How much does an AI receptionist cost?
It depends on the pricing model. On 25 September 2026, the self-serve voice AI platforms listed on this page published per-minute rates from $0.05 (Vapi, hosting only) to $0.31 (the top of Retell AI's range), and each rate covers a different part of the stack. The Australian AI receptionist plans listed here published monthly prices from $20 plus GST for 10 calls (OfficeHQ) to A$999 excluding GST for 2,500 minutes (Voxworks). Integration and setup are usually quoted per engagement. Get a written all-in quote, then compare cost per resolved call on your own call volumes.
Every price on this page is taken from, or calculated from, a provider's own pricing page. See the published list prices and sources.
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- 1.Where is call audio processed, and where is it stored? They are often different regions.
- 2.How long is audio and how long are transcripts retained, and can the practice set that retention itself?
- 3.Which subprocessors touch the call — speech-to-text, model provider, telephony, storage — and are they named in writing?
- 4.Is any client data used to train or fine-tune models, by the vendor or by any subprocessor?
- 5.Are appointments written directly into the practice management system, or held in the vendor's own layer and synced later?
- 6.Exactly which API permissions does the integration require — what it reads, what it writes, and what it can delete?
- 7.What happens when a caller is distressed, in hours and after hours, and can the practice change that routing itself?
- 8.Will all of the above be confirmed in writing before anything is signed?
Published list prices (checked 25 Sep 2026)
Taken from each provider's own pricing page on 25 September 2026, in the currency each page used. List prices change, so check the source before you rely on one. Enterprise pricing is usually quoted: every provider below prices its enterprise or high-volume tier on request.
The table covers self-serve voice AI platforms, and Australian services that publish prices and name healthcare among the practices they serve. It is not a complete list, and inclusion is not a recommendation.
Self-serve voice AI platforms
| Provider and offer | Price as published | What the price covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retell AIPay as you go | Price as published
USD, declared in the page's structured data | What the price coversThe page prices each part separately: voice infrastructure $0.055/minute, Retell platform voices $0.015/minute, a rate for each model, and telephony by country, with Australia (Twilio) at $0.1/min. No Retell telephony charge when you use your own SIP trunk. | Sourceretellai.com/ |
| VapiUsage, no success package | Price as published
USD, declared in the page's structured data | What the price coversHosting only. Transcription, model and voice are passed through at cost. Carrier charges are billed by the provider, not Vapi; the page lists Vapi's own telephony and SIP transport as free. | Sourcevapi.ai/ |
| Bland AIStart, Build, Enterprise | Price as published
No currency code shown on the page | What the price coversThe per-minute rate includes the model, transcription and voice. Telephony is billed separately. Transfer minutes cost $0.05/min on Start and $0.04/min on Build. Start caps calls at 100 a day. | Sourcebland.ai/ |
| ElevenLabsElevenAgents plans | Price as published
USD, stated on the page. Prices exclude taxes | What the price coversPlans cover the platform's voice and transcription. Model usage is billed on top. ElevenLabs adds no telephony fee, but your telephony provider bills you directly. | Sourceelevenlabs.io/ |
| SynthflowEnterprise | Price as published
No currency code shown on the page | What the price coversNo per-minute rate is published. Pricing is sales-led, scoped around call volume, concurrency, telephony, integrations, security and launch support. | Sourcesynthflow.ai/ |
Australian AI receptionist plans
| Provider and offer | Price as published | What the price covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| OfficeHQMyAI Receptionist | Price as published
No currency code shown. * Plus GST | What the price coversAI answering. Calls the AI cannot handle transfer to live receptionists in Australia. Packages above 500 calls a month are quoted. | Sourceofficehq.com.au (opens in a new tab) |
| LyngoStarter to Scale | Price as published
AUD + GST, stated on the page | What the price coversFree setup. Connects directly with Cliniko, Nookal, PracSuite and Splose. Multi-location pricing on request. | Sourcelyngo.ai/ |
| AiDialCore to Max | Price as published
No currency code shown on the page | What the price coversA call unit is a connected call of up to 10 minutes. Setup fees are specified in your scope of work, and integrations are quoted. | Sourceaidial.com.au (opens in a new tab) |
| VoxworksStarter to Professional | Price as published
AUD, excluding GST, stated on the page | What the price coversExtra phone numbers and concurrent calls are billed separately. The Enterprise tier (custom price) lists custom integrations, deployment support and compliance work. | Sourcevoxworks.ai/ |
Australian human answering services
| Provider and offer | Price as published | What the price covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| OfficeHQMyReceptionist | Price as published
No currency code shown. * Plus GST | What the price coversReceptionists in Australia answer, take messages and transfer calls. High-volume discounts above 1,000 calls a month are on request. | Sourceofficehq.com.au (opens in a new tab) |
| OfficeHQMyDiary (appointment booking) | Price as published
No currency code shown. * Plus GST | What the price coversReceptionists book, cancel and manage appointments in the calendar tool of your choice. Setup cost depends on complexity. | Sourceofficehq.com.au (opens in a new tab) |
Other Australian answering services checked on the same day either quote on request or could not be checked, so they are not listed.
