What an AI receptionist costs in a busy month vs a normal month
Calls aren't steady. A heat wave, a freeze or a storm can turn a normal month into a busy one. Here is how each vendor's full monthly bill changes when that happens, from the same published prices and calculation as the calculator.
The short version: a flat plan costs the same, per-call and per-minute plans add overage, and some plans move you up a tier. From 80 to 200 calls, the lowest bill we track goes from $49 to $105.33; from 200 to 450 calls, it goes to $129.
From 80 calls to 200 calls
Sorted by the normal-month bill, lowest first.
| Vendor | Normal month (80 calls) | Busy month (200 calls) | Change | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosie | $49Professional: within the plan | $149Scale: auto-upgraded from the $49 plan | +$100 (+204%) | Going over moves you up automatically from Professional to Scale, at the full price of the bigger plan |
| Upfirst | $59.95Premium: within the plan | $159.95Pro: within the plan | +$100 (+167%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Premium to Pro |
| Quo Sona (formerly OpenPhone) | $68Starter + Sona Tier 3: within the plan; $19/mo required Starter seat + $49/mo Sona Tier 3 credits | $118Starter + Sona Tier 4: within the plan; $19/mo required Starter seat + $99/mo Sona Tier 4 credits | +$50 (+74%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Starter + Sona Tier 3 to Starter + Sona Tier 4 |
| Goodcall | $79Starter: within the plan | $105.33Starter: 33 customers over the plan | +$26.33 (+33%) | Same Starter plan; 33 customers over the plan at $0.79 per extra unique customer |
| OnCrew | $93.10Starter: 90 minutes over the plan | $269.50Starter: 450 minutes over the plan | +$176.40 (+189%) | Same Starter plan; 450 minutes over the plan at $0.49 per extra minute |
| Simple Phones | $97Basic: plan sized to cover your calls (hard cap) | n/aover 100 calls: no plan shown on the page now | n/a | No published price for the busy month (over 100 calls: no plan shown on the page now) |
| My AI Front Desk (Frontdesk) | $99Business-in-a-Box: within included minutes + credit pool | $189Business-in-a-Box: 360 min over at $0.25 | +$90 (+91%) | Same Business-in-a-Box plan; 360 min over at $0.25 |
| Dialzara | $111Business Pro: 20 minutes over the plan; includes $3/mo required phone number | $242Business Plus: 100 minutes over the plan; includes $3/mo required phone number | +$131 (+118%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Business Pro to Business Plus (100 minutes over the plan) |
| Jobber Receptionist | $117.50Core + Receptionist add-on: 50 conversations over the plan; $49/mo required Jobber Core plan + $29/mo Receptionist add-on | $212.30Core + Receptionist add-on: 170 conversations over the plan; $49/mo required Jobber Core plan + $29/mo Receptionist add-on | +$94.80 (+81%) | Same Core + Receptionist add-on plan; 170 conversations over the plan at $0.79 per extra conversation |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | $162.50Pro (75 calls): 5 calls over the plan | $385Pro (150 calls): 50 calls over the plan | +$222.50 (+137%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Pro (75 calls) to Pro (150 calls) (50 calls over the plan) |
| NextPhone | $199Pro: flat price, unlimited calls | $199Pro: flat price, unlimited calls | no change | Flat monthly price, unlimited calls, so the bill stays the same |
| Sameday AI | from $449Launch: "starts at" price; overage not published | from $789Scale: "starts at" price; overage not published | +$340 (+76%) in "starts at" prices | Needs the bigger Scale plan; prices are "starts at" figures and overage is not published |
From 200 calls to 450 calls
Sorted by the normal-month bill, lowest first.
| Vendor | Normal month (200 calls) | Busy month (450 calls) | Change | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodcall | $105.33Starter: 33 customers over the plan | $129Growth: within the plan | +$23.67 (+22%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Starter to Growth |
| Quo Sona (formerly OpenPhone) | $118Starter + Sona Tier 4: within the plan; $19/mo required Starter seat + $99/mo Sona Tier 4 credits | $218Starter + Sona Tier 5: within the plan; $19/mo required Starter seat + $199/mo Sona Tier 5 credits | +$100 (+85%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Starter + Sona Tier 4 to Starter + Sona Tier 5 |
| Rosie | $149Scale: auto-upgraded from the $49 plan | $299Growth: auto-upgraded from the $49 plan | +$150 (+101%) | Going over moves you up automatically from Scale to Growth, at the full price of the bigger plan |
| Upfirst | $159.95Pro: within the plan | $272.45Pro: 150 calls over the plan | +$112.50 (+70%) | Same Pro plan; 150 calls over the plan at $0.75 per extra call |
| My AI Front Desk (Frontdesk) | $189Business-in-a-Box: 360 min over at $0.25 | $432.75Business-in-a-Box: 1,335 min over at $0.25 | +$243.75 (+129%) | Same Business-in-a-Box plan; 1,335 min over at $0.25 |
| NextPhone | $199Pro: flat price, unlimited calls | $199Pro: flat price, unlimited calls | no change | Flat monthly price, unlimited calls, so the bill stays the same |
| Jobber Receptionist | $212.30Core + Receptionist add-on: 170 conversations over the plan; $49/mo required Jobber Core plan + $29/mo Receptionist add-on | $409.80Core + Receptionist add-on: 420 conversations over the plan; $49/mo required Jobber Core plan + $29/mo Receptionist add-on | +$197.50 (+93%) | Same Core + Receptionist add-on plan; 420 conversations over the plan at $0.79 per extra conversation |
| Dialzara | $242Business Plus: 100 minutes over the plan; includes $3/mo required phone number | $553.25Business Elite: 575 minutes over the plan; includes $3/mo required phone number | +$311.25 (+129%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Business Plus to Business Elite (575 minutes over the plan) |
| OnCrew | $269.50Starter: 450 minutes over the plan | $747.25Starter: 1,425 minutes over the plan | +$477.75 (+177%) | Same Starter plan; 1,425 minutes over the plan at $0.49 per extra minute |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | $385Pro (150 calls): 50 calls over the plan | $800Enterprise (500 calls): within the plan | +$415 (+108%) | Lowest-cost plan changes from Pro (150 calls) to Enterprise (500 calls) |
| Sameday AI | from $789Scale: "starts at" price; overage not published | n/aover 1,000 min: custom quote | n/a | No published price for the busy month (over 1,000 min: custom quote) |
Not in these tables
- Allo AI Receptionist ($60) and CallRail Voice Assist ($75) are flat prices, but neither publishes how many calls the price covers. CallRail bills calls past the plan on top of the base fee, at a rate it doesn't publish Verified.
- Avoca AI, Housecall Pro CSR AI and ServiceTitan AI Voice Agent don't publish a price for these volumes.
- Services where people answer the calls are compared on AI receptionist vs answering service cost.
Overage, plan jumps and flat prices, in plain words
- Overage on the same plan. You keep your plan and pay for each call, minute or customer past its allowance. OnCrew charges $0.49 a minute past Starter's 150 minutes, Jobber $0.79 per conversation past the add-on's 30, and Upfirst $0.75 per call past Pro's 300 Verified.
- Automatic plan jump. Going one minute over a Rosie plan moves you to the next plan at its full price, and you stay there until you downgrade Verified. One busy month can raise the following bills too, unless you switch back.
- Flat price. NextPhone's price includes unlimited inbound calls, so a busy month costs the same Verified.
- Hard cap. Simple Phones' page shows one plan, for 100 calls. If you go over your plan's calls in a month, Simple Phones releases your phone numbers Verified, so pick a plan above your busiest month.
- Calls to voicemail. When Dialzara's included minutes run out and auto-recharge is off, callers go straight to voicemail Verified. With Jobber, you can choose to pause Receptionist at the limit instead of paying for extra conversations Verified.
- "Starts at" prices. Sameday lists starting prices by minutes and doesn't publish overage, so its busy-month figure is a starting price for the bigger plan.
How we work out the busy month
For each month we use the plan that gives the lowest bill at that volume, as the calculator does. If you stay on your normal-month plan through a busy month, the bill can be higher than shown: you pay that plan's rate for everything past its allowance. Each vendor page lists its rates.
Volumes: 80 calls of 3 min (1 truck example); 200 calls of 3 min (2–3 trucks example); 450 calls of 3.5 min (4–6 trucks example), all calls answered Unverified. The 450-call example uses longer calls, so minute-billed vendors rise faster than the call count. Prices as published on each vendor's own page on 2026-11-02.
These bills come from the same calculation as the calculator, using each vendor's published plans as of 2026-11-02. Each bill includes any plan, seat or phone number the vendor requires before you can add call answering. Taxes, one-time fees and optional extras aren't included. For Goodcall we assume 1.5 calls per unique customer, Goodcall's own ratio. Vendors are sorted by estimated bill alone.
Try your own normal and busy months in the calculator · AI receptionist overage charges compared · AI Receptionist Price Index
Other comparisons: Jobber and Housecall Pro alternatives · Avoca AI alternatives · After-hours-only AI answering cost