AI Receptionist Cost in 2026: Per-Minute vs Per-Hour (with Calculator)

Last updated: February 25, 2026

If you’re pricing an AI receptionist (or broader voice agent) in 2026, you’ll usually see one of three billing models:

Per-minute (usage)
Per-call (flat amount per answered call)
Per-hour (human agent time, BPO, or “hourly receptionist” staffing)

This post explains what each model really costs, how to normalize quotes into comparable numbers, and includes a copy/paste calculator you can use before demos.

If you’re evaluating Sonira specifically, start with the Sonira pricing page, then come back here to sanity-check the math and the “extras” that influence total cost.

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The baseline: what “per-hour” typically means (and why it’s hard to compare)

Cost per handled hour by usage profile (illustrative 2026 comparison) — AI series assumes $99/month platform fee and $0.12/min usage (within commonly cited AI minute ranges). Live answering benchmark converts $1.60/min to $96/hour. In-house benchmark uses BLS median receptionist wage ($17.90/hr, May 2024).

“Per-hour” pricing is common when you’re paying for human coverage (in-house or outsourced). A useful reality check is the going wage for a receptionist role.

The median hourly wage for receptionists and information clerks was $17.90/hour (May 2024). (bls.gov)

That number doesn’t automatically equal your true cost (benefits, taxes, supervision, coverage gaps, and after-hours all matter). But it’s a strong benchmark for what “hourly coverage” can look like.

Key difference vs. AI:

With hourly humans, you pay for scheduled time (including idle time).
With most AI receptionist setups, you pay for handled usage (call minutes or calls), plus a platform fee.

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The 3 AI receptionist pricing models you’ll see in 2026

**Monthly AI receptionist cost vs. usage minutes (shows platform-fee amortization)** — Illustrative only. Plug your vendor’s actual platform fee and per-minute rate into the calculator in the article for exact totals.

1) Per-minute pricing (usage-based)

Per-minute pricing is the most straightforward to model because calls vary in duration.

In the market, you’ll commonly see:

A platform subscription (typical range cited: $49–$299/month)
Plus a usage charge (typical range cited: $0.04–$0.15 per minute) (blog.voagents.ai)

You also need to account for telephony (carrier minutes) if it’s billed separately. For example, Twilio’s pricing API documentation shows:

Inbound (local) in the US: $0.0085/min
Inbound (toll-free) in the US: $0.022/min
Outbound in the US (example response): $0.013/min (twilio.com)

When per-minute wins:

You want costs to scale cleanly with usage
Your call length is predictable (or you can cap it)
You want clear ROI math tied to minutes handled

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2) Per-call pricing

Per-call pricing charges a flat amount per handled call, regardless of duration. A good example of publicly listed AI receptionist per-call pricing is Smith.ai’s AI Receptionist plans (monthly fee + per-call rate). (smith.ai)

Pros: easy to forecast by volume

Cons: duration still matters—because you can unknowingly pay a “per-minute equivalent” that’s high if your calls run long.

Quick conversion:

> Per-minute equivalent = (per-call price) ÷ (average call length in minutes)

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3) “Per-hour” AI pricing (rarer) and what it usually signals

Most “per-hour AI receptionist” quotes are actually one of these:

Human-in-the-loop coverage sold hourly
A managed service (setup + maintenance) priced like labor
A contract term that’s easier for procurement to compare to staffing

If a vendor quotes “per hour,” ask whether that hour is:

an agent hour (one concurrency line), or
an hour of coverage (unlimited concurrency), or
a proxy for expected minutes.

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The real-world line items buyers miss (and why invoices don’t match the demo)

Whether you buy Sonira or another platform, your real cost can shift because of:

Telephony minutes (inbound/outbound rates vary by number type and destination) (twilio.com)
After-hours vs business-hours routing (more transfers, longer calls)
Integrations & automation depth (CRM, scheduling, ticketing)
Call recording/transcription (sometimes bundled, sometimes metered)
Fallback/escalation paths (handoff to humans, overflow answering)

If you need a checklist of operational requirements (handoff, logging, booking, reporting), map them against Sonira features before you compare vendors on price alone.

