How Much Does An AI Receptionist Cost For A Home Service Business?
The sticker price is the easy part. What actually decides the cost is the pricing model, what happens in your busiest month, and how many booked jobs it saves. Here’s how to work it out, including our own prices.
The Four Pricing Models
| Model | How It Bills | Good For | Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per minute | A bucket of minutes, then overage | Low, steady call volume | Peak-season overages; long calls cost more |
| Per call | A bucket of calls, then a fee per call | Predictable volume | Whether spam, wrong numbers, and hang-ups count |
| Flat monthly (self-serve) | One monthly fee, you set it up | Owners with time to configure it | Your time, and an AI that doesn’t know your trade |
| Done for you | Setup fee plus a monthly fee | Owners who want it built and maintained | Contract length, and what’s actually included |
Published Prices (Checked October 2, 2026)
- Smith.ai AI receptionist: free plan with 25 calls/month ($3.00 per extra call), Pro from $150/mo, Enterprise from $500/mo (source).
- Ruby (live receptionists, for comparison): $250/mo for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500 (source).
- Some contractor-focused AI vendors don’t publish prices and quote after a demo. That isn’t wrong, but ask for the total monthly cost in writing, including overages.
- LeadTide.ai: Website Only $1,397 + $97/mo; The Full System $1,997 + $247/mo; Custom for bigger teams. Month-to-month (pricing).
The Peak-Season Trap
Home services is seasonal. HVAC calls bunch up in the first heat wave and cold snap, roofing after storms, landscaping in spring, cleaning around move-out season and the holidays. On a per-minute or per-call plan, the month you most need coverage is the month the bill jumps. Before you sign, take your call count from your busiest month last year and price the plan against that month, not an average one.
How To Tell If It Pays For Itself
The math is simple enough to do on a napkin:
- Missed calls per month. Your phone system or carrier can show unanswered calls. If you don’t know, our scorecard estimates it.
- Times your booking rate. Of the calls you do answer, what share turn into a booked job?
- Times your average job value.
Worked example (hypothetical numbers): a company misses 30 calls a month, books 35% of answered calls, and averages $350 a job. That’s about 10 jobs and $3,675 a month at risk. If an AI receptionist recovers most of those, a few hundred dollars a month pays for itself many times over. If you only miss three calls a month, it might not, and you should spend the money elsewhere.
Run your own numbers in the ROI calculator, or get the full picture in the free scorecard.
What’s Included Matters More Than The Price
Two products both called “AI receptionist” can do very different jobs. Before comparing prices, check whether each one:
- Books onto your calendar, or only takes a message
- Quotes your standard prices, or says “someone will call you”
- Texts back callers who hang up
- Follows up on quotes and reminds customers before appointments
- Flags emergencies to your phone in real time
- Is set up for your trade, or is a generic receptionist you configure yourself
Compare the full options, including live answering services and hiring, in AI receptionist vs. answering service.
LeadTide.ai Pricing
Flat pricing for every trade. The AI receptionist, missed-call text back, follow-up, reminders, and review requests are all in The Full System.
Website Only
$1,397 build, one time
then $97/mo for hosting & unlimited edits.
The Full System
$1,997 build, one time
then $247/mo for hosting, the AI receptionist, follow-up, and unlimited edits.
Custom
Custom
For bigger teams or multiple locations. Talk to our team for pricing.
Common Questions
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
Published prices run from free tiers with a small call allowance, to roughly $150/mo for a starter paid plan, to several hundred dollars a month for done-for-you setups. LeadTide’s Full System, which includes the website and follow-up, is $1,997 to build, then $247/mo with no per-call fees.
Is per-minute or per-call pricing a bad deal?
Not always. If your call volume is low and steady, it can be the cheapest option. It gets expensive for trades with seasonal spikes (HVAC, roofing after storms, landscaping in spring), because your busiest month is exactly when you pay the most.
What hidden costs should I ask about?
Setup or onboarding fees, overage rates, what counts as a “call” (spam and hang-ups too?), extra charges for calendar or CRM integrations, texting fees and carrier registration, and what it costs to update the AI when your prices change.
Get Your Number Before You Buy Anything
The free Money Leak Scorecard estimates what missed calls and slow follow-up cost you each year, so you know what a fix is worth.