Guide

How much does a call answering service cost in the UK?

Most UK answering services charge a monthly fee plus a price for each call or each minute, and the cheapest published plans start at around £15 to £20 a month before any calls. At 50 calls a month, the prices below come to between about £59 and £113. Here is where those numbers come from, so you can redo the sum for your own calls.

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Written by the Trade Receptionist team. Last updated 20 October 2026.

How do answering services charge?

There are three ways, and most providers mix them.

Per call means a fixed price for every call answered, however long it lasts. Per minute means you pay for the receptionist's time, so a chatty caller costs more than a quick one. A bundle is a monthly fee that covers a set number of calls or minutes, with a higher rate for anything over.

On top of that, look for charges that are easy to miss: a fee for each text or email message sent to you, surcharges for evenings and weekends, a setup fee, a minimum term, and VAT. Two providers below add 20% VAT to the prices they show.

What do UK answering services publish?

These are the prices five well-known UK services show on their own websites, read on 20 October 2026. We sell an AI receptionist, so we are not neutral; that is why every figure here comes from the provider's own page and is listed under Sources for you to check. Prices change, so look again before you sign.

Published UK call answering service prices, checked 20 October 2026
Service	How it charges	What it publishes
ReceptionHQ	Monthly fee plus a price per call, or a bundle of calls	From £15 a month plus £1.10 a call, or £49 a month for 50 calls. Plus VAT.
dmClub	Monthly fee with some messages included, then per message	£19.50 a month including 15 messages, then £1.25 a message. Plus VAT.
Answer4u	Monthly fee plus per call and per message sent, or a bundle	£19.99 a month plus from £1.75 a call, 11p per email and 17p per text. 50 calls for £87.50 as a bundle.
AllDayPA	Per call or per minute, your choice	From £1.80 a call on its Answer package. A starter plan from £9.90 covers 10 to 40 calls.
Moneypenny	Per minute, priced by quote	No price list published. Plans of 150 minutes or less have a three-month minimum term.

What do 50 calls a month cost?

Fifty calls a month is roughly two or three a working day. The table assumes every call ends in a message sent to you by email, nobody is put through to your phone, and VAT is added at 20% where the provider says its prices exclude it.

Cost of 50 calls a month on each published price
Option	The sum	A month
ReceptionHQ, 50-call bundle	£49 + VAT	£58.80
ReceptionHQ, pay as you go	£15 + (50 × £1.10) + VAT	£84.00
dmClub	£19.50 + (35 × £1.25) + VAT	£75.90
Answer4u, 50-call bundle	£87.50 (page does not say if VAT is added)	£87.50
Answer4u, pay as you go	£19.99 + (50 × £1.75) + (50 × 11p email)	£112.99
AllDayPA, Answer package	50 × £1.80, before any monthly fee or VAT	from £90.00
Trade Receptionist, Starter (AI, not a person)	£49, no VAT added	£49.00

The rows are not like for like. A person answering can use judgement an AI cannot, some plans include 24-hour cover and others charge for it, and only some will book a job rather than take a message. Use the table for the price, then compare what you get.

How do I compare a per-minute price?

You need to know how long your calls last. Moneypenny, which charges by the minute, says most UK providers that do so charge somewhere between 60p and £1.50 a minute. If your calls average three minutes, 50 calls is 150 minutes:

at 60p a minute, 150 × £0.60 = £90.00
at £1.50 a minute, 150 × £1.50 = £225.00

Both are before any monthly fee or VAT. Your phone's call history shows how long your calls really are; a week of it is enough to tell whether per call or per minute suits you.

What do you get for the money?

On the cheaper plans, a human answering service takes a message: who called, their number and what they wanted. You still ring back and arrange the job yourself. That suits a business whose customers are happy to wait for a call back.

Booking into a diary, putting calls through to you and answering with your own script usually cost more, either as a dearer plan or an add-on. If booking matters, ask which calendar the service works with before you compare prices.

Where does an AI receptionist fit?

An AI receptionist answers every diverted call at once, at any hour, and can book straight into your diary. Ours costs £49 a month for up to 50 calls with no VAT added, and the price does not change with how long a call lasts. It is not a person: it follows the instructions you give it and can mishear things, where a good human receptionist would use judgement.

For the full trade-off between voicemail, a human service and AI, read AI receptionist vs answering service vs voicemail. To see what a missed call is worth to you first, try the cost of missed calls.

What should I ask before I sign up?

What is my monthly total, VAT included, at my real number of calls?
What counts as a call, and are short or silent calls charged?
Are evenings, weekends and bank holidays covered, and at what price?
Do I pay extra for each text or email you send me?
Is there a setup fee or a minimum term, and how much notice do I give to leave?
Can you book jobs into my calendar, and which calendars do you support?

Questions

How much does a call answering service cost per month in the UK?

The cheapest published plans start at around £15 to £20 a month, but that is before you pay for calls. At 50 calls a month, the published prices on this page come to between about £59 and £113, depending on the provider and whether VAT is added.

Is it cheaper to pay per call or per minute?

Per call is easier to budget for, because a long call costs the same as a short one. Per minute can be cheaper if your calls are quick, and dearer if callers like to talk. Time a week of your own calls before you choose.

Do answering services charge VAT?

Most do. ReceptionHQ and dmClub both say their prices exclude VAT, which adds 20%. Ask any provider for a monthly total with VAT included at your real call volume.

Will an answering service book jobs into my diary?

Not on the basic plans. Message-taking plans pass on a message and leave the booking to you. Some providers sell a dearer plan that manages a diary, so check exactly which calendar it works with.

Sources

Every page below was read on 20 October 2026. The sums on this page are ours.

One monthly price, however long the call.

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