How Much Does an Answering Service Cost? About $99 to $300 a Month on Entry Plans
By Sharrk Team · October 23, 2026
An answering service costs about $99 to $300 a month on entry plans, or roughly $1.40 to $5 per minute, and Sharrk starts at $99. Sharrk Core is $99 a month with 47,500 credits for an AI voice agent that answers every call 24/7, and Sharrk Free lets you build and test for $0. The live-answering range comes from the entry plans that six providers publish on their own pricing pages (checked October 23, 2026): the smallest plan that includes time, which is 50 to 125 minutes, or 30 calls at Smith.ai. The per-minute figure is each entry plan's price divided by its included minutes.
What do answering services charge per month in 2026?
Here is what each company lists on its own site. Sharrk comes first because it is the AI option this guide is written for.
| Provider | Entry plan | Monthly price | Included | Overage (per their site) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharrk Core | Core | $99 ($990/yr) | 47,500 credits a month (AI call minutes, texts, emails) | No contracts or setup fees |
| Sharrk Free | Free | $0 | 2,500 one-time credits to build and test | No card needed |
| PATLive | 50 min | $99 | 50 minutes (about 20 calls) | $2.29/min |
| Posh | Vogue | $130 | 50 minutes | $2.20/min |
| Abby Connect | Starter | $164 | 50 minutes | Billed at your plan's minute rate |
| MAP Communications | Business | $179 | 125 minutes | $1.30/min |
| Ruby | 50 minutes | $250 | 50 minutes | Not published |
| Smith.ai | Starter | $300 | 30 calls | $11.50/call |
Most of these companies also sell "pay as you go" plans with no included time: PATLive at $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute, Posh at $65 plus $2.30, and MAP at $49 plus $1.37. Larger plans lower the rate. PATLive's 500-minute plan is $759, and Ruby's 200-minute plan is $720.
Divide each entry plan's price by its included minutes and you get the per-minute range: about $1.43 at MAP, $1.98 at PATLive, $2.60 at Posh, $3.28 at Abby Connect and $5.00 at Ruby. Smith.ai's Starter plan works out to $10 a call.
Is per-minute or per-call billing cheaper?
It depends on how long your calls run.
- Per-minute billing (Ruby, PATLive, Posh, Abby Connect, MAP) charges for talk time. Short calls are cheap, but a caller who wants to explain a whole problem uses up your bundle fast.
- Per-call billing (Smith.ai) charges a flat amount for each call, whatever its length. Smith.ai says it bills "per call, not per minute," and does not charge for spam or blocked sales calls.
If most of your calls are quick messages, per-minute plans usually cost less. If callers tend to talk for five minutes or more, a per-call plan can come out ahead. Look at your phone records before you pick one.
What hidden fees should you watch for?
Most providers now advertise no setup fees, but the bill can still grow past the plan price. Check these four things:
- Setup fees. Ruby, Smith.ai, Abby Connect and Posh all say they charge no setup fee for their main plans. Add-ons can be different: Abby Connect's help center lists a one-time $95 setup fee for its Scheduling Assistant.
- After-hours and holiday coverage. PATLive says there are "no night or weekend fees," and Ruby says it charges nothing extra for coverage at certain times. Abby Connect's help center lists 24/7 live coverage as a $95-a-month add-on. MAP's pricing page says after-hours or holiday support can add to monthly costs but gives no figures.
- Overage. Once the bundle runs out, every extra minute or call is billed at the overage rate. That rate is often higher than what you pay per minute inside the plan, especially on small plans.
- Per-call extras. Smith.ai lists extra charges per call, including $1.50 to book an appointment, $0.50 for text and email follow-up, and $0.25 for call recording and transcription. PATLive adds government taxes and fees on top of its listed prices.
How do you estimate your monthly answering service bill?
Use this four-step method with your own numbers:
- Count your monthly inbound calls from your phone carrier's call log.
- Estimate the average call length. PATLive's own plan notes assume about 2.5 minutes a call (50 minutes ≈ 20 calls).
- Multiply calls by minutes to get monthly minutes.
