How much does a phone answering service cost in the UK?
A plain guide to how UK call answering is priced, with real published prices from named providers, AI and human. Every figure was read from the provider’s own website on 19 September 2026.
Written by TradeBoost AI Ltd, which makes Aria, one of the services listed. For a side-by-side of features, see UK AI receptionists compared.
What you can expect to pay
From the prices providers publish, AI receptionists we checked start at between £9.99 and £59 a month, although the cheapest plans include few or no AI minutes. Human answering services we checked start at £49 to £75 a month for limited hours or a small number of calls. Some well-known providers only give prices on request.
The monthly figure is only part of the story. What you actually pay depends on how many calls you get, how long they last, what happens when you go over your allowance, and whether VAT is added.
The five ways answering services charge
1. Per call
You pay for a set number of calls each month, then a fee for each extra call, however long it lasts. Pocket Receptionist (human) starts at £75 a month for 30 calls, with calls beyond your allowance billed at £2.99 each. Face For Business also offers a Message Only plan “for those who prefer a set price per call”, from £99 a month.
2. Per minute or per second
You pay for talk time. Face For Business (human) says it charges “by the second on calls”, with plans from £49 a month (Taster, core business hours) and £115 a month (Inclusive Minutes, adds evening and weekend support). It does not publish a per-second rate, so we cannot work out a monthly cost for a given number of calls.
3. Monthly plan with a minute allowance
Common for AI services. You get a set number of minutes, then pay per extra minute.
- Aria Starter: £59 a month, 500 call minutes included, then 10p a minute.
- Answered247: £49 a month, 250 minutes included, then 10p per extra minute.
- Team-Connect: Lite £19.99 a month with 30 AI minutes; Business Pro £79.99 with 250 AI minutes. AI voice add-ons start at £34.99 for 150 minutes.
4. Monthly plan with a call allowance
TradeMore by Checkatrade counts AI calls rather than minutes. Pro is £50 a month (or £500 a year) with 75 AI calls. Team is £200 with 100 AI calls, Team Plus £320 with 250 and Team Max £520 with 750. TradeMore says it does not currently charge overage fees. All its prices exclude VAT.
5. Flat fee or add-on
- JobCatch: from £39.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, with “no per-minute charges”.
- Powered Now Receptionist: Speech £29 a month or Speech + Text £39 a month, added to a Powered Now plan. Those plans start at £28 a month for one user, excluding VAT.
- Moneypenny AI Receptionist: “from £25 a month”. Moneypenny says the best next step on pricing is to talk to them.
Price on request
Moneypenny (human telephone answering), LineKeeper, Sophiie and Elyos AI did not publish prices on their websites when we checked. We have not guessed them.
UK answering service prices, 19 September 2026
| Provider | Type | Plan and price (as published) | Allowance and extras | Contract and trial | VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aria (us) | AI | Starter £59/mo; Pro £250/mo; Multi-Site £449/mo | Starter: 500 minutes, then 10p a minute. SMS from 10p. Multi-Site: £99/mo per extra location beyond 3. | 14 days free, card required. Cancel anytime. No setup fee. | VAT not stated |
| Answered247 | AI | £49/month | 250 minutes, then 10p per extra minute | 7-day free trial, no card. No contracts or setup fees. | VAT not stated |
| JobCatch | AI | From £39.99/mo | No per-minute charges | 7-day free trial. No contract. | VAT not stated |
| Powered Now Receptionist | AI add-on | Speech £29/mo; Speech + Text £39/mo | Needs a Powered Now plan: Business £28/mo (one user), Professional £32 per user, Premium £40 per user | No setup fee | Add-on: VAT not stated. Plans: exclude VAT. |
| TradeMore (Checkatrade) | AI in job software | Pro £50/mo (£500/yr); Team £200; Team Plus £320; Team Max £520 | AI calls a month: 75 / 100 / 250 / 750. No overage fees currently charged. Free plan has no AI. | Not stated on the pricing page | Excludes VAT |
| Team-Connect | AI phone system | Starter £9.99; Lite £19.99; Business Pro £79.99; Enterprise £199.99 (per month) | AI minutes a month: none listed / 30 / 250 / 750. AI add-ons: 150 min £34.99, 500 min £99.99, 1,000 min £169.99. | Not stated on the pricing page | VAT not stated |
| Moneypenny | AI and human | AI: from £25 a month. Human: price on request. | Quoted to your needs | Human schemes of 150 minutes and below: 3-month minimum. Larger: 6 or 12 months. | VAT not stated |
| Face For Business | Human | Taster from £49 p/m; Inclusive Minutes from £115 p/m; Message Only from £99 p/m | Charged by the second on calls. Per-second rate not published. | 7-day free trial. No long-term contracts. | VAT not stated |
| Pocket Receptionist | Human | Starter £75; Growth £145; Pro £230; Enterprise £635 (per month) | Calls a month: 30 / 60 / 100 / 300. Extra calls £2.99 each. Covers 08:00–20:00. | 7-day free trial. Month-to-month. | VAT not stated |
| LineKeeper | AI | Price on request | – | – | n/a |
| Sophiie | AI | Price on request | – | – | n/a |
| Elyos AI | AI | Price on request | – | – | n/a |
“VAT not stated” means the page we checked did not say whether the price includes VAT. “From” prices are the lowest published figure; your plan may cost more.
What would 40 calls a month cost?
