What does an answering service actually cost?
Real 2026 rates, the fees providers bury, and what the same call volume costs with AI.
A live answering service typically costs $1.50 to $3.00 per minute plus a $50 to $200 setup fee and a monthly minimum, which puts most small businesses between $300 and $1,200 a month. BotsDontSleep charges $0 setup and $0.60 per answered minute with no minimum, so 300 calls of three minutes each costs about $540.
How is answering service pricing structured?
Almost every provider bills by the minute, not the call, because their cost is staff time. You commit to a bundle of minutes, pay a setup fee to build your scripts, and pay an overage rate for anything above the bundle. Hold time, transfers, and spam calls all consume billable minutes. AI pricing keeps the per-minute model but removes the setup fee, the bundle, and the overage penalty.
Answering service cost compared, side by side
| Cost item | BotsDontSleep AI | Live answering service | Voicemail | In-house receptionist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | $0 | $50–$200 | $0 | $0 |
| Monthly minimum | None | $100–$300 typical | None | $3,500–$5,000 salary |
| Per-minute rate | $0.60 | $1.50–$3.00 | n/a | n/a |
| After-hours rate | $0.60, same | Often 20–50% higher | n/a | Overtime |
| Cost of 200 minutes | $120 | $350–$800 | $0 | Fixed salary |
| Cost of 900 minutes | $540 | $1,400–$3,000 | $0 | Fixed salary |
| Cost of a missed call | None missed | Hold-time drop-offs | Most callers hang up | Missed while busy |
What will it cost at my call volume?
Assuming a three-minute average call, which is typical for booking and intake conversations. AI figures are exact at $0.60 CAD per minute; live figures use the common $1.50 to $3.00 range plus a typical monthly minimum.
| Monthly volume | Billable minutes | BotsDontSleep | Live answering service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 calls / month | 150 min | $90 | $260–$500 |
| 100 calls / month | 300 min | $180 | $500–$950 |
| 200 calls / month | 600 min | $360 | $950–$1,900 |
| 300 calls / month | 900 min | $540 | $1,400–$2,800 |
| 500 calls / month | 1,500 min | $900 | $2,300–$4,600 |
Full terms are on the pricing page.
Which fees should I ask about before signing?
- Setup or onboarding fee
- Monthly minimum or plan commitment
- Overage rate above the bundle
- After-hours and holiday premiums
- Per-message or per-dispatch charges
- Billing for spam and wrong numbers
- Rounding — per second, or up to the minute
- Cancellation notice and term length
BotsDontSleep answers all eight the same way: none of them apply. One rate, $0.60 per answered minute, billed per second, with no contract.
Get a cost estimate for your call volume
Send us your rough monthly call count and average call length and we will send back a real monthly figure, plus an estimate of what your currently-missed calls are worth. No sales sequence.
How do the main providers price it?
Provider-by-provider breakdowns of pricing model, coverage, and languages, each compared with a flat $0.60 per answered minute.
What are your missed calls actually costing you?
Recovering 1 of those calls covers the entire month.
Answering service cost questions, answered.
- How much does an answering service cost per month?
- Most small businesses pay between $300 and $1,200 a month for a live answering service, driven by minutes used rather than calls taken. With BotsDontSleep at $0.60 CAD per minute and no minimum, the same volume usually lands between $120 and $540.
- How much does an answering service cost per minute?
- Live services generally charge $1.50 to $3.00 per minute, with the lower rates tied to larger monthly commitments. BotsDontSleep charges a flat $0.60 per answered minute at any hour, with no tiers to negotiate.
- Is there a setup fee for an answering service?
- Traditional providers usually charge $50 to $200 to build your call scripts and configure routing. BotsDontSleep charges $0 setup — the build, tuning, and integrations are included before you go live.
- Why are answering services billed per minute?
- Because their cost is staff time. That also means hold time, transfers, and long-winded callers all bill. Per-minute AI billing works the same way, but the rate is lower and there is no queue time to pay for.
- What is the cheapest answering service option?
- Voicemail is free and loses most callers, so it is only cheap on paper. Among services that actually answer, AI at $0.60 CAD per minute with no setup or minimum is currently the lowest all-in cost for typical small-business volumes.
- Are there hidden fees in answering service pricing?
- Common extras include after-hours premiums, holiday surcharges, per-message fees, overage rates above your plan, and charges for spam or wrong-number calls. BotsDontSleep has one rate, $0.60 per answered minute, and no contract.
- Do I pay for spam and wrong-number calls?
- You pay only for the seconds spent, and those calls are typically ended in well under a minute. There is no per-call floor, so a ten-second robocall costs about a cent rather than a full billed minute.
- How much does a receptionist cost compared to an answering service?
- A full-time receptionist runs roughly $3,500 to $5,000 a month with benefits and covers about 40 hours a week. An answering service or AI receptionist covers all 168 hours for a fraction of that, though it does not greet walk-ins.
- How do I calculate what I would spend?
- Multiply your monthly calls by your average call length in minutes, then by $0.60. If you take 150 calls averaging three minutes, that is 450 minutes, or $270 a month.
- Is there a contract or minimum term?
- No. There is no contract, no minimum spend, and no cancellation fee. A quiet month simply costs less, which is the main reason seasonal businesses move off plan-based providers.
- Does after-hours or weekend coverage cost more?
- Not with BotsDontSleep. Nights, weekends, and public holidays bill at the same $0.60 CAD per minute. Live services commonly add 20 to 50 percent for out-of-hours cover.
- What is the return on an answering service?
- If answering five otherwise-missed calls a month wins two jobs worth $500 each, that is $1,000 of recovered revenue against roughly $200 in minutes. Businesses with high job values typically break even on the first recovered call.
- Can I start small to test the cost?
- Yes. Forward only after-hours and overflow calls first. Because setup is $0 and there is no minimum, the trial costs only the minutes it answers — often under $50 in the first month.
- What is included in the $0.60 CAD per minute?
- Answering, screening, calendar booking, call routing and warm transfer, SMS and email confirmations, 90+ languages, transcripts and summaries, and your integrations. There is no separate platform or per-user fee.
Last reviewed: August 2026. Pricing and capability details verified against our current service.