Free tool
What does an answering service cost at your call volume?
Enter your calls, your average call length and the numbers from any quote, and this worksheet prices the whole thing, including the mechanics that sit in the terms rather than on the pricing page. The rounding increment, the patch-through fee, and whether you get 12 invoices a year or 13.
We sell an AI receptionist, so read our column with that in mind. The human-side maths runs entirely on the numbers you enter, and every field is editable. If the human service wins on your inputs, that is the answer.
Your call volume
That is 120 minutes of real talk time a month.
The human service you are pricing
The example buttons use published prices checked in August 2026. Prices move, so enter the numbers from your own quote.
Human answering service
£219.00 /month
- Annual, 12 invoices
- £2,628.00
- Effective per call
- £5.48
- Minutes billed vs used
- 120 vs 120
DeskCaller, which is us
£48 /month
- Plan
- Starter, 120 minutes included
- Annual, 12 invoices
- £576
- Effective per call
- £1.20
- Rounding
- None, actual usage
Our published plans, no setup fee, no contract. Full pricing. If the human column comes out cheaper for your numbers, believe the numbers.
How the maths works
A per-minute service bills each call after rounding it up, so the cost is the plan fee, plus billable minutes beyond the included pot at the overage rate, plus any patch-through fees. A per-call service is simpler, calls times the rate, but junk calls bill at the same rate as real ones. A flat AI plan is the fee plus overage on actual usage.
| Rounding rule | A 70-second call bills as | 40 such calls at £1.45/min |
|---|---|---|
| Per second | 1 min 10 sec | £67.67 |
| 30-second blocks | 1 min 30 sec | £87.00 |
| Up to the whole minute | 2 min | £116.00, which is 71% more than per-second |
The rounding column is why two quotes with the same headline rate can differ by a third on short message-taking calls. Where the published prices behind the example buttons come from, and the 24 questions to send a provider before you sign, are in the full write-ups.
- AI receptionist vs answering service, priced properly
- The 12 test calls and 24 questions to use before you buy
This worksheet is a planning aid. Provider prices were last checked in August 2026 and move often, so always price against the written quote in front of you.