Six UK AI receptionists, and ours beside them. Every figure dated and sourced.
Their published monthly prices run from £25 to £99. Ours is £45 a month with 150 minutes of call time in it. Below is what each of the six publishes, read off their own pages on 5 September 2026.
Two of the six beat us on price and two of them include unlimited minutes. Both of those are in the table.
What do UK AI receptionists charge?
Six UK providers publish their prices, and they run from £25 to £99 a month. What separates them is the allowance, and two of the six do not publish one measured in minutes.
| Provider | A month | Included | Over that | To set up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foothold AI | £45 | 150 min | 15p a min | £199 |
| Moneypenny | from £25 | not published | not published | not published |
| Fasthosts Lite | £39 ex VAT | 30 calls | 49p a call | not published |
| Ringmere Starter | £49 ex VAT | 150 min | 25p a min | not published |
| Hey Jodie Basic | £49 plus tax | unlimited | nothing | none |
| Sayora | £49 | unlimited | nothing | none |
| ARROW | £99 | 150 min | not published | not published |
Two rows are not measured in minutes
- Fasthosts count CALLS, not minutes. Lite is 30 calls a month, then 49p for each call after that. A twenty second call and a twelve minute call cost the same.
- Moneypenny publish no allowance at all. Their page says "Get started from £25 a month" and then "Get your quote". What the £25 buys is not on it.
What VAT does to those figures
- Foothold AI is not registered for VAT, so £45 is the figure that leaves your bank. There is nothing to add and no VAT line on the invoice.
- Ringmere:"Prices are shown excluding VAT, which is added at checkout where applicable." At 20% their £49 Starter is £58.80. That grossing up is our arithmetic on their stated basis.
- Fasthosts publish both figures themselves. Their own page carries £39 excluding VAT and £46.80 including it, and 49p a call excluding VAT and 59p including it.
- Hey Jodie: "Prices exclude applicable taxes. Tax is calculated and added at checkout based on your billing location." So what a UK buyer pays is not stated as a figure.
- Sayora:"No setup fee · no contract · VAT where applicable". That is not the same as prices excluding VAT, so their £49 is not grossed up here.
- ARROW and Moneypenny state no VAT position on the pages read. Neither figure is grossed up.
Who actually sets it up, you or them?
Four of the six hand the setting up to the customer, in their own words on their own pages. We do all of it, which is what the £199 pays for.
- Sayora: "Build your demo receptionist free, no card needed, and ring it yourself."
- Hey Jodie show a "Training Jodie" screen with Services, Hours and Service area for the customer to fill in.
- Fasthosts: "Choose your package. Pick a plan and drop in your website URL to instantly build it."
- Ringmere offer "Start free trial" and "Log in", with no build service named on the page.
Nobody charges nothing to set a thing up out of generosity. They charge nothing because the customer does it.
Is unlimited better than an allowance?
Unlimited is better if you cannot predict your month, and an allowance is better if you can and it is generous. Both are honest answers and they suit different businesses.
Hey Jodie put it plainly: "we don't cap your call volume on any plan." Sayora say "no per-minute charge and no overage". If your phone goes constantly, that removes a worry.
Our 150 minutes are call time rather than talking time, and calls are counted in whole minutes, the way the phone network charges them. Past the 150 it is 15p a minute, itemised on the bill.
Ringmere include the same 150 call minutes at £49 excluding VAT, and charge 25p a minute over them. ARROW include 150 minutes of call time at £99 and publish no rate over them.
Why does counting calls change the price?
A price per call charges the same for twenty seconds as for twelve minutes. Fasthosts Lite is 30 calls a month, then 49p a call, and Plus is 100 calls, then 39p.
Thirty calls a month is about one a working day. Call thirty-one costs 49p excluding VAT, or 59p including it, whether the caller booked a job or asked for somebody else.
A price per minute charges for the time you actually used. Which of the two suits you depends on whether your calls are short and frequent or long and few.