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Cost calculator (copy/paste)

Use this to normalize any quote into a monthly total and an effective cost per handled hour.

Step 1) Gather your inputs

Calls per month
Avg call length (minutes)
AI platform fee ($/month)
AI usage rate ($/minute) (or convert from per-call)
Telephony rate ($/minute) (if separate)
Add-ons ($/month) (integrations, extra numbers, etc.)

Step 2) Use these formulas

monthly_minutes = calls_per_month * avg_call_length_min

monthly_ai_usage_cost = monthly_minutes * ai_rate_per_min
monthly_telco_cost = monthly_minutes * telco_rate_per_min

monthly_total = platform_fee + monthly_ai_usage_cost + monthly_telco_cost + addons_monthly

effective_cost_per_handled_hour = monthly_total / (monthly_minutes / 60)

effective_cost_per_call = monthly_total / calls_per_month

Example scenario (illustrative)

Assume:

500 calls/month
2.5 min average
$99/mo platform fee
$0.12/min AI usage
$0.0085/min inbound telephony (local)
$0 add-ons

monthly_minutes = 500 * 2.5 = 1,250

monthly_ai_usage_cost = 1,250 * 0.12 = $150.00
monthly_telco_cost = 1,250 * 0.0085 = $10.63

monthly_total = 99 + 150 + 10.63 = $259.63

effective_cost_per_handled_hour = 259.63 / (1250/60) = $12.46 per handled hour

Notes:

The telephony rate above is grounded in Twilio’s documented pricing responses. (twilio.com)
The $0.12/min assumption sits inside a commonly cited market range for AI receptionist minutes. (blog.voagents.ai)

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Per-minute vs per-hour: when each model is cheaper (practical guidance)

Choose per-minute if…

You want the bill to track usage directly
You can measure minutes and optimize call flows
You have seasonal volume and don’t want to staff for peaks

Choose per-hour (human) if…

Your calls require judgment, exception-handling, or complex empathy
Your workflow isn’t well-defined yet (AI will struggle without constraints)
You need someone to do off-call work (emails, admin) that isn’t part of the voice agent scope

A hybrid approach is common: AI answers, qualifies, books, and routes—then humans handle exceptions.

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Visualization: cost per handled hour by usage profile

To make per-minute pricing easier to compare with hourly thinking, here’s a simple way to visualize it.

Assumptions (illustrative):

Platform fee: $99/mo
AI usage: $0.12/min (within commonly cited ranges) (blog.voagents.ai)
Telephony excluded from the chart for clarity
In-house benchmark: $17.90/hour median receptionist wage (bls.gov)
Live answering benchmark: $1.50–$1.75/min is a commonly cited range for live answering services (example benchmark table). (answerconnect.com)

Interpretation tip:

The AI line improves as usage grows because the platform fee amortizes across more minutes.

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FAQs (what procurement and ops teams ask)

What does an AI receptionist “cost per hour” in 2026?

If you’re billed per-minute, the cleanest way is:

> Effective cost per handled hour = (platform + minutes × rate + add-ons) ÷ handled hours

For usage-based AI, the “per hour” number can be lower at higher volume, because fixed fees spread out.

Is per-call pricing cheaper than per-minute?

It depends on call length. Convert per-call into a per-minute equivalent:

> per-minute equivalent = per-call price ÷ avg minutes

If your average call runs long (scheduling, intake), per-call can get expensive.

What should I ask vendors so my invoice matches my expectations?

Ask:

What’s included in the platform fee vs metered?
Is telephony included?
Do transfers create extra billed legs/minutes?
Are recording/transcripts included?
Are there setup fees or required onboarding packages?

If you want quick answers, check Sonira FAQ and then validate against your own call logs.

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Next step: get a quote you can actually compare

1) Pull last month’s call metrics (calls, minutes, avg length, after-hours share). 2) Drop them into the calculator above. 3) Compare at least two vendor models (per-minute vs per-call vs human hourly).

When you’re ready, use Sonira contact to request pricing aligned to your usage profile (and ask for a line-item breakdown you can paste into procurement).