This index is for: contractors and small-business owners trying to answer one deceptively simple question, what does AI call answering actually cost?, in a market where half the vendors hide pricing and the other half bill in ways that make comparison nearly impossible.
TL;DR: AI answering services in 2026 range from $49/month (Rosie) to $789+/month (Sameday Scale), with enterprise platforms like Avoca quote-based and reportedly higher. But sticker price is the least useful number in this market. The four billing models, flat monthly, metered minutes, per-call, and bundled, produce wildly different real costs depending on your call volume and seasonality. A $449/mo metered plan can cost $2,000+ in a peak month; a $149/mo flat plan costs $149 every month. Full data, sources, and peak-season math below. All figures are published or reported as of September 2026 and change frequently, verify on each vendor's site before purchasing.
The index: 20 providers, normalized
Prices below are entry tiers for AI or AI-first answering. "Billing model" matters more than the number, see the next section before drawing conclusions.
| # | Provider | Entry price | Billing model | Trades focus | Native FSM booking | Source basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosie | ~$49/mo | Flat monthly | Home services | Limited | Published/reported |
| 2 | Goodcall | ~$59/mo | Flat per agent | General | CRM connectors | Published/reported |
| 3 | BizRnR | $99/mo | Flat (100 interactions) | HVAC/plumbing | ServiceTitan | Published |
| 4 | AgentZap | $109/mo | Flat monthly | Trades (Service Fusion) | REST API sync | Published |
| 5 | QuoteIQ (Virtual Call Team) | $149.99/mo | Flat (IQ Credits) | Home services | Bundled FSM | Published |
| 6 | Dialzara | ~$25 to $100/mo range | Flat tiers | General SMB | Limited | Reported |
| 7 | Smith.ai | ~$300/mo (30 calls) | Per call | General (legal-leaning) | Not publicly confirmed | Published |
| 8 | Podium | ~$399/mo | Flat platform | Local business | Platform-native | Published |
| 9 | Sameday Launch | $449/mo (500 min) | Flat + metered minutes | Home services | ST, HCP, Jobber, FieldRoutes | Published |
| 10 | HVAC Agent | $497/mo | Flat (20 booked appts) | HVAC only | Calendar booking | Published |
| 11 | Sameday Scale | $789/mo (1,000 min) | Flat + metered minutes | Home services | ST, HCP, Jobber, FieldRoutes | Published |
| 12 | Avoca | Not published | Quote, reportedly per-minute | HVAC/plumbing/electrical | ServiceTitan (deep) | Reported |
| 13 | Nurix AI | Not published | Quote | Home services | ST, HCP | Reported |
| 14 | Teeoff | Not published | Flat, no overage | HVAC/plumbing | CRM integrations | Reported |
| 15 | Memox | Flat base + per-minute | Hybrid | Equipment dealers | Catalog-trained | Published model |
| 16 | Intry | Free 7 weeks, then flat | Flat monthly | Electrical/plumbing/HVAC | Zapier/API/webhooks | Published model |
| 17 | Aloware (AloAi) | From $0.10/min | Per minute | General (CRM-centric) | Native CRM | Published |
| 18 | Housecall Pro CSR AI | Add-on, unpublished | Bundled add-on | Home services | HCP only | Reported |
| 19 | Jobber AI Receptionist | Included on Plus | Bundled | Home services | Jobber only | Published |
| 20 | ServiceTitan (native AI) | Add-on, unpublished | Bundled | Trades enterprise | ST only | Reported |
Human services, for contrast: Ruby, AnswerConnect, PATLive, and AnswerForce publish plans roughly $75 to $575/month with minute overages of $1.85 to $2.60/min; full-service human call centers like Estarta start around $1,750/month; an in-house receptionist runs $2,800 to $4,500/month fully loaded.
Methodology: figures compiled September 2026 from vendor pricing pages, published comparison charts, and third-party reviews. "Reported" means a credible third party stated the figure but the vendor doesn't publish it. This index updates quarterly; vendors change pricing often.
The 4 billing models, and what each one really costs you
Model 1: Flat monthly (Rosie, Goodcall, AgentZap, HVAC Agent, Teeoff)
You pay the same in March and in July. Predictable, budgetable, and increasingly the small-shop default. Watch for: interaction caps (BizRnR's 100 interactions) and per-agent fees that multiply if you need separate lines.
Model 2: Flat + metered minutes (Sameday, most human services)
A base bucket of minutes, then overage. This is the model that punishes seasonal businesses. Human answering services have used it for decades with overage rates of $1.85 to $2.60/minute; AI vendors inherited the structure at lower rates.
The peak-season trap, quantified: a mid-size HVAC shop averaging 3.5-minute calls handles ~150 calls in a shoulder month (≈525 minutes, just over a 500-minute bucket) but ~400 calls in a peak July week pattern (≈1,400 minutes). At reported category overage rates, that gap adds $1,600 to $2,300 to a single month, the same month the service is delivering its most value. Ask every metered vendor, in writing: "What is my bill in my busiest week of the year?"
Model 3: Per call / per minute (Smith.ai, Aloware)
Pure usage pricing. Excellent for low, steady volume; brutal for spiky volume. Smith.ai's ~$300/30-call entry equals ~$10/call, reasonable at 30 calls, $1,000+ at 100 calls.
Model 4: Bundled (Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, QuoteIQ)
Answering rides inside your field-service platform, sometimes at $0 marginal cost (Jobber Plus). The catch is structural: your front desk and your operating system become the same vendor. Switch FSMs and you lose both on the same day, and bundled AI typically only books into its own platform.
Cost per captured job: the only number that matters
Vendors sell minutes; you're buying booked jobs. Normalize for it:
| Scenario | Monthly cost | Missed calls captured/mo | Cost per captured call | Value per captured job* | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget flat (Rosie-class) | ~$49 | 10 to 20 | $2.50 to $5 | $500 to $900 | Obvious win for solo shops |
| Mid flat (AgentZap/QuoteIQ-class) | ~$110 to $150 | 20 to 40 | $3 to $7 | $500 to $900 | Strong for 1 to 5 trucks |
| Metered mid (Sameday Launch) | $449 (+ overage) | 30 to 60 | $8 to $15 | $500 to $900 | Wins if close rates are high |
| Human answering service | $300 to $575 (+ overage) | 20 to 40 | $10 to $25 | $500 to $900 | Only if callers demand humans |
| In-house receptionist | $2,800 to $4,500 | Business hours only | $20 to $40+ | $500 to $900 | Can't cover 62% of after-hours calls |
| Full owned system (Bluprint-class) | Scoped; from $3,500 build | All, plus outbound + follow-up | Falls over time | $500 to $900 + LTV | Wins on 24-month horizon |
* Reported industry range for an average captured emergency/service job; replacements run $5,000 to $15,000. See our Missed-Call Revenue Report for per-trade math.
5 questions to ask before signing anything
- "What does my bill look like in my single busiest week?", forces the metered-pricing conversation in writing.
- "Show me a job booked end-to-end into my FSM in the demo.", "integrates with ServiceTitan" ranges from native two-way write-back to a Zapier notification.
- "What happens to my recordings, transcripts, and configuration if I cancel?", with SaaS tools, export policies vary from full export to nothing.
- "What can't your AI handle, and what happens on those calls?", every honest vendor has an answer; vendors without one will discover it on your customers.
- "Is there a contract, and what's the exit?", contract terms in this category range from month-to-month to required annual commitments.