AI receptionist or a human receptionist: the real monthly cost in 2026

A full-time receptionist in the United States costs about USD 4,530 a month with employer costs added to median pay, and in the United Kingdom about GBP 2,465. An AI phone agent costs USD 49 to 349 a month on the plans published in 2026, but it takes the phone, not the front desk.

What does a human receptionist cost per month?

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the 2025 median pay for receptionists at USD 38,010 a year, or USD 3,168 a month (BLS). In its June 2026 employer cost survey, wages were 70.0 percent of what private employers pay per hour worked and benefits 30.0 percent (BLS ECEC). Divide pay by 0.70 for a loaded cost of about USD 4,530 a month.

In the UK, the provisional 2026 survey of the Office for National Statistics gives full-time receptionists a median of GBP 25,865 a year (ONS ASHE 2026, table 14.7a), or GBP 2,155 a month. Employers pay National Insurance at 15 percent above GBP 96 a week (gov.uk) and at least 3 percent into a workplace pension on earnings between GBP 6,240 and GBP 50,270 (gov.uk). That adds about GBP 310 a month, for a loaded cost of about GBP 2,465.

Sources: the BLS, ONS and gov.uk pages above and the vendor pricing pages linked below, at the time of writing.

What do AI phone agents cost?

Plans come in two shapes. Minute plans: Rosie charges USD 49 a month for 250 minutes, USD 149 for 1,000 and USD 299 for 2,000 (Rosie); Dialzara runs from USD 29 for 60 minutes to USD 349 for 1,000 (Dialzara); My AI Front Desk is USD 99 a month for 200 minutes and USD 0.25 for each extra minute (My AI Front Desk). Call plans: Goodcall charges by unique caller, USD 79 for 100, USD 129 for 500 and USD 299 for 2,000 (Goodcall); Smith.ai's AI receptionist starts at USD 150 a month for 75 calls, USD 2.00 a call, falling to USD 1.67 at 300 calls, with extra calls at USD 2.17 to 2.50 (Smith.ai).

For human answering, Smith.ai quotes about USD 6 to 10 a call, and from USD 2.50 a call on its hybrid plan, which it says most firms start on (Smith.ai). Goodcall puts live answering at about USD 1.50 to 1.90 a minute (Goodcall). One thousand minutes a month would cost USD 1,500 to 1,900 with people and USD 149 to 349 with an AI agent.

What does the AI handle, and what still needs a person?

The BLS lists eight typical duties for a receptionist. Four happen on the phone or in software: answer the telephone and take messages or forward calls, schedule and confirm appointments, enter customer information into the database, handle correspondence. The AI plans cover these. Rosie's plans take messages, text appointment links, book into the calendar from the middle tier up, and transfer a call to a person with a briefing, around the clock, in English and Spanish (Rosie).

The other four need a body in the building: greet visitors, check them in and escort them, tell colleagues who has arrived, copy and file paper documents. No phone agent does these, and no vendor claims to. Vendors also do not publish how many calls their agents finish without a person, and Smith.ai's advice to start on hybrid tells you to expect transfers.

When does each win?

• An AI agent wins when the job is the phone: after hours, overflow, missed calls, a company with no front desk, or a second line for bookings. At USD 149 to 349 a month it costs a few percent of a receptionist.
• A person wins when visitors walk in, payments are taken at the desk, post arrives, or a caller is upset or in a regulated conversation.
• Most offices with a real front desk end in the middle: the person keeps the desk and the daytime phone, and the AI takes the calls that went to voicemail. Measure the share of calls the AI finishes alone before you count any saving.