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Every missed call could be a £5,000 job walking out the door. You're up a ladder, knee-deep in a boiler install, or halfway through fitting a consumer unit — and the phone rings. By the time you get to it, they've already called your competitor.
If you think AI receptionists are too expensive for your business, you're probably looking at outdated information or enterprise-level systems that weren't built for companies like yours.
The truth? A 24/7 AI receptionist costs less than your phone bill. Most UK trades and service businesses pay between £99 and £350 per month for fully managed, always-on call handling. That's the cost of one missed emergency callout — except this prevents hundreds of them.
In this guide, we'll break down the real numbers. Not marketing fluff. Not "request a demo" vagueness. Actual prices, actual hidden fees to dodge, and exactly how to work out whether it's worth it for your business.
What you'll actually pay: AI receptionist pricing tiers in the UK
Let's cut through the confusion. AI receptionist pricing falls into three broad categories in the UK market:
Basic plans: £25–£99/month
Best for solo tradespeople or new service businesses with lower call volumes
What you typically get:
The catch: These plans often charge per minute or per call on top of the base fee. That "£25/month" ad suddenly becomes £80 when you're getting 50 calls a week during a cold snap. Always check what "basic" actually includes.
Mid-range plans: £99–£350/month
This is where most established trades and service businesses land — and for good reason
What you typically get:
At this tier, you're not just getting a phone answered. You're getting a receptionist that knows your services, your pricing, your service area, and your qualifying questions. When a caller asks about emergency boiler repairs, it doesn't give them the same script as someone asking for a routine quote.
Enterprise plans: £500–£3,000/month
High-volume operations with extensive customisation
Multi-location businesses, property management firms, or medical practices handling 500+ calls per month. Most trades and service businesses never need this tier. If a provider is pushing you towards enterprise pricing, that's a red flag — they probably aren't built for SMBs.
Setup fees and one-off costs
| Cost | Typical Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Setup/onboarding fee | £0–£99 | Often waived on mid-range plans or above |
| Script customisation | £0 (included) | Should be standard — if they charge extra, walk away |
| Number porting | £0 | Most providers handle this free |
| Call forwarding setup | £0 | Uses your existing business number |
| Training period | Included | Expect 3–7 days from onboarding call to going live |
Bottom line: A solid mid-range AI receptionist should cost you between £99 and £250/month with no contract. If someone's quoting you more than that for a small trades business, you're either looking at enterprise pricing or being overcharged.
What actually affects the cost
Not all AI receptionists charge the same way, and understanding the pricing model saves you from nasty surprises on your first invoice.
Per-minute vs per-call vs flat rate
Per-minute
£0.50–£1.50 per minute
Sounds cheap until your average call hits 3–4 minutes. 200 calls/month at 3 min = £300–£900/month
Unpredictable bills every month
Per-call (PAYG)
£1–£3 per answered call
Better for low or seasonal volumes. Can spike during busy periods
Good starting point, expensive if volume grows
Flat-rate monthly
Fixed monthly fee regardless of volume
Predictable costs. All features included. Bill stays the same whether you get 50 calls or 500
Best value for trades businesses
The flat-rate model is overwhelmingly the best fit for trades. You can't predict when a storm will hit and triple your call volume overnight. A flat rate means your bill stays the same whether you get 50 calls or 500.
Features that bump up the price
| Feature | Should Be Included | Sometimes Costs Extra |
|---|---|---|
| 24/7 call answering | ✅ | — |
| SMS/email notifications | ✅ | — |
| Call recording & transcripts | ✅ | Some charge £10–£30/mo |
| Custom greetings | ✅ | — |
| Calendar integration | ✅ at mid-tier | Basic plans may charge extra |
| CRM integration | ✅ at mid-tier | Some charge per integration |
| Call transfers to mobile | ✅ | A few charge per transfer |
| Multi-language support | Varies | Typically £25–£50/mo extra |
| Dedicated account manager | Varies | Usually enterprise only |
The golden rule: If a provider charges extra for call transcripts, message forwarding, or basic integrations, they're nickel-and-diming you. These are table stakes in 2026.
How calls are counted
This trips up more business owners than anything else. Providers count "calls" differently:
Answered calls only
You only pay for calls the AI actually picks up and handles. This is the fairest model.
All inbound calls
Including hang-ups, spam, and misdials. This inflates your usage.
Call minutes
The total time, not the number of calls. One rambling caller can eat 10 minutes of your allocation.
Always ask: "Do I pay for spam calls and hang-ups?" If the answer is yes, factor in that 20–30% of all inbound calls to UK businesses are junk.
And here's the kicker:
You get your own 24/7 AI Receptionist that answers every call, set up for you in days, for less than your phone bill.
No contracts. No hidden fees.
Most trades spend £10K+ a year trying to solve this with admin staff or answering services.
⚡Guaranteed Results
Book four real jobs in 30 days using our tools - or get your money back.
No stress. No risk. Just leads, sorted.