- Price the smallest plan that covers it, and also the next plan down plus overage.
Worked example. Assumptions: 120 calls a month, 2.5 minutes each, so 300 minutes. List prices only, before taxes and add-ons.
| Provider | How it is billed | Estimated monthly bill |
|---|---|---|
| MAP Communications | 250-min plan $339 + 50 min × $1.28 | $403 |
| PATLive | 300-min plan | $479 |
| Posh | 200-min plan $420 + 100 min × $2.10 | $630 |
| Smith.ai | Basic $810 (90 calls) + 30 calls × $10.50 | $1,125 |
The same 120 calls cost about $400 to $1,125 a month depending on the provider and its billing model. If your calls run longer than 2.5 minutes, the per-minute providers cost more and Smith.ai's per-call price stays the same.
Trade pages cover this in more depth. For example, our plumbing answering service cost guide works through call volumes for plumbers.
Answering service vs. AI receptionist vs. hiring: which costs less?
There are three ways to get every call answered:
- A live answering service. Real people take messages and follow your script. You pay by the minute or by the call, as shown above.
- An AI receptionist. An AI voice agent answers, asks your questions, books the job and texts the details. You pay a flat monthly plan. Our AI receptionist cost breakdown compares those plans.
- Hiring a receptionist. A staff member costs wages, payroll taxes and benefits, and covers only their own shift. See the cost of hiring a receptionist for the full math.
If you are deciding between people who answer on your behalf, read our guide to virtual receptionists vs. answering services. It explains what each one actually does on a call.
How Sharrk answers your calls for a flat monthly price
Sharrk answers every call 24/7 with an AI voice agent. It can book the job on Sharrk's calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan, and it can live-transfer a caller to a person when you want one. You keep your existing number and forward it to your Sharrk number with ordinary carrier call forwarding. New leads from web forms, Angi, Thumbtack and Networx get a text or call in under 30 seconds. Strikes then follow up by call, text and email when a lead enters a pipeline stage. Everything lands in the built-in CRM.
Mako is the AI assistant inside Sharrk. You describe what you want in plain English, such as "answer after-hours calls, ask for the address and book the earliest slot," and Mako builds the voice agent, Strikes and campaigns for you.
Pricing is flat. Core is $99 a month with 47,500 credits that cover AI call minutes, texts and emails. There are no contracts or setup fees, and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first payment, minus usage. Start on Sharrk Free to build and test agents with no card, or book a demo to see it answer a call.
Related on Sharrk: AI answering service · AI receptionist · Pricing
Sources
- Ruby plans and pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
- Smith.ai receptionist pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
- Smith.ai virtual receptionists (checked October 23, 2026)
- PATLive pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
- Abby Connect pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
- Abby add-ons, features and pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
- Posh virtual receptionist pricing plans (checked October 23, 2026)
- MAP Communications pricing (checked October 23, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
How much does an answering service cost per month?
Entry plans run about $99 to $300 a month, based on the pricing pages of PATLive, Posh, Abby Connect, MAP Communications, Ruby and Smith.ai (checked October 23, 2026). Sharrk Core, an AI option, is $99 a month with 47,500 credits.
How much does an answering service cost per minute?
Roughly $1.40 to $5 per minute on entry plans, which is each plan's price divided by its included minutes. Overage rates listed by PATLive, Posh and MAP run $1.28 to $2.99 a minute depending on the plan.
Do answering services charge setup or holiday fees?
Most major providers now say they charge no setup fee, but some add-ons cost extra. Abby Connect lists 24/7 live coverage as a $95-a-month add-on, and PATLive adds government taxes and fees to its listed prices.
Is per-call or per-minute answering service billing better?
Per-minute billing is usually cheaper for short calls, and per-call billing can be cheaper for long ones. Check your average call length in your phone records before choosing.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
Often, yes, because an AI receptionist is billed as a flat monthly plan instead of by the minute or call. Sharrk Core is $99 a month with 47,500 credits covering AI call minutes, texts and emails, and Sharrk Free lets you build and test for $0.