Answering services bill three ways: by the minute, by the call, or a flat rate. The same shop can come out at $149 or $2,000 a month depending on which one it picked and how its calls run. This guide puts the three models in one unit, with a worked example at two volumes, so you can compare any two pricing pages on the same footing. Other companies' prices are quoted as their own pages showed them on 11 October 2026; check them before you decide, because they change.
The three billing models
- Per minute. You buy a bundle of minutes a month; minutes over the bundle cost a stated rate. Common with live receptionist services and with Pickwick. The question to ask: what counts as a minute (usually answer to hang-up), and what is the overage.
- Per call. A bundle of calls a month, then a rate per extra call. A wrong number and a twenty-minute sales call cost the same, so this suits long calls and punishes short ones.
- Flat. One price, usually with a cap written in the small print or a "fair use" line. Ask what happens in the month you blow through it.
What a minute is, and why 600 of them is about 200 calls
A billed minute runs from the moment the call is answered to the moment it ends, including the greeting and the read-back. A trade call that takes a name, a number, an address, the problem and a window runs about three minutes; a price check runs one. Pickwick's plans are sized on that three-minute call, which is why 600 minutes is "about 200 calls" on the pricing page. Ask any per-minute vendor whether it rounds each call up to the next minute; a rate that rounds up turns a 61-second call into two minutes. Pickwick does round each call up to the next minute, and does not count a call under ten seconds that hangs up before the greeting (a wrong number, a robocall), which is on the pricing page in the same words.
Three pricing pages, one unit
Pickwick, by the minute (the pricing page):
| Plan | A month | Included | Over |
|---|---|---|---|
| After-hours & overflow | $149 | 600 minutes | $0.49 a minute |
| Pro | $349 | 1,000 minutes | $0.39 a minute |
| Business | $749 | 2,500 minutes | $0.29 a minute |
Smith.ai, by the call, as shown at https://smith.ai/pricing on 11 October 2026 (no setup fee, month to month, 10% off for a 12-month term):
| Plan | A month | Included | Over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | 30 calls | $11.50 a call |
| Basic | $810 | 90 calls | $10.50 a call |
| Pro | $2,100 | 300 calls | $8.50 a call |
Ruby, by the minute for live virtual receptionists, as shown at https://www.ruby.com/pricing/ on 11 October 2026 (no setup or onboarding fees; the page does not state an overage rate):
| Included | A month |
|---|---|
| 50 minutes | $250 |
| 100 minutes | $395 |
| 200 minutes | $720 |
| 500 minutes | $1,725 |
A worked example at two volumes
An example, for the arithmetic. Three-minute calls are an assumption; replace it with your own average from your call log.
| A month of | Pickwick | Smith.ai | Ruby |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 calls (300 minutes) | $149 (After-hours & overflow) | $915 (Basic, with overage) | $1,725 (500-minute plan) |
| 300 calls (900 minutes) | $349 (Pro) | $2,100 (Pro) | above $1,725 (the largest listed plan is 500 minutes; overage not published) |
The services are not the same thing. Ruby and Smith.ai's human plans put a person on the line, which some callers want and some shops need; Pickwick is software that says so in its first sentence and hands the call to a person you name when it is not sure. The table is what each costs, not which is better; the comparison guide is about which fits.
Overage, setup fees and contracts: what to check
- The overage rate, in the same unit as the plan. A cheap bundle with an expensive overage is priced for the month you go over.
- Setup or onboarding fees, and whether "free setup" means you do the setup.
- The minimum term, and what cancelling costs. Month to month is the honest default for a service you have not used yet.
- The trial. Days, and whether a card is taken up front.
- Spanish. Whether bilingual answering is a surcharge, a separate plan, or included.
Why the cheapest plan is often the most expensive
Plans are sized below the volume of the shops that buy them, because a low headline price sells. A shop that takes 250 calls a month on a plan built for 90 pays the overage on 160 of them, and the overage rate is where the margin lives. Read your own call count off your phone bill before you pick a plan, and price the plan that covers it, not the one that looks cheapest.
The cost that is not on any pricing page
The call that rang out. If the service answers the calls that used to reach voicemail, the jobs in those calls are the other side of the ledger. The arithmetic, with your numbers, is on the missed-call calculator and in what a missed call costs an HVAC shop.
Pickwick's numbers, as the example
$149 a month for 600 minutes, then $0.49 a minute; $349 for 1,000 minutes, then $0.39; $749 for 2,500 minutes, then $0.29. No setup fee, month to month, the first 14 days free on your own line with no card, and 2 months free when you pay for the year. Spanish is included. Everything on this page about Pickwick is read from the same source as the pricing page, so the two cannot disagree. What those minutes cover on a trade line is on the HVAC answering service and plumbing answering service pages.