Live answering service cost, per minute and per month
A live answering service with minutes included starts at $99 a month for 50 minutes at PATLive and $250 for 50 minutes at Ruby. Posh starts lower, at $65 with no minutes included and $2.30 for each one you use. On a 100-minute plan you pay $189 at PATLive, $215 at Posh, $329 at Abby Connect and $395 at Ruby. We read every price on the vendors' own pages in September 2026.
Per minute, that's $1.89 to $3.95 on the 100-minute plans. Per call, at three minutes a call, it's about $5.67 to $11.85. People answer the phone on every one of these services, and you're paying for their time.
The headline price decides less than you'd think. The rate for a minute past your plan sets your busy month, and Ruby, Abby Connect and Rosie leave it off their pricing pages. AnswerConnect and Nexa go further and put every price behind a quote.
Live answering services, per month
| Service | Entry plan | Higher tiers | Rate past the bundle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | $250 / 50 min | $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500 | Not published |
| PATLive | $99 / 50 min | $189 for 100, $349 for 200, $759 for 500 | $2.29/min falling to $1.79 |
| Posh | $65 / 0 min | $130 for 50, $215 for 100, $420 for 200 | $2.30/min falling to $2.10 |
| AnswerConnect | Behind a quote form | Behind a quote form | Not published |
| Abby Connect | $165 / 50 min | $329 for 100, $599 for 200, $1,380 for 500 | Not published |
Read on each vendor's own pricing page, September 2026. Posh's rate card is marked effective 1 January 2026. AnswerConnect's prices sit behind a quote form.
The same 100 minutes, per minute and per call
| Service | 100-minute plan | Per minute | Per call at 3 minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PATLive | $189 | $1.89 | $5.67 |
| Posh | $215 | $2.15 | $6.45 |
| Abby Connect | $329 | $3.29 | $9.87 |
| Ruby | $395 | $3.95 | $11.85 |
| GreetKeeper | $49 for 200 calls | Not metered | About $0.25 inside the plan, $0.45 past it |
Plan prices read on each vendor's own page, September 2026. Abby Connect sells its time as Abby Minutes. Per-minute and per-call figures are our division of those prices.
AI answering services, for comparison
| Service | What it counts | Entry plan | Rate past the bundle |
|---|---|---|---|
| GreetKeeper | Per answered call | $49 / 200 calls | $0.45, $0.35, $0.25 by tier |
| Rosie | Per minute | $49 / 250 min | Not published |
| Dialzara | Per minute | $29 / 60 min | $0.48/min falling to $0.35 |
| Goodcall | Per unique caller | $79 / 100 callers | $0.50 per extra caller |
| Smith.ai | Per call | $0 / 25 calls, then $3.00 | $2.00–$2.17 on the $150 plan |
| Slang.ai | Per location | $399 per location | No allowance published |
Read on each vendor's own pricing page, September 2026.
What moves a live answering bill
- Minutes, not calls. A live service sells staff time, so the good four-minute call costs you more than the nine-second wrong number.
- Rounding. Ruby bills in 60-second increments, rounded up, and AnswerConnect rounds any call past 30 seconds up to the whole minute. Twenty 40-second calls can bill as twenty minutes.
- After-call work. Ruby, AnswerConnect and Nexa all count the receptionist's notes and follow-up as billed time.
- Overage, the biggest variable and the one least often printed. PATLive prints it on every tier, from $2.99 down to $1.49.
- Extra services. Web chat is its own subscription at PATLive and Ruby, and add-ons show up as separate charges at AnswerConnect.
Worked example
A two-van plumbing outfit takes about 120 calls a month, averaging three minutes each. That's 360 minutes.
Ruby
the $720 plan covers 200 minutes. The other 160 are billed at an overage rate Ruby's page doesn't print. The $1,725 plan covers all 360, with 140 minutes unused.
PATLive
the $479 plan covers 300 minutes, then 60 at $1.89. $479 + $113.40 = $592.40. The $759 plan would cover it all for $759.
Posh
the $700 Prestigious plan covers 350 minutes, then 10 more at $2.00. That's $720.
GreetKeeper
120 answered calls fit inside Starter's 200, whatever length each runs. $49.
On the same phone, the published live options land between about $590 and $1,725 a month. Call length drives every one of those numbers, and a per-call price takes it out of the sum.
Where our own price sits
GreetKeeper is $49 a month for 200 answered calls, $149 for 750 and $349 for 2,000. Past each allowance you pay $0.45, $0.35 or $0.25 a call, and all three rates are printed on our pricing page.
We count the answered call, not the minutes in it, so a four-minute call about a burst pipe costs what a quick one does. Booking is on all three plans, there's no setup fee, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
| Plan | Monthly | Calls included | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterFor a single location taking calls one line at a time. | $49 | 200 | $0.45 per call |
| ProfessionalBooking, routing and transfers included, not an add-on. | $149 | 750 | $0.35 per call |
| ScaleFor busy phones and longer opening hours. | $349 | 2,000 | $0.25 per call |
How to price your own phone
Pull one month of call logs and write down two numbers: calls and total minutes. Minutes price a live service, and calls price GreetKeeper.
Ask every live service for its overage rate and its rounding rule in writing.
Price your busiest month as well as your average one. That's where the overage rate shows up.
Every competitor figure on this page was read on that vendor's own pricing page in September 2026. Prices change. Check before you buy.
Questions people ask
How much does a live answering service cost per minute?
About $1.89 to $3.95 a minute on a 100-minute plan, read on vendors' own pages in September 2026. PATLive is at the low end and Ruby at the high end. Bigger plans cost less per minute, down to $1.38 on PATLive's 5,000-minute plan.
How much does a live answering service cost per call?
About $5.67 to $11.85 a call at three minutes a call, using the 100-minute plans above. Longer calls cost more, because every live service here bills by the minute. GreetKeeper's Starter plan works out at about 25 cents a call inside its 200.
Why do so few services publish an overage rate?
Because it's the number that turns a cheap plan into an expensive invoice. Ruby, Rosie, Abby Connect and Slang.ai leave it off their pricing pages. PATLive, Posh, Dialzara, Goodcall and GreetKeeper print it.
Is a live answering service cheaper than hiring someone?
Work it out on your own numbers. A part-time receptionist costs the same whatever your phone does, while a $99 plan buys 50 minutes. Put both against a month of your real call log, including evenings and weekends.
Do answering service prices change often?
Often enough to matter. Posh's current rate card is dated 1 January 2026, and AnswerConnect has moved its prices behind a quote form. We read everything on this page in September 2026, so check the vendor's own page before you sign.
Price it against your own call log
Count last month's calls and minutes, then read the rate cards above. The sum takes ten minutes.