Answering services have been around for decades and their pricing has barely changed: you pay for a person's time. AI receptionists have arrived with a different model. Here is how the options compare in Australia in 2026, so you can work out what a plan will actually cost you.
Live answering services
A live service employs receptionists, usually in a call centre, who answer as your business using a script you provide. There are three common pricing structures.
Per call. A base fee of roughly $30 to $60 a month plus $2 to $5 for every call answered. Fine at ten calls a month; expensive at a hundred.
Per minute. A base fee plus $1.50 to $3.50 a minute of operator time, often with minimum increments. A three-minute message can cost $8 or more.
Bundles. A block of calls or minutes for a monthly fee, say 50 calls for $150 or 100 minutes for $220, with overage charges above the bundle. You pay for the bundle whether you use it or not.
Add-ons that cost extra with most providers: after-hours and weekend answering (often a 30 to 50 percent premium), SMS delivery of messages, call transfers, and anything beyond a basic script. Set-up fees of $50 to $150 are common, and many providers ask for a minimum term.
For a small business receiving 60 calls a month at an average of two minutes, a live service typically works out somewhere between $180 and $350 a month once after-hours calls are included.
Virtual receptionist services
These sit a step up from a basic answering service: a smaller team of receptionists who learn more about your business, can take bookings into your diary, and answer more detailed questions. Pricing is similar in structure but higher, often $300 to $800 a month for a small business, with dedicated receptionists costing considerably more.
The quality can be excellent. The cost reflects that a skilled person is on the phone.
AI receptionists
AI services answer with a synthetic voice, converse with the caller, and deliver a summary. Because there is no operator time to bill, pricing is usually flat.
Typical plans in Australia range from about $40 to $150 a month for unlimited or high call volumes, with the price varying by features such as SMS delivery, integrations and multiple numbers. AfterTone, for example, is $49 a month for unlimited answered calls with email summaries, or $79 with SMS as well. There is no after-hours premium because there is no after-hours roster.
What you give up: human judgement on unusual calls, and the ability to book into complex systems in real time. What you gain: identical cost at 3am, no per-minute meter, and a receptionist that knows your hours, prices and FAQs from day one because you typed them in.
Working out your real cost
Whichever route you look at, model it on your actual calls.
- Count last month's inbound calls, including the ones you answered. Your phone's call log will tell you.
- Estimate how many you miss. For most sole traders it is around half.
- Note when they arrive. Evening and weekend calls attract premiums on live services.
- Decide what a message must contain. If it must include the suburb, the job and the urgency, check the service will ask.
Then price each option on those numbers, not on the headline plan.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is there a minimum term or a set-up fee?
- What does after-hours cost?
- How is the message delivered, and how fast?
- Can the receptionist answer questions about my business, or only take messages?
- Can I change the script or questions myself, and how quickly does it take effect?
- What happens to calls if your service goes down?
- How do I cancel?
A service that answers those plainly is usually a service that will treat you plainly later.
Which one is right
If your calls need a human's judgement, or you need bookings made live into a complex system, a virtual receptionist is worth the money. If you mostly need every call answered, the details captured and a summary in your inbox, an AI receptionist does it for a fraction of the price and never sleeps. Many businesses end up with both: a human in office hours, AI everywhere else.
See how AfterTone compares in detail: vs an answering service and vs hiring a receptionist.