Calls are recorded and transcribed, and we may follow up about your enquiry. See our Privacy Policy.
Talk to Arrow now, and hear for yourself how we capture leads and handle a real potential customer enquiry.
The "£19/month" trap: hidden fees to watch for
You see an ad saying "AI receptionist from £19/month" and think it's a bargain. Here's what actually happens:
Four red flags that signal hidden costs
1. "Per-minute overage charges"
The base fee covers 30 minutes. Your business uses 120 minutes. Suddenly you're paying £19 + £90 in overages = £109. Not such a bargain.
2. "Additional charges for standard features"
Call recording? £15/month. SMS notifications? £10/month. Calendar sync? £20/month. That £19 plan is now £64 — and you still haven't hit the mid-range tier's features.
3. "Introductory pricing"
£19/month for months one and two. Then it jumps to £89/month. And you've signed a 12-month contract because you didn't read the small print. It happens constantly.
4. "Request a demo" with no published pricing
If they won't tell you the price upfront, there's a reason. Providers who hide their pricing tend to charge 2–5x what transparent providers charge for the same service.
What transparent pricing looks like
A trustworthy AI receptionist service publishes its prices on its website. You should be able to see:
ARROW's pricing starts at £99 a month including 150 minutes, with no contract. If a busy month goes over, extra minutes are 50p each, or we move you up a plan, whichever works out cheaper for you. You stay because it works, not because you're stuck.
How much does 24/7 coverage actually cost?
This is the question most trades ask first — because 24/7 is where the real value sits. Your customers don't only call between 9 and 5. They call when the boiler breaks at 11pm. When they've finally sat down after dinner and remembered they need to book a plumber. When a pipe bursts on a Sunday morning.
For example, if a plumber misses three calls a week in the evenings and at weekends, and one in three of those would have become a job, that is around 50 lost jobs a year.
24/7 pricing models
Basic 24/7 (answering + message only): £30–£60/month
Answers the call, takes a message, sends it to you. No qualification, no booking, no follow-up. Fine if you just want a voicemail replacement that actually works.
Standard 24/7 (answering + qualification + booking): £90–£200/month
This is the sweet spot for most UK trades.
Premium 24/7 (fully managed + proactive follow-up): £200–£350/month
Everything above plus proactive outreach to missed callers, call analytics, weekly performance reports, dedicated account management, and multi-channel follow-up. Best for high-volume businesses doing 200+ calls/month.
For per-call and bundle prices from named UK providers, see our telephone answering service UK guide.
The hourly cost breakdown
When you break it down per hour, 24/7 AI coverage is almost comically cheap:
| Coverage Level | Monthly Cost | Cost Per Hour | Cost Per Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic 24/7 | £45/month | £0.06/hr | £1.48/day |
| Standard 24/7 | £150/month | £0.21/hr | £4.93/day |
| Premium 24/7 | £275/month | £0.38/hr | £9.04/day |
That's 21p per hour for a receptionist that never sleeps, never misses a call, and handles multiple conversations simultaneously. Compare that to the minimum wage for a human receptionist (£12.71 an hour, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over from April 2026), and the maths does itself.
Peak call times for UK trades
These are the times trades businesses commonly get calls:
7am–9am
Morning rush — people calling before they go to work
12pm–2pm
Lunch callers — checking quotes, chasing callbacks
5pm–8pm
Evening peak — the biggest window for new enquiries
Weekends
Emergencies and weekend project enquiries
If your AI only covers 9–5, you're missing the evening peak entirely. That's your most valuable window — people who've been meaning to call all day, finally getting round to it.
We've compared what UK answering services actually charge for evenings, nights and weekends in our guide to 24/7 call answering.
The cost of NOT having an AI receptionist
The monthly fee is easy to see on your bank statement. What's harder to see is the money you're already losing.
The missed call calculation
Here's a simple formula to work out what missed calls are actually costing you:
Monthly missed calls × Average job value × Conversion rate = Lost revenue
Example for a plumber:
- 15 missed calls per month (conservative for a busy tradesperson)
- Average job value: £300
- Conversion rate: 30% (not every call becomes a job)
£300 × 15 × 0.30 = £1,350/month in lost revenue
That's £16,200 a year. The AI receptionist costs £1,188 a year (at £99/month). You'd need to capture just one extra job per month to break even — and most businesses capture three to five.
Real ROI: What actual businesses report
Philip Raby Specialist Cars
A prestigious Porsche specialist garage — saved £500/month with ARROW's AI receptionist while capturing significantly more enquiries and bookings.
"It just works. I don't have to think about it, and I don't have to worry about what I'm spending each month. The AI is polite, smart, and fast, and it's made a real difference to how we run the business telephones."
A plumber in the Midlands
"Just one extra emergency call-out per month more than covers the cost, and I'm getting three or four additional jobs I would have missed."
