Monthly Cost	Per-Call Effective	Annual Cost
Claudessa	$29 + 30 × $0.49	$43.70	$0.55	$524
Upfirst	$59.95 (90 calls)	$59.95	$0.75	$719
Beside	$99 (Unlimited)	$99	$1.24	$1,188
Rosie AI	$149 (1,000 min; 300 needed)	$149	$1.86	$1,788
Goodcall	$79 (100 customers)	$79	$0.99	$948
My AI Front Desk	$99 (200 min) + 100 min overage	$114	$1.43	$1,368
Smith.ai AI	$150 (75 calls) + 5 × $2.50	$162.50	$2.03	$1,950
AnswerFirst	$30 + $1.60–1.95/min	$510+	$6.38+	$6,120+
PATLive	$479 (300 min)	$479	$5.99	$5,748

Assumes 80 inbound calls/month at ~3.75 min average call duration.

Billing gotchas that change the math

Per-minute vs per-call: AnswerFirst and PATLive charge per minute. A 5-minute emergency call costs $8.00–$14.95 on their plans. On per-call billing, it costs the same as a one-minute call.
Unique-customer billing: Goodcall charges per “unique customer.” If most of your callers are new, each one counts toward their 100-customer cap, and every customer past it is $0.79. Repeat-heavy businesses pay less; lead-heavy businesses pay more.
Overage rates: Providers with bundled-call plans (Upfirst, Smith.ai) charge premium per-call rates once you exceed the bundle. Smith.ai’s $150 plan charges $2.50 a call beyond 75. Budget for your busy months, not your average.
Feature tiers: Some providers hide their boundaries. Claudessa publishes them: Flex is $29/mo with 50 calls included and handles answering and messages; Volume is $79/mo with 200 calls.

What Plumbers Pay for an Answering Service

Plumbing businesses take emergency calls — burst pipes, sewer backups, water heater failures. These calls run longer than routine scheduling calls, and they come at all hours. The more of those calls you take, the more your billing model matters. If you are working the demand side too, see our plumbing business growth guide.

Say you’re a solo plumber taking 40–80 calls a month, or a 3–5 person crew taking 80–150. The calls nobody answers carry their own bill — see what missed calls cost a plumbing business. Here’s the math at both volumes:

Solo plumber — 60 calls/month

Option	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
Voicemail	$0	$0 (plus every job you never hear about)
Claudessa (per-call)	$33.90	$407
AI (per-minute, avg 4 min/call)	$115–470	$1,380–5,640
Human answering service (PATLive, avg 4 min/call)	$428.60	$5,143
Full-time receptionist	$3,168	$38,010

Plumbing crew (3–5 techs) — 120 calls/month

Option	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
Claudessa (per-call)	$63.30	$760
AI (per-minute, avg 4 min/call)	$230–940	$2,760–11,280
Human answering service (PATLive, avg 4 min/call)	$759	$9,108

Why per-minute billing hurts plumbers

Say an emergency plumbing call runs 4–6 minutes — the caller is panicking about water damage and needs to explain the problem, give their address, and get dispatch confirmation. On a per-minute plan charging $0.48–$2.99/min, that single call costs $1.92–$17.94. On Claudessa, the same call costs $0.49 on Flex ($0.29 on Volume) regardless of duration.

What HVAC Companies Pay for an Answering Service

HVAC call volume swings with the seasons. A company handling 80 calls/month in March might handle 250+ in July when AC systems fail. This seasonal swing is the single biggest factor in choosing a billing model.

If the bigger problem is filling the schedule before peak season hits, our HVAC lead generation guide lays out the practical channels and what each one costs.

HVAC seasonal cost comparison

Service Type	Off-Season (80 calls)	Shoulder (150 calls)	Peak (250 calls)
Claudessa	$43.70	$78.00	$93.50 on Volume
AI (per-minute at $0.48/min)	$144	$270	$450
Human (PATLive per-minute, 3.75 min/call)	$479	$871	$1,499

Assumes 3.75 min average call duration. Per-minute services multiply your cost during the exact months you’re busiest — which is when answering every call matters most.

The peak-season trap:

On a per-minute plan, the hottest weeks are when the bill climbs fastest, so cutting back coverage to control costs looks tempting — right when the “my AC died” calls come in. Per-call pricing takes call length out of that math: on Flex, each extra call costs $0.49 however long it runs. You want every call answered in your busiest weeks. The detailed missed-call cost breakdown for HVAC businesses shows why one missed AC install can dwarf the answering bill.

What Electricians Pay for an Answering Service

Electrical businesses have unique answering service requirements that generic pricing guides miss. Safety screening — identifying live wire situations, panel overheating, or situations requiring evacuation — requires trade-specific call handling that not every service provides.

Say your shop takes 50–100 calls a month, or 150+ with commercial accounts. Permit and inspection scheduling calls add to that count. If getting enough qualified calls is the bigger problem, start with our electrician lead generation guide.

