How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK in 2026?
By Yevhen Lukyanov, founder of Fantastic AI Studio · Updated 26 September 2026
TL;DR — In the UK in 2026, AI-only receptionist software typically costs £149–£399 a month, hybrid AI-plus-human services £500–£2,000 a month, and a part-time human receptionist about £14,500 a year before pension and holiday cover. A supervised assistant built on your own content costs £3,500–7,500 to launch, plus £249–749 a month.
The four options, side by side
| Option | Typical cost | What you get | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-only receptionist software | £149–£399/month (entry plans from about £10–£99) | Phone answering, message taking, simple appointment booking | Generic set-up; limits on calls or minutes |
| Hybrid AI + human answering service | £500–£2,000/month | AI first, with people behind it for harder calls | Per-call or per-minute pricing as volume grows |
| Part-time receptionist (20 hours a week) | About £14,500/year, plus pension | Judgement, local knowledge, a person at the desk | Covers staffed hours only; holiday and sickness cover |
| Supervised custom assistant (our model) | £3,500–7,500 to launch + £249–749/month | Built on your own content; web chat, WhatsApp and voice; a person approves sensitive replies | Upfront cost; starts with a £1,500 audit |
What a part-time receptionist really costs
The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026. Twenty hours a week for 52 weeks is £13,218 in gross pay. Employer National Insurance is 15% of earnings above £5,000 a year, which adds about £1,233. That makes roughly £14,450 a year before the employer's minimum pension contribution, any Employment Allowance you can claim, and the cost of covering holidays and sickness.
Pay above the minimum, or a full-time role, and the figure rises quickly. Hand On Web puts a full-time receptionist at £22,000–£28,000 a year once overheads are included.
What drives the price of an AI receptionist
- Volume: most software plans include a set number of calls or minutes, and charge beyond it.
- Channels: phone only, or also website chat, WhatsApp and email.
- Set-up on your content: generic scripts are cheap; answers grounded in your own prices, policies and FAQs take work, and are what makes the answers right.
- Integrations: writing appointments into your booking or practice-management system costs more than sending an email summary.
- People in the loop: human backup, or staff approving sensitive replies, is the biggest price jump — and the biggest quality jump.
How to compare quotes fairly
Compare cost per enquiry handled well, not monthly fees. Count how many enquiries arrive out of hours or go unanswered today, estimate what one captured booking is worth, and ask each provider what happens when the AI doesn't know the answer. A cheap plan that gives wrong prices or can't hand over to a person costs more than it saves.
It is a crowded market because demand is real: 54% of UK SMEs were actively using AI in 2026, up from 35% a year earlier, according to the British Chambers of Commerce — though smaller and consumer-facing firms still lag behind.
Questions to ask every provider
- Where is call and chat data processed and stored, and will you sign a Data Processing Agreement?
- Does the assistant tell callers it is an AI at the start of every conversation?
- What does it do when it doesn't know — and how does a person take over?
- Is any of our data used to train models?
- What is the minimum contract, and what happens to our data if we leave?
Running a dental, aesthetics or physio clinic? See how our supervised AI receptionist works, and what it costs.
AI receptionist for clinics