Can you find out what it costs without ringing?
Five of the six publish a plan table you can read at eleven at night. Moneypenny publish one figure, "Get started from £25 a month", and then "Get your quote".
Their UK pricing address answered 404 when it was read on 5 September 2026. The body of that 404 is saved with the rest of the evidence.
A price you cannot read is also a price nothing can quote. Somebody asking an assistant what three firms charge gets an answer assembled out of whatever could be read.
Which one should you actually buy?
Six providers, six different buyers. Two of these are a better fit than us for a business that knows what it wants and is happy to set it up.
Sayora
Buy theirs if you want unlimited minutes with no setup fee and you are happy to build it yourself. Their page marks £49 as early access pricing.
Hey Jodie
Buy theirs if unlimited minutes matter most and you want to be running today. Their own line is "up and running in under 10 minutes".
Fasthosts
Buy theirs if your calls are few and long, because a price per call suits that shape. They also give a full month free on every package.
Ringmere
Buy theirs if a stated ceiling on spending is the thing that would stop you worrying. They are the only one of the six that publishes one.
Moneypenny
Buy theirs if you want a large established name and you are content to get a quote. Their AI page says it is built on 180m calls they have handled.
ARROW
Buy theirs if their exact package suits you, because it is the same 150 minutes of call time we sell. Their published figure is £99 a month.
Foothold AI
Buy ours if you would rather it was built for you. We set the whole thing up, on seven channels rather than the phone alone. You read every word of it before a customer hears it.
Where does every figure come from?
Every figure above was read off the provider's own page and saved to disk before it was written here. The address and the date are below.
| ARROWaiphonecalls.co.uk/pricing | 5 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|
| Ringmereringmere.com/pricing | 5 Sep 2026 |
| Hey Jodieheyjodie.com/pricing | 5 Sep 2026 |
| Sayorasayora.ai/pricing | 5 Sep 2026 |
| Fasthostsfasthosts.co.uk/spark/ai-receptionist | 5 Sep 2026 |
| Moneypennymoneypenny.com/uk/ai-receptionist | 5 Sep 2026 |
Prices move, and a stale comparison is a false claim. Every source above is re-fetched and every figure re-checked, and the page is corrected when one of them changes. Two of the six mark their price as temporary: Sayora head theirs "Early access pricing", and Fasthosts show a promotional figure beside every plan.
Our own figures, published in full →What do people ask about comparing these?
Prices are on the price page. What ours actually answers is on the AI receptionist page.
Why are only six providers on this page?
Six is the number whose UK prices we can evidence. Every figure on this page came off a saved, dated copy of the provider's own page. Firms priced in dollars, firms that publish no price and human answering services are each a different product or a different sum. Putting them in this table would compare things that are not comparable.
Are these prices still right today?
They were right on 5 September 2026, which is the date beside each one. Any provider can change a price the day after it was read. Two of the six mark theirs as temporary in their own words. Check the address in the sources table before you act on one of theirs. Ours are published in full on the price page, and they are the same for everybody.
Why is your setup fee higher than most of theirs?
Because the setting up is the thing you are buying. Four of the six hand that job to the customer, in their own words on their own pages, and charge nothing for it. We build it around your business, on seven channels, and you read every word before a customer hears it.
Does 150 minutes go further than it sounds?
How far 150 minutes goes depends on how long your own calls run, and only you know that. Divide 150 by however long a call usually takes you. The minutes are call time rather than talking time, and calls are counted in whole minutes, the way the phone network charges them.
What is not in this comparison at all?
Human answering services, and anything priced in dollars. A person taking a message is a different product from software having a conversation, and a converted price is our arithmetic on somebody else's figure. Both belong in a separate table rather than mixed into this one.
Read the table and still not sure?
Tell us how people reach you now and roughly how often, and you will get a straight answer about which of these suits you. If one of the others fits you better, that is what you will be told.