The numbers that matter
| Metric | Before AI Receptionist | After AI Receptionist |
|---|---|---|
| Missed calls per month | 15–30 | 0 |
| Average response time | Hours (callbacks) | Instant |
| Calls answered outside 9–5 | 0 | 100% |
| Cost per booking | £50+ (human staff) | £3.75–£10 |
| Monthly cost | £2,000+ (human) | £99–£350 |
| Annual savings vs human staff | — | £22,000+ |
Those aren't theoretical numbers. They're from real UK trades businesses running AI receptionists right now.
How to choose the right plan for your business
Don't overthink this. The right plan depends on three things:
1. Your call volume
Under 50 calls/month: A basic or pay-as-you-go plan works fine. You're testing the water.
50–200 calls/month: Flat-rate mid-range. This is where most sole traders and small teams sit.
200+ calls/month: Premium plans with analytics and dedicated support. You're scaling.
If you don't know your call volume, check your mobile logs for the last month. Count every inbound call — including the ones you missed. For a complete walkthrough, see our AI receptionist for small business guide.
2. What you actually need
Every trades business needs these minimum features:
Nice-to-haves that become essential as you grow:
3. Contract terms
Monthly rolling — always. If a provider insists on 12 months, they know you'll want to leave. The best services keep you because they work, not because you signed a contract.
And here's the kicker:
You get your own 24/7 AI Receptionist that answers every call, set up for you in days, for less than your phone bill.
No contracts. No hidden fees.
Most trades spend £10K+ a year trying to solve this with admin staff or answering services.
⚡Guaranteed Results
Book four real jobs in 30 days using our tools - or get your money back.
No stress. No risk. Just leads, sorted.
Calls are recorded and transcribed, and we may follow up about your enquiry. See our Privacy Policy.
Talk to Arrow now, and hear for yourself how we capture leads and handle a real potential customer enquiry.
How ARROW compares
We built ARROW specifically for UK trades and service businesses — not enterprise call centres, not global SaaS platforms, not generic virtual receptionists that handle florists and stockbrokers the same way. Compare all your virtual receptionist service options in our full breakdown. ARROW's AI receptionist UK service is purpose-built for trades and service businesses.
Here's what £99/month gets you with ARROW:
A.I.R. Guarantee
Book four real jobs in 30 days using our tools, or get your money back.
Want to hear it for yourself? Call 0208 264 9834 and talk to Bow.
Calls are recorded and transcribed, and we may follow up about your enquiry. See our Privacy Policy.
It's the fastest way to understand what your customers would experience.
See full pricing details →AI receptionist costs: quick answers
How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?
Most UK AI receptionists cost between £25 and £350 a month. Basic plans (£25 to £99) usually come with a small allowance of minutes or calls and charge extra on top. Mid-range plans (£99 to £350) are where most small service businesses land, with 24/7 answering, lead capture and calendar or CRM connections. Enterprise and custom builds run from £500 to £3,000 a month. ARROW starts at £99 a month including 150 minutes.
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month for a small business?
For a small trades or service business, £99 to £250 a month is a sensible budget for a fully managed AI receptionist. If you only get a handful of short calls, an entry plan may do. If you're quoted well above that range, you're probably being sold enterprise features you don't need.
Are there hidden costs with AI receptionists?
The common ones are per-minute or per-call charges once you go over your allowance, paid add-ons such as call recording, text alerts or calendar sync, and introductory prices that rise after a month or two, sometimes tied to a 12-month contract. Ask for the total monthly cost at your real call volume before you sign.
Do AI receptionist prices include VAT?
Usually not. Most UK business services quote prices excluding VAT, so add 20% unless the provider says the price includes it. If your business is VAT registered, you can normally reclaim it.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human receptionist?
For most small businesses, by a long way. A full-time receptionist costs well over £20,000 a year before National Insurance, pension and holiday cover, and only covers office hours. An AI receptionist at £99 to £350 a month answers around the clock. It's best at routine calls, taking details and booking, rather than judgement calls, so many businesses use it alongside their team rather than instead of it.
Is there a free AI receptionist?
Some tools offer free trials or a free tier with a few minutes, and technical users can build their own on voice AI platforms. That's fine for testing. For a business line you'll want a paid plan with enough minutes, and someone keeping it accurate as your prices and services change.
The bottom line
24/7 AI receptionists aren't just affordable for UK trades — they're one of the best investments you can make. For roughly what you spend on your monthly phone contract, you get a receptionist that:
The question isn't whether you can afford an AI receptionist. It's whether you can afford to keep missing calls and losing jobs to competitors who answer first.
Most people who reach voicemail simply ring the next business on the list, so every unanswered call is a job that may go to a competitor. Make sure that's you.
Related reading
Ben Milsom is the Founder and Director of ARROW, with more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and customer service. A certified Google Partner and best-selling author on phone-first marketing and AI voice technology, he specialises in AI automation, marketing, and the psychology of sales. Through ARROW, he helps service businesses answer every call with AI Receptionists that capture leads and give owners peace of mind.
