How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost in the UK?

How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost in the UK?

The honest answer is that it depends on how many calls you get, what you want the agent to do and which systems it needs to connect to. What we can do is show you how the costs are built up, how they compare with the alternatives, and how to work out whether an AI receptionist pays for itself in your business.

Start with the cost of missed calls

Before comparing prices, work out what missed calls cost you now. Check your phone system reports for a typical week and count the calls that went unanswered or to voicemail. Then estimate how many of those were new enquiries and what a new customer is worth to you over a year. For a trades business, a clinic or a professional services firm, it only takes a handful of lost enquiries a month to add up to more than an AI receptionist costs.

The cost of hiring a receptionist

According to PayScale's 2026 figures, UK receptionist base salaries typically sit somewhere between about £19,000 and £24,000 depending on the role. On top of that come employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday and sickness cover, equipment and recruitment. Even then, one person covers office hours only, takes one call at a time and needs breaks. For many small businesses a receptionist is still the right hire, but rarely just to answer the phone.

The cost of a call answering service

Human answering services are usually priced as a monthly fee plus a charge per call or per minute. Out of hours cover, call transfers and diary booking are often extras. The model works for low volumes, but costs climb as you get busier, which is exactly when you need the service most. Our comparison of AI receptionists vs virtual receptionists covers the other differences.

How AI receptionists are usually priced

Most AI receptionist services in the UK use some combination of:

• Setup: mapping your call reasons, writing the agent's rules and knowledge, connecting integrations and testing
• A monthly plan: the agent, your numbers and support
• Usage: call minutes above an included allowance, especially for high volume or outbound calling

What drives the price up or down

• Call volume and length. More minutes means more usage.
• Integrations. Connecting Outlook and Teams is standard. Adding a CRM such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Zoho, or payments through Stripe, adds setup work but also adds most of the value.
• Number of call flows. A single front door is simpler than separate flows for sales, support, bookings and out of hours.
• Outbound calling. Agents that ring customers to follow up or confirm appointments use more minutes.
• Ongoing changes. New services, prices or rules mean updating the agent.

Questions to ask any provider

• What's included in setup, and what counts as a change later?
• Which integrations are tested and live today, and which are still planned?
• How are minutes counted, and what happens if I go over?
• Where are call recordings and transcripts stored, and for how long?
• Who supports it when something needs changing, and how quickly?

Working out the return

A simple way to test it: take the number of new enquiries you currently miss each month, multiply by your conversion rate and the value of a customer, then add the hours your team spends on routine calls multiplied by their hourly cost. Compare that with the monthly cost of the AI receptionist. Most SMEs find the missed enquiries alone cover it, and the time saved is the bonus.

Flotek AI Receptionist pricing

We price Flotek's AI Receptionist on your call volume and the integrations you need, with setup covering call mapping, configuration, connecting your certified integrations and testing. Because we also provide hosted VoIP and managed IT support, there's one supplier for the agent, the phone lines and the systems it connects to. Get in touch for a quote based on your actual calls.

Further reading

• AI Receptionist for Small Business: The UK Guide
• AI Receptionist vs Virtual Receptionist
• AI Receptionist CRM Integration Explained