What an AI receptionist costs
Most AI receptionists for small businesses charge a monthly subscription, from $29 to $150, with a bundle of minutes or calls. Tansivo charges only for the time the agent talks, about $0.11 to $0.14 a minute, with no monthly fee.
Published prices, side by side
Each price is the entry plan on the vendor’s own pricing page, checked on 12 October 2026. Prices change, so follow the links for today’s.
| Service | How it bills | Entry price | Included | Over the limit | Per minute, fully used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tansivo | Prepaid credits, no subscription | $20 pack | 2,800 credits, about 140 minutes of calls | Buy another pack | $0.11 to $0.14 |
| Dialzara | Monthly subscription | $29 a month | 60 minutes | $0.48 a minute | $0.48 |
| Rosie | Monthly subscription | $49 a month | 250 minutes | Not published | $0.20 |
| My AI Front Desk | Monthly subscription | $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly | 200 minutes | $0.25 a minute | $0.50, or $0.40 yearly |
| Goodcall | Monthly, per caller | $79 a month | 100 unique callers | $0.79 a caller | Not priced by the minute |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | Per call | Free plan, or $150 a month | 25 calls free; 75 calls on $150 | $3.00 a call on the free plan | Not priced by the minute |
“Per minute, fully used” is the entry price divided by the minutes it includes: the best case for a subscription. A month in which you use half the minutes doubles it.
What 100 minutes a month comes to
Three or four one-minute calls a day come to about 100 minutes a month. On the plans priced by the minute:
| Service | 100 minutes a month | How we worked it out |
|---|---|---|
| Tansivo | About $13 to $16 | 2,000 credits ($11.11 to $14.29, depending on the pack) plus about $2.00 for a Twilio number and its inbound minutes |
| Dialzara | $48.20 | $29, plus 40 minutes over the 60 included at $0.48 |
| Rosie | $49 | Within the 250 minutes included |
| My AI Front Desk | $99, or $79 billed yearly | Within the 200 minutes included |
Our figure includes the phone line, which you rent from Twilio: in the US a local number is $1.15 a month and inbound calls are $0.0085 a minute, on Twilio’s price list. Whether a subscription includes a number differs by plan, so check before you compare.
How Tansivo bills
- A call costs 10 credits for every started 30 seconds, so a call of 1 minute 10 seconds is billed as 1 minute 30 seconds.
- A plain chat reply on your website, WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger is usually 1 credit.
- Packs run from $20 for 2,800 credits to $200 for 36,000. Unused credits stay on your balance: there is no monthly reset.
- New workspaces get 100 free credits once, with no card needed.
Every pack and per-minute rate is on the pricing page.
When a subscription may suit you better
Price is not the only difference. Tansivo does not do these today:
- Put a caller through to a person during the call.
- Send text messages.
- Handle patient health records: we are not HIPAA certified, so we are not for US medical or dental practices.
- Speak languages other than English; those are in testing.
If you need one of these, a subscription service that offers it is the better buy, whatever the minute rate.
Estimate your own cost
Multiply your calls a month by their average length, rounded up to the next 30 seconds, then by 20 credits a minute. Five two-minute calls a day over 22 working days is 220 minutes, or 4,400 credits: about $29 at the $50 pack’s rate.