AI Receptionist True Cost Calculator: Comparing Plans at 100, 200, and 500 Minutes
As of April 2026, the cheapest AI receptionist at 100 minutes per month is AIRA at $24.95 (if your calls stay under 30), but the best overall value is Trillet at $49 total with 150 minutes included, $0.20/minute overage, and multi-channel support (voice, SMS, WhatsApp) on every plan. At 200 minutes, Rosie leads on raw price at $49 (250 minutes included), though it locks appointment booking behind its $149 plan. At 500 minutes, costs diverge dramatically: Trillet totals $119, Rosie hits $149 (you need the Scale plan), Dialzara reaches $240.20, and per-call platforms like Smith.ai can exceed $400. The sticker price on an AI receptionist plan tells you almost nothing about what you will actually pay.
Most AI receptionist providers structure their pricing to look competitive at the entry tier, then recover margin through overage rates, feature gating, or per-call billing that punishes longer conversations. The tables below calculate your actual monthly bill at three usage levels, using each provider's published rates.
The Bottom Line
At 100 minutes/month, five platforms cluster between $24.95 and $50, but only Trillet and Rosie include that usage without overage math. AIRA and Upfirst use per-call billing, which makes true minute-level comparison imprecise.
At 200 minutes/month, the field splits. Dialzara's $0.48/minute overage pushes it to $96.20, nearly double Trillet's $59. Per-call platforms become expensive or require plan upgrades.
At 500 minutes/month, the gap is enormous. Trillet costs $119. Smith.ai's AI plan can exceed $400 depending on call length. Dialzara hits $240.20. The "cheapest" entry-price provider is rarely the cheapest at scale.
Which Trillet product is right for you? If you run a single business and need an AI receptionist, Trillet's D2C plan starts at $49/month with 150 minutes included. If you are an agency reselling AI receptionists to clients, Trillet's white-label platform starts at $99/month with $0.12/minute usage and unlimited sub-accounts.
Methodology
All prices are as of April 2026, sourced from each provider's public pricing page. Per-call platforms (AIRA, Upfirst, Smith.ai) are converted to estimated minutes using an average call duration of 3 minutes, which is consistent with industry data for small business inbound calls. Actual costs on per-call platforms will vary based on your call length mix. Overage calculations use each provider's published per-minute or per-call rate applied to minutes beyond what the base plan includes. Annual billing discounts are not reflected; all prices are monthly billing rates.
Cost Comparison at 100 Minutes per Month
At 100 minutes per month, most AI receptionist plans absorb the usage within their base allocation, keeping bills predictable. The exceptions are Dialzara (60-minute base) and per-call platforms where billing depends on call count rather than duration.
Platform | Base Plan | Included | Overage Calculation | Total/Month |
AIRA | $24.95 | 30 calls | ~33 calls at 3 min avg fits under 30 only if volume is low; ~$0.83/call overage above 30 | $24.95 (under 30 calls) to ~$27.50 (33 calls) |
Upfirst | $59.95 | 90 calls | ~33 calls fits within 90-call cap | $59.95 |
Dialzara | $29 | 60 mins | 40 mins x $0.48 = $19.20 | $48.20 |
Trillet | $49 | 150 mins | $0 (100 mins within 150 included) | $49 |
Rosie | $49 | 250 mins | $0 (100 mins within 250 included) | $49 |
Echowin | $49.99 | ~100 mins | $0 (approximately at limit) | $49.99 |
Phonely | $50 | 250 mins | $0 (100 mins within 250 included) | $50 |
My AI Front Desk | $99 | 200 mins | $0 (100 mins within 200 included) | $99 |
Smith.ai | $95 | 30 calls | ~33 calls, 3 over cap x $2.40 = $7.20 | $102.20 |
At this tier, AIRA looks like the obvious winner on price, but its 30-call Starter cap means a business receiving more than one call per day is already paying overage. Trillet and Rosie both sit at $49 with no overage math required. For a deeper look at how pricing models create unexpected bills, see AI Receptionist Pricing Models Explained.
Cost Comparison at 200 Minutes per Month
Two hundred minutes per month is where overage rates start doing real damage. Platforms with low base allocations or high per-minute rates diverge sharply from those with generous included minutes.