Electrician (1–3 person shop) — 70 calls/month

Option	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
Claudessa	$38.80	$466
AI (per-minute, avg 3 min/call)	$100–412	$1,200–4,944
Human answering service (PATLive, avg 3 min/call)	$368.90	$4,427
Full-time receptionist	$3,168	$38,010

What to ask any service you’re considering: “How does your AI handle a caller reporting sparking from their electrical panel?” If the service takes a message instead of screening for danger and getting the emergency to you, it’s not built for electrical work. Claudessa is trained to identify electrical emergencies, text or email them to you right away, and try to put the caller straight through to your on-call phone.

What Contractors Pay for an Answering Service

General contractors handle more varied call types than specialized trades. Estimate requests, subcontractor coordination, material delivery scheduling, permit inquiries, and homeowner updates all come through the same phone line. A good answering service qualifies these calls so you’re not returning 20 voicemails from the job site.

Say you’re a solo GC taking 40–80 calls a month, or 100–200 while managing 3–5 active projects. For demand generation beyond phone coverage, use our contractor lead generation guide. Roofing companies can go straight to the roofing lead generation guide for local proof, storm follow-up, and estimate-call capture.

General contractor — 100 calls/month

Option	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost	Lead Qualification
Claudessa	$53.50	$642	Basic — a short note on the job
AI (per-minute, avg 3.5 min/call)	$168–686	$2,016–8,232	Varies
Human answering service (PATLive, avg 3.5 min/call)	$573.50	$6,882	If scripted
Full-time receptionist	$3,168	$38,010	Yes

The lead detail factor: If your answering service writes down what the caller wants done before you call back, you can call the $50K kitchen remodel back before the $500 door replacement. Knowing which call to return first can be worth more than the answering service costs.

Cost by Business Size

Your trade matters, but so does your size. Here’s how answering service costs shift as your business grows — and where certain billing models start to hurt.

Running a smaller shop? Our guide to picking a phone answering service for a small business covers what to prioritize before you compare prices.

Solo operator (40–60 calls/month)

At this volume, almost every AI service is affordable. Claudessa runs $29–$33.90/mo. Upfirst’s $59.95 plan (90 calls) gives you room to grow. Even per-minute services stay under $100. The real risk here isn’t cost — it’s picking a service that can’t handle your trade’s emergency calls.

Small crew (80–120 calls/month)

This is where per-minute billing starts to sting. At 100 calls averaging 3.75 minutes, AnswerFirst costs $630+/mo and PATLive $621/mo. Claudessa stays at $53.50. Per-call and flat-rate services pull ahead decisively at this volume — and if your calls include emergencies averaging 5+ minutes, the gap widens fast.

Growing company (150–200 calls/month)

At 200 calls/month, the cost spread is enormous. Claudessa: $79 on Volume. Upfirst: $159.95 (their 300-call plan). Smith.ai AI: $385 (their 150-call plan plus 50 calls at $2.30). PATLive: $1,207. At this scale, the per-call AI services run $79–$385/mo, while the per-minute human services we’ve priced start at over $800/mo for the same 200 calls (about 750 minutes). The flat-rate and per-call providers clearly win. Spend the savings on marketing that generates more calls.

Calculate Your Answering Service ROI

The real question isn’t “how much does it cost?” — it’s “how much am I losing without it?” Here’s how to calculate your specific ROI.

The formula:

(Missed calls/month × Avg job value × Close rate) − Answering service cost = Monthly ROI

Home services businesses miss calls while on-site. Pull your missed calls from your phone log and use your own close rate on answered calls; the examples below assume 20–35%.

Worked examples by trade

Plumber — $350 avg job, 12 missed calls/month

12 missed calls × $350 × 30% close rate = $1,260/month in lost revenue. Claudessa at 60 calls/month = $33.90. That’s a 37:1 ROI at a 30% close rate; use your own.

HVAC — $650 avg job, 20 missed calls/month (peak season)

20 missed calls × $650 × 35% close rate = $4,550/month in lost revenue. Claudessa at 150 calls/month (peak) = $78.00. That’s a 58:1 ROI. In July, a single recovered AC install pays for an entire year of service.

Electrician — $450 avg job, 10 missed calls/month

10 missed calls × $450 × 30% close rate = $1,350/month in lost revenue. Claudessa at 70 calls/month = $38.80. That’s a 35:1 ROI.

Contractor — $3,500 avg project, 8 missed calls/month

8 missed calls × $3,500 × 20% close rate = $5,600/month in lost revenue. Claudessa at 100 calls/month = $53.50. That’s a 105:1 ROI. One won project covers years of answering service costs.

Halve it and check again. Cut the missed calls and the close rate in half in any example above and it still pays. The thinnest case, the electrician, drops to 5 missed calls × $450 × 15% = $337.50/month against the same $38.80, almost 9:1. At every price above, one $200 job a month covers the bill.

Hidden Cost Comparison: What Providers Don’t Show on Their Pricing Page

The advertised price is rarely the final price. Here are the specific gotchas we found when pricing each provider for a home services business:

1

Smith.ai: custom integrations start at $500/mo.

