How much does an answering service cost? Per call, per minute and flat-rate pricing explained
Live answering services publish plans from $25 to $350 a month and charge $1.19 to $4.70 for every minute beyond the plan. AI services charge $0.70 to $3.00 a call beyond theirs. Vomenta charges $64 a month plus about 8¢ a minute, with no per-call fee and no surcharges. The ranges below were checked in October 2026.
14-day free trial · $25 usage credit · No credit card required
- per extra minute at the top of the live answering range; $1.19 at the bottom
- $4.70
- per extra call at the top of the AI answering range; $0.70 at the bottom
- $3.00
- per month for the smallest Vomenta setup
- $64
- per minute on Vomenta, call and GPT-Live 1 AI together
- ~8¢
The short answer on answering service cost
A live answering service costs a small business $300 to $900 a month for 200 to 300 minutes, with extra minutes at $1.19 to $4.70. AI answering services cost from free to about $300 a month, billed per call at $0.70 to $3.00 beyond the plan. An in-house receptionist costs about $3,170 a month in wages alone. Vomenta costs $64 a month plus about 8¢ a minute.
Live and AI ranges come from the plans those services publish, checked in October 2026. The receptionist figure uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics median wage of $18.27 an hour for May 2025, before payroll taxes and benefits. Vomenta figures are computed from the published price list on this site.
Answering service pricing: the five models and what to check in each
Every service uses one of these. The model matters more than the headline price, because it decides what a busy month costs.
Per minute
The most common model for live services: a plan with a minute allowance, then $1.19 to $4.70 for each extra minute. Check the rounding. Some services bill in whole minutes or quarter minutes, which adds 25 to 40 percent to the bill compared with per-second billing.
Per call
A plan with a call allowance, then $0.70 to $3.00 per extra call on AI services and up to $11.50 on live ones. Check what counts as a call: wrong numbers, hang-ups and transfers often count, and add-ons such as booking or intake questions are billed per call on top.
Flat monthly bundles
Tiers such as 50, 100, 200 or 500 minutes a month, from $79 to $250 for 50 minutes and $279 to $720 for 200. The overage rate falls on the higher tiers, so a busy month on a small tier is the expensive case.
Base fee plus usage
A small monthly fee, $25 to $65, plus every minute or call at the full rate. Cheapest for a few calls a month, most expensive once volume grows.
Seat plus metered usage
Vomenta's model. A fixed price per seat and per module, $64 for the smallest setup, then 1.5¢ per inbound minute and AI at the provider's cost plus 30%, billed per second. No allowance to outgrow, no overage tier.
Virtual receptionist cost at three call volumes
Three minutes per call. The Vomenta column is computed from the price list: $64 seat and module, $2 number, 1.5¢ per call minute and GPT-Live 1 AI at 5¢ plus 30%.
| Published plan ranges, October 2026 | Vomenta, computed | |
|---|---|---|
| 50 calls a month, about 150 minutes | Live: $279 to $720 on 200-minute plans. AI per call: $60 to $150 on 50 to 90-call plans. | $78 a month: $64 seat and module, $2 number, $12 for 150 minutes. |
| 150 calls a month, about 450 minutes | Live: $350 to $1,190. AI per call: $120 to $310. | $102 a month: $64 seat and module, $2 number, $36 for 450 minutes. |
| 400 calls a month, about 1,200 minutes | Live: $949 to $1,900 on 1,000-minute plans, plus overage. AI per call: $300 to $720. | $162 a month: $64 seat and module, $2 number, $96 for 1,200 minutes. |
An in-house receptionist for the same phone costs about $3,170 a month in wages alone, and answers only during the hours they are at the desk.
What would Vomenta cost for your calls?
Enter your monthly calls and their average length. The total updates from the same price list as the pricing page.
- Starter seat and AI Voice Agent module
- $64
- Local number
- $2
- 450 call minutes at 1.5¢
- $6.75
- AI on GPT-Live 1 at 6.5¢ a minute
- $29.25
AI usage is the provider's cost plus 30%. The text the model generates adds a small charge not shown here. Sales tax or VAT is added where it applies.
What you pay Vomenta, line by line
Six lines, all on the pricing page. Nothing is quoted; the numbers here are read from the same price list the app bills from.