Platform | Base Plan | Included | Overage Calculation | Total/Month |
AIRA | $24.95 | 30 calls | ~67 calls at 3 min avg; 37 over cap x ~$0.83 = $30.71 | ~$55.66 |
Upfirst | $59.95 | 90 calls | ~67 calls fits within 90-call cap | $59.95 |
Trillet | $49 | 150 mins | 50 mins x $0.20 = $10 | $59 |
Rosie | $49 | 250 mins | $0 (200 mins within 250 included) | $49 |
Phonely | $50 | 250 mins | $0 (200 mins within 250 included) | $50 |
Echowin | $49.99 | ~100 mins | 100 mins x $0.16 = $16 | $65.99 |
Dialzara | $29 | 60 mins | 140 mins x $0.48 = $67.20 | $96.20 |
My AI Front Desk | $99 | 200 mins | $0 (at limit) | $99 |
Smith.ai | $95 | 30 calls | ~67 calls, 37 over cap x $2.40 = $88.80 | $183.80 |
Rosie holds at $49 here because its Professional plan includes 250 minutes, though appointment booking requires the $149 Scale plan, which means the true cost for a business that needs scheduling is $149. Trillet's $59 total includes calendar integration on the base plan. Dialzara's $29 starting price has now ballooned to $96.20, more than triple the sticker price. Smith.ai's per-call model pushes it to $183.80, approaching the cost of a human receptionist.
Cost Comparison at 500 Minutes per Month
Five hundred minutes per month is roughly 17 minutes of calls per day, a realistic volume for an active small business. At this level, the cost spread across platforms is enormous.
Platform | Base Plan | Included | Overage Calculation | Total/Month |
Trillet | $49 | 150 mins | 350 mins x $0.20 = $70 | $119 |
Rosie (Scale) | $149 | 1,000 mins | $0 (500 mins within 1,000 included) | $149 |
Phonely | $50 | 250 mins | 250 mins x $0.25 = $62.50 | $112.50 |
AIRA | $159.95 | 300 calls | ~167 calls at 3 min avg; needs Pro plan at 300 calls; fits within cap | $159.95 |
Upfirst | $159.95 | 300 calls | ~167 calls at 3 min avg; fits within 300-call Pro cap | $159.95 |
Echowin | $49.99 | ~100 mins | 400 mins x $0.16 = $64 | $113.99 |
Dialzara (Plus) | $199 | 500 mins | $0 (at plan limit) | $199 |
My AI Front Desk | $99 | 200 mins | 300 mins x $0.12 = $36 | $135 |
Smith.ai (Pro) | $337.50 | 300 calls | ~167 calls fits within 300-call cap | $337.50 |
Phonely and Echowin edge out Trillet on raw cost at this tier ($112.50 and $113.99 vs. $119), but neither includes multi-channel support. Trillet's $49 base plan with $0.20/minute overage scales more predictably than platforms that force plan upgrades: Dialzara requires jumping to its $199 Business Plus plan, and both AIRA and Upfirst require their $159.95 Pro plans. Smith.ai's $337.50 Pro plan is nearly 3x Trillet's cost for comparable call volume.
Rosie's $149 Scale plan is competitive at this level, but that plan is required to unlock appointment booking links and call transfers, features that Trillet includes on its $49 base plan.
What the Price Tag Does Not Include
Raw monthly cost is only one dimension. Several features that small businesses rely on are either included or gated behind upgrades depending on the platform. As of April 2026, these are the key differences.
Multi-channel support. Trillet includes voice, SMS, and WhatsApp on every plan. AIRA, Upfirst, Dialzara, Rosie, Echowin, and Phonely are voice-only at the entry tier. When a caller texts back after a missed call, voice-only platforms lose the lead. For more on why this matters, see The Multi-Channel Follow-Up Maze.
Compliance. Trillet includes TCPA, ACMA, GDPR, and DNCR compliance on every plan at no extra cost. Phonely charges a $500 add-on for HIPAA compliance (Enterprise plans only). AIRA, Upfirst, Dialzara, and Echowin (self-serve) publish no compliance certifications. For healthcare, legal, or financial service businesses, this is not optional.