Their $150/mo plan covers 75 calls. Native integrations like Clio and Zapier come with every plan, but custom integrations start at $500/mo. If you need your calls flowing into Jobber, ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, check whether that takes a custom integration before you count on the $150 price.

2

Goodcall: “Per unique customer” billing penalizes lead-gen businesses.

Goodcall’s $79 plan covers 100 unique customers — not 100 calls. If all 80 of your monthly calls are from new callers, you’re burning through that cap fast. A repeat-heavy business pays less; a growth-stage business generating new leads pays significantly more. If new callers are what you are short of, our plumber lead generation guide covers where they come from, and the HVAC business growth guide covers what a growth-stage heating and cooling shop does with them.

3

My AI Front Desk: Per-minute billing on long emergency calls.

Their $99/mo plan includes 200 voice minutes. Sounds like plenty — until you do the math. A 5–7 minute HVAC emergency call (caller describes the problem, gives address, confirms dispatch) uses 5–7 of those 200 minutes. Ten emergency calls in a week can eat 50–70 minutes. During peak summer, you’ll blow past 200 minutes and pay for the extra minutes in overage credits.

4

Traditional services (AnswerFirst, PATLive): Per-minute billing on every call.

AnswerFirst and PATLive both bill by the minute, so a long emergency call costs more than a short one. AnswerFirst’s “$30/mo” base comes with $1.60–1.95 a minute, which makes it $510+/mo at 80 calls.

5

Seasonal overage surprise.

You sign up based on a quiet-month call estimate. July hits, your HVAC calls triple, and your bill jumps from $49 to $300+ on a per-minute plan. With per-call billing, a busy month adds predictable cost — 100 extra calls at $0.49 = $49 more on Flex, not $200 more.

6

Knowledge base limitations.

A cheap AI answering service that takes messages instead of answering trade-specific questions (“Do you service my area?”, “What are your rates?”, “Is this an emergency?”) creates more work for you, not less. You end up returning every call anyway.

Claudessa’s hidden costs: none. No setup fee. No contract. No per-minute billing. Published plan boundaries: Flex includes 50 calls with answering, qualification, messages, and live transfer; Volume includes 200 calls for $79/mo. No holiday surcharges. Flex $29/mo with 50 calls included; $0.49/call overage is the price, period.

When to Upgrade Your Answering Service Plan

Not every business needs to start with a premium plan. Here are the trigger points that signal it’s time to move up:

You’ve outgrown basic message-taking

When callers ask trade-specific questions (“Do you do tankless water heater installs?”) and your current service just takes a message, switch to a service with a deep knowledge base like Claudessa.

Per-minute costs are unpredictable

If your monthly bill swings 50%+ based on call length and volume, switch to per-call billing. A plumber whose bill jumps from $49 to $300 during freeze season needs predictable pricing.

You need after-hours emergency handling

Basic services stop at message-taking. If nighttime callers report emergencies and you need those calls flagged and sent to you right away, you need a trade-aware service.

You’re spending more on your receptionist than it returns

A $300+/month human answering service needs to book enough extra jobs to justify the cost. If your call volume doesn’t support it, an AI service starting at $29/month answers the same calls and takes the job request down for you.

FAQ — Answering Service Costs for Home Services

For a plumbing business handling 60 calls/month, Claudessa costs $33.90/mo ($29 base includes 50 calls, then $0.49/call overage). A human answering service like PATLive runs about $429/mo at that volume (4-minute calls). The key for plumbers: avoid per-minute billing, because emergency calls run long.

HVAC companies should budget based on peak season, not average. At 150 calls/month (peak), Claudessa costs $78.00/mo. Per-minute services can exceed $400/mo at the same volume. In July you want every AC call answered — per-call billing ties a busy month’s bill to how many calls come in, not how long each one runs.

Claudessa's Flex plan is $29/mo with 50 calls included, then $0.49/call. At 50 calls/month, you pay $29. At 100 calls, $53.50. No setup fees, no contracts, no per-minute billing, and a 14-day / first-30-calls trial. Some general-purpose services have a lower entry price, so compare the monthly total at your real call volume.

Multiply missed calls per month × average job value × close rate. Then subtract your answering service cost. Example: a plumber missing 12 calls/month at $350 avg job value with 30% close rate loses $1,260/month. Claudessa at $33.90/month = 37:1 ROI.

Yes — modern AI answering services handle emergency calls effectively. Claudessa identifies trade-specific emergencies (burst pipes, no heat, electrical hazards), gathers critical details, tries to put the caller straight through to your on-call phone, and texts or emails you the details right after the call. The key is choosing a service with trade-specific training. A generic AI that just takes messages won’t triage emergencies.

Per-call billing is almost always better for home services businesses. Emergency calls (burst pipes, no AC, electrical hazards) run long. On per-minute billing, a single 6-minute emergency call can cost $2.88–$17.94. On per-call billing, that call costs the same as a one-minute call. Over a month with 10–20 emergency calls, you pay for every one of those extra minutes on a per-minute plan and for none of them on a per-call plan.