Blog · 2026-10-19
How much does an answering service cost for a plumbing or HVAC company? Live vs AI, priced out (2026)
Published 2026 prices for live answering services (Ruby, Smith.ai, Abby) and AI answering services (Jobber, Rosie, OnCrew, Wakeman, Sameday), how per-minute, per-call and per-booking billing compare, a worked example for 120 after-hours calls, and the hidden fees to ask about.
If you’ve priced an answering service for your plumbing or HVAC shop, you’ve probably noticed that no two vendors charge the same way. One sells minutes, one sells calls, one only charges when a job gets booked, and the AI services sell everything from “conversations” to credits. This guide puts the published 2026 prices side by side and works through what a typical after-hours load would cost on each.
All prices below were read off each vendor’s own pricing page on October 19, 2026 (linked). They change often, so confirm before you sign anything.
The short answer
- Live (human) answering services with published prices start around $164 to $300 a month for a small bundle (50 minutes or 30 calls) and run past $1,700 a month for 500 minutes. That works out to roughly $3 to $5 per minute, or $7 to $10 per call.
- AI answering services start at $29 to $49 a month for general small-business tools, and $149 to $829 a month for services built for the trades. Per minute, that’s typically under 60 cents.
- Enterprise AI platforms for big multi-truck shops (Avoca, Probook, Broccoli AI, CentralComs) don’t publish prices. Expect a demo and a quote.
The price gap is real. What you’re deciding is whether the calls you miss need a person, or just need to be answered, triaged and written down properly.
Live answering services: published prices
| Service | Cheapest published plan | Bigger plans | Works out to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby (pricing) | $250/mo for 50 minutes | $395 (100 min), $720 (200 min), $1,725 (500 min) | $5.00/min down to $3.45/min |
| Smith.ai, human-first (pricing) | $300/mo for 30 calls | $810 (90 calls), $2,100 (300 calls) | $10.00/call down to $7.00/call; overage $11.50–$8.50/call |
| Abby Connect (pricing) | $164/mo for 50 minutes | $599/mo for 200 minutes | about $3.00–$3.30/min with a person; Abby says minutes double if you choose its AI |
| PlumbLine Answering Service (site) | Not published | Not published | Charges only for booked calls, per its FAQ |
A few details worth knowing:
- Ruby says there are no extra fees for setup or after-hours coverage, and it lists 24/7 live answering, scheduling and Spanish/bilingual call handling among the features on every receptionist plan (Ruby).
- Smith.ai bills per call rather than per minute, doesn’t charge for spam calls if caller ID is passed through, and charges extra per call for some add-ons, such as $1.50 to book an appointment and $0.25 for call recording (Smith.ai). Those add-ons can move your real cost per call well above the headline rate, so price the plan with the add-ons you’d actually use.
- PlumbLine is a human service started by plumbing business owners. It doesn’t post prices, but it says you only pay for calls that end in a booked job and that its agents book directly into your field service software (PlumbLine FAQ). If you go this route, get the definition of a “booked call” in writing.
AI answering services: published prices
| Service | Cheapest plan | Bigger plans | After the included amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobber Receptionist (pricing) | $29/mo add-on for Jobber users | Included on some higher Jobber plans | See Jobber |
| Rosie (pricing) | $49/mo for 250 minutes | $149 (1,000 min), $299 (2,000 min) | No overage rate on the pricing page |
| OnCrew (pricing) | $49/mo for 100 calls | $149 (400 calls), $349 (1,000 calls) | $0.99/call |
| Smith.ai, AI receptionist (pricing) | Free for 25 calls/mo | $150 (75 calls), $270 (150 calls), $500 (300 calls) | $3.00/call on Free; $2.50–$2.17 on paid tiers |
| Wakeman (pricing) | $149/mo for 300 minutes (after hours only) | $349 (750 min, any missed call), $829 (2,000 min) | $0.59 / $0.39 / $0.29 per minute |
| Driive (pricing) | $99/mo, credit-based | $199, $499 | Credit top-up packs from $15 |
| Sameday AI (pricing) | From $449/mo for 500 minutes | From $789/mo for 1,000 minutes | Not published |
What the money buys differs a lot between the cheap tools and the trade-specific ones:
- General small-business AI (Rosie’s entry tier, for example) mainly takes messages and texts a booking link. Booking straight onto your calendar and live transfers start on Rosie’s $149 Scale plan (Rosie).
