What does an AI
receptionist cost?
Here are the real numbers: Cadence's plans, a live answering service's published prices, and what a receptionist earns.
Cadence costs $249 to $799 a month for 150 to 750 minutes of calls, about $1.07 to $1.66 a minute, with no setup fee and a 7-day free trial. A live answering service such as Ruby publishes, as of September 2026, $250 a month for 50 minutes up to $1,725 for 500. A full-time receptionist earns a median $38,010 a year before payroll costs.
Three ways to
answer the phone.
Published prices. The cheapest option depends on how many minutes of calls you get and how much judgment they need.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Option | Monthly cost | Per minute | Who answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadence Essential | $249 for 150 minutes | $1.66 | AI receptionist, from your approved answers |
| Cadence Growth | $449 for 350 minutes | $1.28 | AI receptionist, from your approved answers |
| Cadence Scale | $799 for 750 minutes | $1.07 | AI receptionist, from your approved answers |
| Ruby, 50 minutes | $250 for 50 minutes | $5.00 | Live receptionists |
| Ruby, 100 minutes | $395 for 100 minutes | $3.95 | Live receptionists |
| Ruby, 200 minutes | $720 for 200 minutes | $3.60 | Live receptionists |
| Ruby, 500 minutes | $1,725 for 500 minutes | $3.45 | Live receptionists |
| Full-time receptionist | About $3,168 in median pay, before payroll taxes and benefits | Paid by the hour ($18.27 median), not the minute | Your own employee |
Sources: Ruby plans and pricing, prices as of September 2026 (checked September 29, 2026). US Bureau of Labor Statistics, receptionists, median pay May 2025. Cadence prices exclude tax. Per-minute figures are the monthly price divided by included minutes.
What changes the price
Minutes, not calls. Every Cadence plan includes monthly minutes of connected calls. A quick hours-and-prices question uses a minute or two; a new customer describing a job uses more.
Extra minutes are capped. After your included minutes, extra minutes are $0.99 each and never add up to more than your plan's price in a month unless you set a different limit. At the cap, new calls pause until the next month or until you raise it.
No setup fee, no new line. You set up your answers in your portal and forward the number you already have.
How much phone time?
Move the slider to compare the lowest estimated monthly cost across the plans.
Essential
150 included minutes + 200 extra minutes
Start free trial Excludes tax. No setup fee. Extra minutes are on by default and capped at the plan’s price unless you set your own limit.Is there a setup fee?+
No. Setup is guided in your portal, and you keep your business number.
What happens after my included minutes?+
Extra minutes are $0.99 each. They're on by default, and each month they're capped at your plan's price unless you set your own limit. You can turn them off in your portal.
How does the free trial work?+
7 days and 150 minutes on any plan, with no extra minutes. A card is required. Cancel before day 8 and you aren't charged.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a person?+
Usually, for routine calls. Cadence's plans work out to $1.07 to $1.66 a minute. A live answering service like Ruby publishes (as of September 2026) $3.45 to $5.00 a minute. A person is still the better choice when calls need real judgment.
Any business
that gets calls.
Cadence works the same way for every business: your approved answers, the caller's details and a summary text. These pages show what that sounds like in a few trades.
Don't see your trade? Cadence answers for any business. You set up your own services, hours and answers in your portal. See how Cadence works
See what your calls cost.
Forward your calls to Cadence and see what the summaries look like.
7 days free. Cancel anytime from your portal.