12,000 minutes a month at list price
The arithmetic below applies published per-minute rates to an example volume of 12,000 call minutes a month. It is platform usage only, not a quote and not a full cost. The three figures cover different parts of the stack, so they cannot be ranked against each other.
| Platform and published rate | Platform usage a month | Not in this figure |
|---|---|---|
| VapiHosting at $0.05/minvapi.ai/ | Platform usage a month12,000 × $0.05 =$600Currency: USD, declared in the page's structured data | Not in this figureTranscription, model and voice (passed through at cost), carrier charges (billed by the provider, not Vapi), any success package, integration and support. |
| Retell AIVoice infrastructure $0.055/min plus Retell platform voice $0.015/minretellai.com/ | Platform usage a month12,000 × ($0.055 + $0.015) =$840Currency: USD, declared in the page's structured data | Not in this figureThe model (priced per model on the same page), telephony, phone numbers ($2.00 a month each), integration and support. |
| Bland AIStart plan at $0.14/min, model, transcription and voice includedbland.ai/ | Platform usage a month12,000 × $0.14 =$1,680Currency: No currency code shown on the page | Not in this figureTelephony, transfer minutes ($0.05/min on Start), integration and support. Start caps calls at 100 a day and 10 at once; Build lowers the rate to $0.12/min for a $299/month platform fee. |
Telephony can be the larger line. Retell AI's page lists Australian telephony (Twilio) at $0.1 a minute: 12,000 × $0.1 = $1,200 a month, more than the $840 of platform usage above.
Australian AI receptionist plans price per call or per included minute, and their pages do not list separate model or voice charges. To compare them, run your own monthly calls or minutes through each plan's allowance and overage rate in the table above.
What list prices leave out
Check each of these before you compare two prices.
- Telephony
- Phone numbers and carrier minutes. Bland AI bills telephony separately, ElevenLabs says your telephony provider bills you directly, and Retell AI lists Australian telephony at $0.1 a minute.
- Model usage
- Vapi, Retell AI and ElevenLabs price the language model separately from their platform rate. Bland AI includes it in the per-minute rate.
- Integration and setup
- Rarely published. Lyngo lists free setup, OfficeHQ lists MyDiary setup from $99 depending on complexity, and AiDial puts setup fees in your scope of work and quotes integrations. PMS integration is quoted per engagement: get a written all-in quote.
- Support and compliance
- Support levels and compliance features can be paid extras. Vapi sells success packages from $29 a month, and AiDial lists a Compliance Pack at $100 a month.
- GST
- OfficeHQ, Lyngo and Voxworks quote prices plus GST. AiDial's page does not say either way.
The honest metric is per-call-resolved
The price per minute is only an input. A longer AI call that books first time can cost less than a short human call that needs callbacks. The metric finance cares about is fully loaded cost per call resolved, including the missed calls you lose at peak times and after hours.
Run the calculation: (missed calls a month × average revenue per booking) + (after-hours capture × conversion rate × revenue per booking) + (reception capacity redeployed × hourly cost), minus platform run cost and amortised integration. The ROI calculator covers the first part, what missed calls cost you against an AI quote, from your own numbers. Add set-up, integration and the other terms yourself.
