How is an AI receptionist priced in the UK?
There are three broad routes, and they are priced differently because you are paying for different things. The descriptions below are general; individual providers' plans vary and change often, so check their own pricing pages.
| Model | How it is usually priced | What you do yourself | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-serve subscription | A monthly plan, often with a per-call or per-minute charge or a call allowance | Set up the greeting, questions and routing in the provider's dashboard | Small businesses that mainly need calls answered and messages taken |
| Managed service | A tailored monthly fee, sometimes with human receptionists as backup | Supply information; the provider configures and runs it | Businesses that want it done for them and value human backup |
| Custom build | A one-off setup fee, an optional monthly support fee, and running costs billed by the providers | Agree the call flows and approve the script; the build partner does the rest | Businesses whose calls must book into, read from or update their own systems |
Our comparison of the best AI receptionist options for UK businesses lists named providers in each group, with the prices they publish, as of October 2026.
What do SpiderHunts AI receptionists cost?
These are the prices on our service pages. They exclude VAT, and every build gets a written quote with scope and exclusions agreed up front.
| Build | Setup | Optional monthly support | Typical timescale |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI receptionist | From £1,500 | From £150 a month | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Dental practice AI receptionist | From £2,500 | From £200 a month | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Law firm AI receptionist | From £2,500 | From £200 a month | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Estate and letting agent AI receptionist | From £2,500 | From £200 a month | 3 to 4 weeks |
The sector builds start higher because they carry more: clinician-approved wording and practice software connections for dental practices, intake scripts for each practice area in a law firm, and separate sales, lettings and repairs flows for agents. Monthly support is an optional retainer covering transcript reviews, knowledge updates, new call flows and technical monitoring.
What running costs should you budget for?
The setup fee is not the whole bill. With any AI receptionist, these costs depend on how many calls you get and how long they last:
- Call minutes. Forwarded and transferred calls are charged by the telephony provider, usually per minute.
- Phone numbers. A number for calls to be forwarded to is usually a small monthly charge. Your existing number normally stays with your current provider.
- AI usage. Speech recognition, the language model and the synthetic voice are billed by their providers, usually by the minute or by the volume of text processed.
- Integration access. Some practice management, case management and CRM suppliers charge for API access. That fee is set by your supplier, not by us.
- Messages. Text or WhatsApp confirmations sent after a call have their own per-message charges.
- Support. Someone has to review calls and keep prices and policies current, either your own team or an optional retainer.
On a custom build these are billed by the providers, often to your own accounts, and we estimate them from your call volume in the quote. We do not publish a typical monthly figure, because it depends so heavily on volume and call length that any single number would mislead.
What drives the cost up or down?
Two AI receptionists that sound similar on a demo call can differ a great deal in cost. The difference is almost always in these areas:
| Cost driver | Keeps the cost lower | Pushes the cost higher |
|---|---|---|
| Call types | One or two, such as FAQs and messages | Many, each with its own script and rules |
| Booking | Sends a booking link | Books directly into your diary or practice software |
| Integrations | None, or one calendar | CRM, practice or case management, repairs platforms |
| Handover | Takes a message and emails a summary | Live transfer with different routes by call type |
| Sites and numbers | One number, one location | Several branches, numbers or departments |
| Rules and wording | General information only | Approved wording for sensitive or regulated topics |
| Languages | English only | Several languages, each tested |
| Call volume | Low or steady | High or in bursts, which raises running costs |
Why do subscriptions cost so much less up front than a custom build?
A subscription spreads its development cost across many customers and leaves most of the configuration to you. That is good value when your needs match what it does well: answering, taking messages and simple routing. You pay as you go, and costs rise with call volume.
A custom build costs more at the start because it is shaped around your own calls and systems. It is worth considering when the receptionist must book into your real diary, read or update records, follow different scripts for different callers or meet specific data requirements. If none of that applies, a subscription is probably the better choice, and we will tell you so.
Which costs catch businesses out?
- Charges above a plan's call or minute allowance.
- Transferred calls, which can be charged as extra minutes.
- Minimum contract terms on subscription plans.
- Fees from your own software suppliers for API access.
- Time spent preparing prices, policies and answers before launch.
- Changes after launch, such as a new service, a new branch or a new call type.
None of these is unusual. They only cause trouble when nobody mentions them before you sign.
What should an AI receptionist quote include?
- The call types in scope, and what is explicitly excluded.
- Each integration, and whether it reads data, writes data or both.
- How and when calls are handed to a person.
- Estimated running costs at your call volume, and who bills each one.
- Where recordings and transcripts are stored and for how long, with a data processing agreement.
- Who owns the configuration, the scripts and the call history.
- What support after launch costs, if you want it.
If a quote is a single figure with none of that, ask for the detail before comparing it with anything else.
How should you decide whether it is worth it?
Start with what happens to your calls today. How many go unanswered, when, and what those callers wanted. A week of call logs from your phone system usually answers that. Then compare the options, including doing nothing and a human answering service, which we weigh up in AI receptionist vs answering service.
If you go ahead, keep the first version small: out-of-hours calls or overflow only, a short list of call types, and a weekly look at the summaries. That tells you, with your own callers, whether to extend it before you have spent much.