Virtual Receptionist Pricing: 9 Services Compared (2026)

Virtual receptionist pricing in 2026 starts at $75 a month with PATLive and climbs to $2,100 a month for Smith.ai's Pro plan, based on the published rates we verified in August 2026. Most small businesses land somewhere between $165 and $460 a month. The spread comes from three different pricing models, and picking the wrong one for your call pattern can double your bill. We pulled current prices from all nine official pricing pages, noted which vendors hide their rates, and ran the math on a sample 200-call month. Every price below is dated so you can tell what's verified and what's a quote-only guess.

Virtual Receptionist Cost Comparison Table

All prices verified on official pricing pages as of August 2026.

Why does any of this matter for your bottom line? A 2024 study by 411 Locals found that 62% of calls to small businesses go unanswered, and roughly 85% of callers who don't reach a person never call back. Paying $165 a month to catch those calls is cheap next to the $37,230 median annual salary the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports for an in-house receptionist.

1. PATLive

PATLive has the lowest verified entry price of the nine. As of August 2026, the Basic plan costs $75 a month with zero included minutes, and you pay $2.60 per minute as you go. Starter runs $250 for 75 minutes, Standard is $460 for 200 minutes, Premium is $720 for 350 minutes, and Pro is $1,170 for 600 minutes with a $2.00 overage rate. There are no contracts, though taxes and fees are extra.

PATLive suits a business with unpredictable call volume. If you get 10 calls one month and 60 the next, the pay-as-you-go base means you never pay for minutes you didn't use.

The con is that those per-minute rates sit at the high end. A steady 400-minute month on PATLive costs more than the same month on Moneypenny.

2. Davinci Virtual

Davinci's live receptionist plans, verified August 2026, are Business 50 at $129 a month for 50 live answer minutes and Business 100 at $239 for 100 minutes. The Premium tier costs $249 for 50 minutes or $319 for 100 minutes, and it adds appointment scheduling, outbound calls, and order processing.

Davinci suits a company that already wants its other products, since the firm also sells virtual addresses and meeting rooms. Bundling reception with a virtual office keeps your vendor list short.

The con shows up in the fine print of its reviews. Davinci holds a 4.5 overall on Clutch, but reviewers score its quality at just 3.4, the weakest sub-score of any service on this list. Plans also top out at 100 minutes, so it can't grow with you.

3. Abby Connect

Abby Connect's August 2026 pricing runs from Starter at $165 a month for 50 Abby Minutes up to Growth at $1,380 for 500 minutes, with Essential at $329 for 100 and Professional at $599 for 200. The interesting wrinkle is the AI option. A minute answered by Abby's AI counts as half an Abby Minute, so routing after-hours calls to AI effectively doubles your plan. There's no setup fee and no long-term contract.

Abby suits a business that wants the same small team answering every call, since it assigns a dedicated receptionist group rather than a random agent pool.

The con is the effective rate on small plans. Starter works out to $3.30 per minute for human answering, which is steep next to Moneypenny's $165 tier with lower overage costs.

4. Moneypenny

Moneypenny publishes the clearest per-minute pricing of the group. As of August 2026, plans run $165 a month for 50 minutes, $265 for 100, $422 for 200, and $985 for 500. Overage rates drop as you scale, from $2.28 per extra minute on the smallest plan to $1.67 on the largest. Every plan includes 24/7 answering, bilingual support, and CRM integrations, with no contract.

Moneypenny suits a business with steady, growing call volume because its published overage rates are the lowest we verified. A busy month won't produce a surprise bill the way it can elsewhere.

The con is the lack of a pay-as-you-go tier. You commit to at least $165 a month even in a quiet season, where PATLive would let you idle at $75.

5. Ruby

Ruby's plans, verified August 2026, are $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, and $1,725 for 500. Every plan includes the identical feature set with 24/7 coverage and bilingual receptionists, so you're only ever paying for minutes. Ruby has been the best-known name in this category for years.

Ruby suits a business that wants a premium, heavily trained receptionist team and is willing to pay for the brand. Law firms and medical offices make up a big share of its base.

The con is simple math. At $5.00 per included minute on Starter, Ruby is the most expensive per-minute service we verified, and its pricing page doesn't publish overage rates at all. Its 3.8 G2 rating also trails every competitor here.

6. Smith.ai

Smith.ai charges per call instead of per minute. As of August 2026, Starter is $300 a month for 30 calls with an $11.50 per-call overage, Basic is $810 for 90 calls, and Pro is $2,100 for 300 calls at an $8.50 overage. Agents are North America based, coverage is 24/7, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Smith.ai suits a firm whose calls run long. A 12-minute intake conversation with a potential legal client costs the same as a 90-second message, which makes per-call billing a bargain for consultative businesses.

