How much does an AI receptionist cost?

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

An AI receptionist has two costs: a one-time build and a monthly running cost. On GoHighLevel, the running cost at the time of writing is either about $0.06 a minute plus model and phone charges on pay-per-use, $50 a month per location with 100 minutes included, or $97 a month per location for unlimited use under fair use. The build depends on how much the receptionist has to do.

So a practice taking 300 calls a month at three minutes each pays somewhere around $54 to $100 a month to run it, before phone line charges. Compare that with a person at the front desk: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median receptionist wage at $18.27 an hour, or $38,010 a year, in May 2025. The AI does not replace that person for most businesses. It answers the calls they cannot: after hours, at lunch, and when two lines ring at once.

The rest of this page shows where each number comes from and what moves it up or down, so you can work out your own figure instead of trusting an average.

What does it cost to run an AI receptionist each month?

Running cost is metered by the minute. HighLevel's published rates are $0.045 a minute for the voice engine plus a text-to-speech charge from $0.015 a minute (OpenAI or Cartesia voices) up to $0.170 a minute (ElevenLabs V3), plus language model tokens and phone system charges. A plan can replace most of that metering with a flat monthly fee.

These figures are from HighLevel's AI product pricing article, updated September 28, 2026. HighLevel's own example: a 10-minute call on the voice engine with OpenAI text-to-speech costs $0.60 before model tokens and phone charges. Phone system charges apply on every plan. If you use a separate voice platform instead of GoHighLevel's built-in agent, the structure is similar, a per-minute platform fee plus telephony and model usage, but the rates differ, so compare them on the same call volume.

What does it cost to build an AI receptionist?

The build cost depends on scope, not on the AI itself. A receptionist that answers questions from a short knowledge base and books into one calendar is a small project. One that qualifies callers, routes by service and location, writes notes to your CRM, transfers live calls and sends follow-up texts is a larger one, because each connection has to be built and tested.

Autoesta's typical prices at the time of writing, for reference: a free audit, cleanup from $200, a small automation build of two or three automations about $1,000, a full GoHighLevel setup $3,000 to $5,000, and support from $200 a month. Every build includes six months of maintenance on what we built. An AI receptionist for a small business usually fits a small build of about $1,000, or sits inside a full setup of $3,000 to $5,000. Where a specific one lands depends on the scope list below, and we confirm it on a free strategy call before any work starts.

• Knowledge: how many services, prices and policies the receptionist must explain correctly.
• Calendars: one calendar, or several staff, rooms and locations with different rules.
• Routing: whether urgent calls transfer to a person, and to whom at what time.
• CRM writes: contact creation, notes, tags, pipeline stage and follow-up workflows.
• Compliance: recording disclosure, consent capture for follow-up texts, and HIPAA for healthcare.
• Testing: scripted test calls for every path before it answers a real customer.

How do you work out your own monthly cost?

Multiply your monthly calls by the average call length to get minutes, then price those minutes on each option and pick the cheapest one that covers your volume. For most businesses that answer calls every weekday, the unlimited plan wins once AI minutes pass a few hundred a month.

A worked example, illustrative and using HighLevel's listed rates: a clinic gets 300 calls a month that the AI answers, averaging three minutes, which is 900 minutes.

• Pay-per-use: 900 minutes at $0.045 plus $0.015 is $54, before model tokens and phone charges.
• Growth: $50 covers the first 100 minutes; the other 800 at the same rates add $48, so $98 before tokens and phone charges.
• Unlimited: $97, with Voice AI listed as unlimited under fair use; phone charges still apply.

At that volume Unlimited is the simplest and the most predictable. At 60 calls a month, Growth or pay-per-use would be cheaper. To put the running cost next to what missed calls cost you, use our AI receptionist ROI calculator, which takes your own call volume, close rate and job value.

Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service or staff?

On running cost per call, usually yes. The honest comparison is not the AI against a salary, though. It is the AI against the calls you miss today: if an unanswered call is worth a booked job, the question is how many of those the AI recovers, and whether that pays for the build within a few months.

A human receptionist at the BLS median of $18.27 an hour costs about $146 for an eight-hour day before taxes and benefits, and still cannot answer at 9 p.m. or take two calls at once. An AI receptionist answers every call at the same per-minute rate, but it cannot handle a distressed patient or a complicated complaint as well as a trained person. The setups that work best use both: the AI answers first, books the routine calls and passes the rest to staff with notes. Our AI receptionist service page covers where each fits, and our missed call recovery page shows the cheaper option when you only miss a few calls a week: an automatic text-back. The Ultra Cryo & Recovery case study shows AI qualification working inside a real business's CRM.

What costs do people forget?

The four costs people leave out are phone line and number charges, texting fees and A2P registration for follow-up messages, the time to keep the knowledge base current when prices or hours change, and the monthly review of call transcripts that keeps answers accurate. None of them is large, but together they are the difference between a budget and a surprise.

• Phone system: numbers and call minutes are billed separately from the AI, on every plan.
• Texting: follow-up texts need a registered campaign; see our A2P 10DLC registration guide for the one-time and monthly fees.
• Updates: a new service, a price change or holiday hours all need the knowledge base updated the same day.
• Review time: reading a sample of transcripts each month catches wrong answers before customers do.
• Consent: outbound calls by AI need consent; our page on whether AI calling is legal explains what kind.

Questions about AI receptionist pricing

Is usage-based or subscription pricing better for an AI receptionist?

Usage-based pricing suits low or seasonal call volume, because you pay nothing in a quiet month. A subscription suits steady daily calls, because the monthly bill stops growing with volume. Price your last three months of calls on both before you choose.

Does the AI receptionist price include the phone number?

On GoHighLevel, no. HighLevel states that phone system charges apply separately on every AI plan, so budget the number and call minutes on top of the AI fee.

Can I try an AI receptionist before paying for a full build?

Yes. A narrow first version, answering common questions and booking one calendar after hours, costs less and shows real call data within a few weeks. Expand the scope once you can see which calls it handles well.

How long before an AI receptionist pays for itself?

It depends on how many calls you miss now and what a booked call is worth. A business that misses five calls a week worth $300 each has far more to recover than one that misses one call a month. The automation ROI calculator shows payback from your own numbers.

Sources and further reading

• HighLevel, AI product pricing update (Voice AI rates, AI Employee plans), updated September 28, 2026.
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists (median pay, May 2025).
• HighLevel, official pricing page for base plan prices.