The full price list →$29 per month for one Starter seat
The seat is the person the agent rings. A business with no call center needs one. Owners, admins and managers do not take a seat.
$35 per month for the AI Voice Agent module
Priced per seat. One seat with the module is the smallest answering-service setup.
1.5¢ per inbound minute
Billed per started minute, rounded up to a whole cent per call. There is no per-call fee and no minute bundle.
6.5¢ per minute of AI on GPT-Live 1
GPT-Live 1 costs 5¢ a minute at the provider, billed per second, plus a small charge for the text it generates. Vomenta adds 30%, or nothing when you bring your own key. Other voice models bill per audio token at the provider's cost plus the same markup.
$2 per month for a local number
Or forward your existing number to it. Toll-free numbers and numbers in other countries cost more.
$25 of usage in the 14-day trial
About 300 minutes of answered calls on GPT-Live 1, with no credit card.
A cheap answering service without a cheap answer
Five ways to keep the monthly bill small without sending callers to voicemail.
Let the AI take the routine calls
Hours, prices, directions, appointment requests and messages are the bulk of a small business's calls. At about eight cents a minute they are the cheapest calls you will ever answer.
Send only the calls you cannot answer
A time-check step in your call flow sends after-hours and weekend calls to the agent and leaves the daytime ones with your office. You pay for the minutes the agent talks, nothing else.
Bring your own AI key
Add your OpenAI or Google key and the provider bills you directly. Vomenta's 30% markup on AI usage disappears.
Pay seats yearly for 20% off
Annual billing takes a fifth off the seat price. Module prices stay monthly.
Avoid per-call add-ons
Booking, intake questions, Spanish lines and transfers are billed per call at many services. In Vomenta they are tools the agent uses inside the call, at no extra charge.
Answering service cost: common questions
How much does an answering service cost per month?
For a small business, a live answering service costs $300 to $900 a month for 200 to 300 minutes, and more in a busy month because extra minutes cost $1.19 to $4.70. AI answering services cost from free to about $300 a month on per-call plans. Vomenta costs $64 a month plus about 8¢ a minute, so 150 calls of three minutes come to about $102. Ranges checked in October 2026.
Is per-call or per-minute pricing cheaper?
Per-call pricing is cheaper when calls are short and predictable, such as messages and appointment requests. Per-minute pricing is cheaper when calls are long, such as intake or support. Either way, check the rounding and what counts as a call. Vomenta bills call time per started minute and AI time per second, with no per-call fee, so short calls cost cents.
What is the cheapest answering service?
The cheapest published plans are AI services at $0 to $25 a month for a handful of calls, and base-fee live plans at $25 to $65 a month plus usage. The cheapest option for a given month depends on your volume. Vomenta's smallest setup is $64 a month with no allowance to outgrow, and a busy month costs only the extra minutes at about 8¢ each.
Do answering services charge extra for after-hours calls?
Some live services do: $0.20 to $0.30 per call or $50 to $150 a month for after-hours cover, and 1.5 to 2 times the rate on holidays. Vomenta charges the same per minute at any hour.
Are AI answering services cheaper than live ones?
Usually by a wide margin at the same call volume, because no operator's time is billed. At 150 calls a month the published ranges are $350 to $1,190 for live services and $120 to $310 for AI per-call plans. Vomenta comes to about $102 for the same 150 calls of three minutes. The trade is that a person is only on the line when the agent rings your own team.
What counts as a minute?
At live services, a minute usually includes the operator's after-call work and is rounded up to the next quarter or whole minute. In Vomenta, call time is billed per started minute and AI time per second, and nothing is added for wrap-up.
Do I need an agent seat if nobody in my office takes calls?
Yes, one. The seat at $29 a month is the person the agent rings when a caller asks for someone, and the AI Voice Agent module at $35 is priced per seat. Together they are the $64 smallest setup.
What does the free trial include?
14 days with $25 of usage credit and no credit card. That is about 300 minutes of answered calls on GPT-Live 1, enough to point your number at the agent and hear real calls before you pay.
Prices of other services change. If a range above is out of date, tell us at sales@vomenta.com and we will re-check it.
See what your calls would cost, for real.
Start the trial, point a number at the agent and read the usage report after a week of real calls.
14-day free trial · $25 usage credit · No credit card required