- Trade-specific AI asks dispatcher-style questions. Wakeman says it has separate setups for plumbing, HVAC and electrical, checks the service address against the postal database, alerts your on-call phone on emergencies and can book into Jobber once you switch booking on (Wakeman). OnCrew triages emergencies by your rules, texts the on-call tech and emails you a transcript. It records appointment requests on your Google Calendar, and your team confirms them (OnCrew).
- FSM-connected AI books into your system directly. Sameday lists ServiceTitan scheduling on its plans (Sameday), and Broccoli AI says it books into ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro (Broccoli). These are priced for shops with dispatchers.
A worked example: 120 after-hours calls a month
Here’s one scenario so you can see how the billing models play out. Say your shop gets 120 calls a month outside business hours, averaging 3 minutes each (360 minutes). That’s an assumption for illustration, not an industry average. Pull your own numbers from your phone system before you choose.
| Service | Plan that covers it | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby | 500-minute plan (the 200-minute plan is too small) | $1,725 |
| Smith.ai, human-first | Basic (90 calls) + 30 calls at $10.50 | $1,125, before per-call add-ons |
| Abby Connect | Professional on AI (400 AI minutes; its 200 live minutes wouldn’t cover 360) | $599 |
| Smith.ai, AI | 150-call tier | $270 |
| Wakeman | After Hours (300 min) + 60 min at $0.59 | about $184 |
| Rosie | Scale (1,000 min), since 360 is over the 250-minute plan | $149 |
| OnCrew | Starter (100 calls) + 20 calls at $0.99 | about $69 |
Two things jump out. First, in this scenario the two live services cost $1,125 to $1,725 a month, versus $69 to $599 for the AI options. Second, among the AI services, how the plan counts usage (minutes, calls or tiers) matters about as much as the sticker price. Also, Wakeman rounds each call up to the next whole minute, Smith.ai and Wakeman say they don’t bill spam calls, and a plan that counts calls costs the same whether a caller talks for 1 minute or 8.
Is it worth it at all?
Do the math on gross profit, not revenue. Divide the monthly cost by what you actually keep on a typical service call. That tells you how many extra jobs a month the service has to win to break even. For example, if you keep $200 on a typical call, a $149 plan pays for itself with one extra job a month, while a $1,125 plan needs six.
An owner running these numbers on r/smallbusiness counted 8 to 10 calls between 6 PM and midnight in one week and said most callers hung up without leaving a voicemail. That’s the cost you’re weighing the service against: not voicemail, but the next shop on Google.
When paying for a live person makes sense
The cheapest answer isn’t always the right one. A small plumbing owner on r/smallbusiness worried about handing a real emergency to a bot. One reply (from someone who disclosed they work for a software vendor) suggested that for a three-person shop a live service can keep a panicked 8 PM caller on the line better than a script, and recommended calling any AI line yourself at midnight, pretending to panic.
A live person is worth considering if:
- A big share of your after-hours calls are true emergencies (gas smell, flooding, no heat in a freeze) and you want a human voice on them.
- Your customers skew older, or you’ve had callers hang up when they realize they’re talking to an AI.
- You need judgment calls a script can’t make, like handling an angry existing customer.
There are also hybrid options. Smith.ai sells both a human-first and an AI-first service, and Abby Connect lets you pick between people and AI on the same plan (Smith.ai, Abby). Many AI tools can also warm-transfer emergencies to your on-call cell.
Hidden costs to ask about, in writing
- Setup or onboarding fee, and whether there’s a minimum term. Wakeman and Smith.ai say they have no setup fee and are month to month. Ask everyone else.
- How usage is counted: per minute (rounded how?), per call, per “conversation,” per credit, or per booked job.
- