Cheapest AI receptionist for painting and drywall repair contractors
At the example numbers below, the lowest estimated monthly bill is from Simple Phones (Basic plan), $49 a month. The table ranks every vendor with a public price for this usage; vendors with the same bill share a rank.
The numbers we used
| Calls a month | 100 Unverified |
|---|---|
| Average call length | 3 minutes Unverified |
| Calls outside business hours | 15% Unverified |
| Calls the AI answers | All calls |
| Prices as published | Read on each vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-30 |
Unverified means these are example numbers we chose, not survey data. Use a month from your phone log for your own estimate.
Where these starting numbers come from
- Calls a month: 100, between the middle of the 60 to 160 a month that SubCall's contractor call volume benchmarks list for painting teams of 2 to 5 people and the middle of its 50 to 130 for drywall Reported.
- After hours: 15%, the middle of the 10 to 20% SubCall lists for both painting and drywall Reported.
- Call length: 3 minutes, rounded from the 2.9-minute average for home services calls in CallRail's study of 100 million calls (August 2020) Reported.
- SubCall sells an AI receptionist and says its ranges are aggregated from public marketing benchmarks and trade association reporting, not measured averages.
Estimated monthly bill, lowest first
| Rank | Vendor | Estimated monthly bill | Lowest starting price (full cost) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple Phones | $49Basic: plan sized to cover your calls (hard cap) | $49 |
| 2 | Quo Sona (formerly OpenPhone) | $68Starter + Sona Tier 3: within the plan; $19/mo required Starter seat + $49/mo Sona Tier 3 credits | $19 |
| 3 | Upfirst | $69.95Premium: 10 calls over the plan | $24.95 |
| 4 | Goodcall | $79Starter: within the plan | $79 |
| 5 | My AI Front Desk (Frontdesk) | $114Business-in-a-Box: 60 min over at $0.25 | $99 |
| 6 | Jobber Receptionist | $133.30Core + Receptionist add-on: 70 conversations over the plan; $49/mo required Jobber Core plan + $29/mo Receptionist add-on | $78 |
| 7 | Dialzara | $138Business Pro: 80 minutes over the plan; includes $3/mo required phone number | $32 |
| 8 | Rosie | $149Scale: auto-upgraded from the $49 plan | $49 |
| 8 | RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) | $149Standalone: 200 minutes over the plan | $49 |
| 10 | NextPhone | $199Pro: flat price, unlimited calls | $199 |
| 11 | Smith.ai AI Receptionist | $212.50Pro (75 calls): 25 calls over the plan | $150 |
| 12 | OnCrew | $248Pro: 100 minutes over the plan | $49 |
| 13 | Sameday AI | from $449Launch: "starts at" price; overage not published | $449 |
| 14 | Abby Connect (human + AI) | $492Starter: 100 minutes over the plan; all-AI answering (counts half) | $164 |
| 15 | Ruby (live receptionists + AI) | $1,725500 minutes: plan sized to cover your minutes; overage not published | $250 |
Price known, usage limits not published
- Allo AI Receptionist: $60 (Solo seat + AI Receptionist add-on: usage limits not published; $15/mo required Solo seat + $45/mo AI Receptionist add-on)
- CallRail Voice Assist: $75 (Voice Assist: usage limits not published; standalone, no CallRail plan required)
No public price for this usage
- Avoca AI: n/a (price not published)
- Housecall Pro CSR AI: n/a (CSR AI price not published; needs a Housecall Pro plan from $79/mo)
We list these separately instead of guessing what they would charge.
These bills come from the same calculation as the calculator, using each vendor's published plans as of 2026-10-30. 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.
If your volume is different
The cheapest plan can change with volume. Same call length and after-hours share, half and double the calls:
| Calls a month | Lowest estimated bill | Calculator |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Rosie and Simple Phones, tied at $49 a month | Check in the calculator |
| 100 | Simple Phones (Basic plan), $49 a month | Check in the calculator |
| 200 | Goodcall (Starter plan), $105.33 a month | Check in the calculator |
Change the numbers in the painting and drywall repair calculator