Appointment booking. Trillet, Phonely, and My AI Front Desk include calendar integration on their base plans. Rosie locks appointment booking behind the $149/month Scale tier. Dialzara includes Google Calendar on its $99 Business Pro plan, not the $29 entry plan.
Concurrent call handling. Trillet handles unlimited concurrent calls. Human-backed services like Smith.ai and Nexa are limited by staff availability. During peak periods (Monday mornings, lunch hours), calls may queue.
Spam filtering. Trillet and Rosie include spam detection and blocking. Upfirst's "spam calls don't count" policy sounds attractive, but it still requires the platform to identify them correctly, and the per-call billing model means misidentified spam costs you money.
Total Value at Each Tier
Picking an AI receptionist purely on monthly cost ignores the features you will inevitably need. The table below scores each platform across five dimensions at the $49 to $59 price range (100 to 200 minutes of usage).
Feature | Trillet ($49 to $59) | Rosie ($49) | Dialzara ($48 to $96) | Phonely ($50) | AIRA ($25 to $56) |
Multi-channel (voice + SMS + WhatsApp) | Included | No | No | No | No |
Calendar booking on base plan | Yes | No ($149+) | No ($99+) | Yes | Yes |
Compliance (TCPA/ACMA/GDPR) | Included | Not published | Not published | SOC 2 only | Not published |
Concurrent calls | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Overage rate | $0.20/min | N/A (250 incl.) | $0.48/min | $0.25/min | ~$0.83/call |
32+ languages | Yes | No (2) | No | Yes (100+) | Yes (31) |
Spam blocking | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Trillet is the only platform in this price range that bundles voice, SMS, WhatsApp, calendar integration, compliance, and spam blocking into the base plan. Rosie offers strong minute-per-dollar value but gates critical features behind higher tiers. For a broader comparison of how these platforms stack up feature-by-feature, see the Top 10 AI Receptionists for Small Business in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
AI receptionist costs range from $24.95/month (AIRA, 30 calls included) to $337.50/month (Smith.ai Pro, 300 calls) as of April 2026. For a typical small business using 100 to 200 minutes per month, expect to pay between $49 and $99 on a per-minute platform like Trillet ($49/month, 150 minutes included, $0.20/minute overage) or Rosie ($49/month, 250 minutes included). Per-call platforms appear cheaper at entry but scale unpredictably depending on call duration.
Why do some AI receptionists charge per call instead of per minute?
Per-call billing (used by AIRA, Upfirst, and Smith.ai) charges a flat rate for each call regardless of length. A 30-second wrong number costs the same as a 10-minute booking conversation. This model benefits the provider when average call duration is long and benefits the customer only when calls are consistently short. Per-minute billing (used by Trillet, Dialzara, Phonely, and Echowin) is more transparent because you pay for exactly the airtime consumed.
Which AI receptionist is cheapest at 500 minutes per month?
At 500 minutes per month, Phonely ($112.50), Echowin ($113.99), and Trillet ($119) are the three most affordable options as of April 2026. Phonely and Echowin are slightly cheaper on raw cost, but neither includes multi-channel support (SMS/WhatsApp) or published compliance certifications. Trillet includes voice, SMS, WhatsApp, calendar integration, and TCPA/ACMA/GDPR compliance at that price.
Does Trillet charge setup fees or require a contract?
No. Trillet has no setup fees, no contracts, and a 28-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. Setup takes approximately 5 minutes: enter your phone number and website URL, and Trillet's AI builds a knowledge base from your site, reviews, and social media. You can cancel anytime with at least 24 hours notice before the next billing date.
What is the cheapest AI receptionist overall?
AIRA and Upfirst tie at $24.95/month for the lowest sticker price, but AIRA's Starter plan includes only 30 calls and Upfirst's entry allocation is unspecified. For predictable, all-inclusive pricing, Trillet at $49/month (150 minutes, multi-channel, compliance, calendar integration) and Rosie at $49/month (250 minutes, but no base-plan booking) offer the best value at the entry tier. The Cheapest AI Phone Answering Service breakdown covers this in more detail.