This is our own arithmetic from published list prices, not a quote from any provider. It assumes 40 answered calls a month, each lasting 3 minutes (120 minutes in total). Your real cost will depend on your calls and the provider’s full terms.
| Provider and plan | Our working | Monthly total | Things to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team-Connect Lite + AI add-on | £19.99 + £34.99 (150 AI minutes, because Lite only has 30) | £54.98 | The page does not say whether the add-on is monthly or one-off. VAT not stated. |
| Team-Connect Business Pro | £79.99, includes 250 AI minutes | £79.99 | VAT not stated |
| JobCatch | From £39.99, no per-minute charges | From £39.99 | “From” price. VAT not stated. |
| Answered247 | £49, 120 minutes is within the 250 included | £49 | VAT not stated |
| TradeMore Pro | £50, 40 calls is within the 75 AI calls included | £50 + VAT (£60 with VAT at 20%) | Includes job software as well |
| Powered Now + Receptionist (Speech) | £28 Business plan + £29 add-on | £57 | The £28 plan excludes VAT; VAT on the add-on not stated |
| Aria Starter | £59, 120 minutes is within the 500 included | £59 | VAT not stated. SMS listed as “from 10p”. |
| Pocket Receptionist Starter (human) | £75 for 30 calls + 10 extra calls × £2.99 | £104.90 | Covers 08:00–20:00. VAT not stated. |
| Face For Business (human) | Cannot be worked out: the per-second rate is not published | Plans from £49 p/m | |
| Moneypenny (AI or human) | Cannot be worked out: pricing is quoted to your needs | AI from £25 a month | |
At a low call volume like this, several AI options come out close together. The bigger differences show up in what you get for the money: human or AI, the hours covered, live booking, links to job software, and how much a busy month costs. If you are not sure how many calls you actually miss, our free missed-call check can help you find out.
Hidden costs to check
- VAT. Most pages we checked did not say whether VAT is included. If you are not VAT registered, 20% on top makes a real difference.
- Going over your allowance. Extra minutes (10p each at Aria and Answered247) or extra calls (£2.99 each at Pocket Receptionist) add up in a busy month.
- Hours covered. Some human plans cover set hours only. Pocket Receptionist’s standard cover is 08:00–20:00, and Face For Business’s Taster plan covers core business hours.
- Minimum contract. Moneypenny’s smaller human answering schemes have a three-month minimum. Many AI services are monthly.
- Base plans. Add-ons such as Powered Now Receptionist need a paid base plan as well.
- Booking. If you want jobs booked into your calendar live on the call, check which plan includes it. On Aria that is Pro at £250 a month; Starter texts the caller a booking link instead.
Where Aria sits
Aria is our AI receptionist. From our Aria page: Starter is £59 a month and answers calls 24/7, including nights, weekends and bank holidays. It includes 500 call minutes a month, then 10p a minute. Pro is £250 a month and adds live booking into Google Calendar. Multi-Site is £449 a month for up to 3 locations. All plans include a real UK number, no setup fee and cancel anytime. You get 14 days free, and a card is required to start.
Aria is not the cheapest option in the table, and it is AI, not a person. It is new, so there are no customer reviews to show you yet. The fairest test is to have Aria ring you and hear it for yourself. Trade pages: plumbers, electricians, heating engineers.
Common questions
How much does a phone answering service cost in the UK?
On providers' own websites, checked 19 September 2026, published entry prices ran from £9.99 a month (Team-Connect Starter, an AI phone system with no AI minutes listed) to £75 a month (Pocket Receptionist Starter, with human receptionists and 30 calls). Most of the AI receptionists we checked listed entry prices between £25 and £59 a month. Several providers, including Moneypenny for its human service, only give prices on request.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human answering service?
Usually, going by published prices. Of the services we checked, AI entry plans started lower than human ones, and human services often charge per call or per second. A human receptionist can handle complex or sensitive calls better, so the cheaper option is not always the right one.
Do answering service prices include VAT?
Often the website does not say. TradeMore and Powered Now state that their plan prices exclude VAT. Most of the other providers we checked did not say either way. If you are not VAT registered, ask the provider for the price including VAT before you sign up.
What is the difference between per-call and per-minute pricing?
Per-call pricing charges the same for each call however long it lasts, so it suits longer calls. Per-minute (or per-second) pricing charges for talk time, so it suits short calls. Many AI services include a monthly allowance of minutes or calls and then charge for extra.
Are there contracts or setup fees?
It varies. Answered247, JobCatch, Pocket Receptionist, Face For Business and Aria all say no long-term contract or cancel anytime. Moneypenny's smaller human answering schemes have a three-month minimum, and larger ones six or twelve months. Always check the terms before you sign up.
Related pages
Sources, checked 19 September 2026
Every competitor price on this page was read from these pages on 19 September 2026. Prices change, so please check the live page before you buy.
- Aria (TradeBoost AI Ltd): https://pipeiq.co.uk/aria
- Answered247: https://answered247.co.uk/
- JobCatch: https://www.jobcatch.co.uk/
- Powered Now Receptionist: https://powerednow.com/receptionist/
- Powered Now plans: https://powerednow.com/pricing/
- TradeMore by Checkatrade: https://trademore.uk/pricing-and-usage-guide
- Team-Connect: https://team-connect.co.uk/pricing
- Moneypenny AI receptionist: https://www.moneypenny.com/uk/ai-receptionist/
- Moneypenny telephone answering: https://www.moneypenny.com/uk/telephone-answering-service/
- Face For Business: https://ffb.co.uk/answering-service-pricing/
- Pocket Receptionist: https://www.pocketreceptionist.co.uk/pricing
- LineKeeper: https://linekeeper.ai/
- Sophiie: https://www.sophiie.ai/
- Elyos AI: https://elyos.ai/