Comparing AI and human virtual receptionist costs
Some Australian answering services publish both. On 25 September 2026, OfficeHQ listed MyReceptionist 50, answered by people, at $185 a month for 50 calls, and MyAI Receptionist 50 at $75 a month for 50 calls, both plus GST. The AI plan hands calls it cannot handle to live receptionists.
Ask each service whether it writes bookings into your PMS, and compare how each option's cost changes as your call volume grows, using your own numbers. See the full comparison at AI receptionist vs human receptionist.
FAQ
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
It depends on the pricing model. On 25 September 2026, the self-serve voice AI platforms listed on this page published per-minute rates from $0.05 (Vapi, hosting only) to $0.31 (the top of Retell AI's range), and each rate covers a different part of the stack. The Australian AI receptionist plans listed here published monthly prices from $20 plus GST for 10 calls (OfficeHQ) to A$999 excluding GST for 2,500 minutes (Voxworks). Integration and setup are usually quoted per engagement. Get a written all-in quote, then compare cost per resolved call on your own call volumes.
What's the per-minute price?
Self-serve platforms publish per-minute rates, but each covers a different part of the stack. On 25 September 2026, Vapi listed $0.05 a minute for hosting, with transcription, model and voice passed through at cost and carrier charges billed by the provider. Bland AI listed $0.14 a minute on its Start plan with the model, transcription and voice included and telephony billed separately. Retell AI listed $0.07 to $0.31 a minute and prices voice, model and telephony separately on the same page. Enterprise tiers are quoted. Ask each vendor for an all-in price per minute in writing.
What does it cost per month for a single clinic?
Australian AI receptionist plans publish a monthly price with a set number of calls or minutes, then an overage rate. On 25 September 2026, Lyngo's Starter plan was A$139 a month plus GST for 45 calls, then A$3 per call, and OfficeHQ's MyAI Receptionist 50 was $75 a month plus GST for 50 calls, then $1.50 per call. Count a normal month's calls, including missed ones, price that volume on each plan, and add any setup fee and PMS integration quote.
What does it cost for a multi-site network?
Start from published rates and your own minutes, then get enterprise quotes, because every provider in the table prices its enterprise or high-volume tier on request. As a worked example, 12,000 minutes a month at Vapi's $0.05 hosting rate is 12,000 × $0.05 = $600 a month for hosting alone, before transcription, model, voice, telephony, integration and support. Integration across several sites is quoted per engagement, so ask for a written all-in quote at your volume.
How does it compare to a human virtual receptionist?
Some Australian answering services publish both. On 25 September 2026, OfficeHQ listed its human MyReceptionist 50 plan at $185 a month for 50 calls and its MyAI Receptionist 50 plan at $75 a month for 50 calls, both plus GST. Compare on your own call volume, and ask whether each option writes bookings into your PMS.
What about integration and setup fees?
They are usually quoted per engagement, not published. Of the providers in the table, Lyngo listed free setup, OfficeHQ listed MyDiary setup from $99 depending on complexity, and AiDial specifies setup fees in your scope of work and quotes integrations. Get a written all-in quote that names every one-off fee, including PMS write-back.
Are there hidden costs?
Plan for telephony (phone numbers and carrier minutes, which several platforms bill on top), model usage where it is passed through, transfer minutes where they are charged, run-state governance for regulated workloads (compliance attestation, model reviews, incident response), and re-tuning when your services, locations or compliance requirements change.
How do I model the ROI?
Compare total cost per resolved call using your own call volume, vendor quote, integration costs, escalation rate and internal staffing costs. The ROI calculator covers the missed-call side from your own numbers; add integration, escalation and staffing costs to it.
Is the cheapest platform the best choice?
Not necessarily. Headline rates cover different parts of the stack, so the lowest rate can become the largest bill once model, voice, telephony and integration are added. Compare all-in cost per resolved call, integration depth and compliance.
Related reading
Short answer, plus the Australian privacy questions to put to any vendor.
The framework for comparing vendors on Compliance, Accuracy, Performance and Reliability.
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