Calculate setup, twelve months of subscription, expected overages and implementation work. Compare providers at your own call volume and required features, not their cheapest advertised tier.
Understand the billing unit
AI receptionist pricing can depend on calls, minutes, unique callers or a subscription package. Gather one month of phone records first. Count answered and missed enquiries, repeat callers and typical conversation length. Remove spam before estimating useful demand, but ask whether a provider still bills for it.
A call-based allowance and a unique-customer allowance are not interchangeable. Long calls affect a minute-based plan differently again. Ask each provider to price the same workload.
Published examples, checked October 2026
| Provider example | Published monthly starting point | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Goodcall Starter | $79 per agent | 100 unique customers; $0.50 per additional customer |
| Smith.ai AI Pro | $150 | 75 calls; published overage rules apply |
| Kedolabs Starter | $249/month; no setup fee | 300 AI call minutes/month; answering, qualification and booking |
| Kedolabs Growth | $497/month; no setup fee | 600 AI call minutes/month; reviews, CRM integrations and follow-ups |
These are entry examples rather than equivalent packages. Verify the current Goodcall and Smith.ai pricing pages before deciding. Taxes, optional services and your usage can change the amount payable.
Build a complete cost worksheet
For Kedolabs Starter, the subscription-only first year is $249 × 12 = $2,988 USD; Growth is $497 × 12 = $5,964 USD. With no setup fee, the first monthly subscription is $249 USD for Starter or $497 USD for Growth, before any applicable tax. Starter averages about $8.19 per day over a 365-day year; Growth averages about $16.34. Additional usage and separately scoped services are excluded from these calculations.
Starter includes 24/7 AI answering, lead qualification, booking, SMS confirmations, call summaries and 300 AI call minutes per month. Growth adds Google review automation, CRM integrations, post-job follow-ups, 600 total AI call minutes per month and advanced workflows. Both have no long-term contract. Confirm applicable usage limits and additional usage charges before subscribing; custom integrations and multi-location deployments are scoped separately. Checkout shows the selected plan and amount before payment.
Questions that prevent surprises
- What counts as a billable interaction, including spam and short hang-ups?
- Are appointment booking, notifications and required connections included?
- Who performs setup, and how much work remains with your team?
- What changes when volume grows or you add another location?
- What are the cancellation, renewal and data-export terms?
Compare total cost with completed outcomes. A cheap service that leaves you manually chasing every message may be appropriate for low volume, but it is not the same purchase as an operational booking workflow.
Next, use the contractor break-even guide to compare cost with contribution from completed jobs.
Sources and editorial notes
Prices are snapshots of linked published plans, not equivalent offers or guaranteed future quotes. KEDO calculations are illustrative at the Starter and Growth monthly prices. Sources checked October 8, 2026.
See the workflow
Hear the call. See the booking.
Watch KEDO handle a service enquiry, then review the current monthly plan and included usage before you pay.