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What an answering service costs contractors in 2026
Published prices from five answering services, including ours, checked Oct. 17, 2026. Prices change, so check each company's page before you decide.
Published prices, side by side
| Service | What it is | Billed by | Published plans | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai | An AI receptionist and a separate live-receptionist service, with the option to hand AI calls to Smith.ai's live agents. | Per call | AI Receptionist: Free plan with 25 calls/month ($3.00 per call after that); Pro from $150/month for 75 calls ($2.00/call); Enterprise from $500/month. Live receptionists: Starter $300/month for 30 calls ($11.50 per extra call), Basic $810/month for 90 calls, Pro $2,100/month for 300 calls. | Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing |
| Ruby | Live, human virtual receptionists (plus managed website chat). | Per minute (bundled) | Receptionist plans: $250/month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100 minutes, $720 for 200 minutes, $1,725 for 500 minutes. | Ruby pricing |
| Goodcall | An AI answering agent for small businesses that you build and configure yourself. | Per unique customer | Starter $79/month for 100 unique customers (then 79¢ each); Growth $129/month for 500 (then 26¢ each); Scale $299/month for 2,000 (then 15¢ each). It says it never meters minutes. | Goodcall pricing |
| Rosie | An AI answering service for small businesses, with booking and call transfers on higher plans. | Per month with minute allowance | Professional $49/month (250 minutes), Scale $149/month (1,000 minutes), Growth $299/month (2,000 minutes). 7-day free trial; annual billing gives 2 months free. | Rosie pricing |
| KeptRing | Done-for-you AI answering built only for home-service and construction contractors. | Per month with minute allowance | $249/month per line ($197 for the first 10 paying clients), 500 answered minutes included, then 25¢ per minute. 14-day free trial with 250 answered minutes. | KeptRing pricing |
The three ways answering services charge
- Per minute (or a minute allowance). Ruby bundles live-receptionist minutes ($250 for 50 minutes is $5.00 a minute). AI services like Rosie and KeptRing include a monthly allowance: KeptRing's $249 for 500 minutes works out to about 50¢ a minute if you use them all, and extra minutes are 25¢. Long calls cost more.
- Per call. Smith.ai prices by call: $2.00 per call on its AI Pro plan and $300 for 30 calls on its live Starter plan. Short and long calls cost the same.
- Per unique customer. Goodcall bills by how many different people the agent helped in a month, not minutes or calls.
The arithmetic above is ours, from the published prices in the table.
What to check before you sign up
- What happens when you go over? Is there an overage rate, a cap, or does answering stop?
- Does the trial need a card, and does it stop on its own? KeptRing's trial stops at 250 minutes and emails you 7 and 3 days before the first charge.
- Does it tell callers it's an AI? Disclosure and recording rules vary by state.
- What does it do on a gas leak or CO call? Ask to hear it.
- Cancellation terms. Month-to-month, notice periods, and partial-month refunds.
- What it can't do. Transfers, booking, texting, and integrations differ a lot. KeptRing doesn't transfer calls, book appointments, or integrate with CRMs yet.
Work out whether it pays for itself with the missed-call calculator, or see how KeptRing compares.
Hear it before you decide.
Call the demo line and pretend you're a homeowner with no heat, or say you're a contractor and ask how it works. It costs nothing and takes two minutes.
The demo answers as Summit Heating & Plumbing, a fictional company. You'll hear that it's an automated assistant and that the call may be recorded.