The con is the flip side of that math. If your calls are short and frequent, you'll overpay badly. Two hundred quick calls would cost about $1,965 on the Basic plan, versus roughly $804 for the same traffic on Moneypenny.

7. Magic

Magic takes a different approach from everything above. Instead of a shared agent pool billed by the minute, you get one dedicated remote assistant. As of August 2026, the part-time plan costs $270 a week for 20 hours a week, and full-time costs $540 a week for 40 hours with 24/7 coverage included. Plans bill every four weeks with no long-term contract, so part-time works out to about $1,080 per cycle.

Magic suits an owner whose phone isn't the whole problem. The same assistant who answers your calls can clear your inbox, update your CRM, and chase invoices between rings. If that broader setup interests you, our guide on how to hire a virtual assistant walks through the process.

The con is that Magic is overkill for call answering alone. If you only need 100 minutes of phone coverage, a $165 plan does the job for a fraction of the cost, and the part-time tier doesn't include 24/7 answering.

8. AnswerConnect

AnswerConnect hides its pricing. As of August 2026, its plans page is a quote form that asks for your name, company email, and phone number before it will show you anything. We can confirm it sells 24/7 minute-based answering with a large agent network, and it holds a solid 4.5 on G2 across 23 reviews, but we can't verify a single published dollar figure.

AnswerConnect suits a larger operation that needs round-the-clock coverage at volume and doesn't mind a sales conversation to get there. Its scale is a genuine strength for businesses fielding hundreds of calls a month.

The con is the opacity itself. When a vendor makes you talk to sales before showing a price, comparison shopping gets harder and negotiated rates can vary between customers. Budget-conscious buyers should get quotes in writing.

9. Nexa

Nexa publishes its plan structure but not its prices. As of August 2026, the site lists three tiers, Nexa 100, Nexa 300, and Nexa 500, named for their included voice minutes, and every path to a number ends at a "Get Started" sales form. All tiers include 24/7 answering, custom scripting, appointment booking, and a client portal with analytics.

Nexa suits home services, legal, and medical businesses, since it trains receptionists on industry-specific intake and connects to the field software those industries run on.

The con matches AnswerConnect's. With no published rates, you can't budget without a sales call, and you can't easily check whether the quote you got is the same one your competitor got.

Virtual Receptionist Pricing Models: The Math on a 200-Call Month

Every service above uses one of three models. Here's what each costs if you take 200 calls a month, assuming each call runs about two minutes, which is typical for a greet-screen-transfer interaction. That's 400 minutes of talk time.

Per-minute. You buy a block of minutes and pay overage past it. On Moneypenny, the $422 plan covers 200 minutes and the extra 200 minutes cost $1.91 each, for a total of $804. Stepping up to the 500-minute plan at $985 buys headroom. This model wins when calls are short.

Per-call. You pay a flat rate per answered call, whatever its length. On Smith.ai, 200 calls means the $810 Basic plan plus 110 overage calls at $10.50, about $1,965. The same volume with 10-minute calls would still cost $1,965, while Moneypenny would balloon past $3,700. This model wins when calls are long.

Dedicated assistant. You pay for a person's time instead of phone traffic. Magic's part-time tier costs about $1,080 per four-week cycle for 80 hours. Your 400 minutes of calls fill under seven of those hours, and the other 73 go to whatever else you delegate. This model wins when you have real work beyond the phone. Our roundup of the best virtual assistant companies compares more options in this category.

Virtual Receptionist Pricing FAQ

How much does a virtual receptionist cost?

A virtual receptionist costs $75 to $2,100 per month based on published August 2026 rates. Typical small businesses pay $165 to $460 a month for 50 to 200 minutes. Per-call services charge $8.50 to $11.50 per call, and dedicated assistants start around $270 a week.

What's the cheapest virtual receptionist service?

PATLive has the lowest verified base price at $75 a month with pay-as-you-go minutes at $2.60 each. For a plan with included minutes, Davinci starts at $129 for 50 minutes, and Abby Connect and Moneypenny both start at $165.

Is per-minute or per-call pricing cheaper?

Per-minute is cheaper for short calls and per-call is cheaper for long ones. The breakeven sits near four to five minutes per call at current rates. A message-taking business should buy minutes, while a firm doing 10-minute intake conversations should buy calls.

Do virtual receptionist services require contracts or setup fees?

Most don't. Ruby, Smith.ai, Abby Connect, Moneypenny, PATLive, and Magic all advertised month-to-month terms with no setup fees as of August 2026. Watch for taxes and fees added to the base rate, which PATLive discloses, and always confirm overage rates in writing.

Is a virtual receptionist cheaper than hiring in-house?

Almost always. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median receptionist salary at $37,230 a year before taxes and benefits, which is over $3,100 a month for business-hours coverage only. A $460 virtual plan covers nights and weekends too, at about 15% of that cost.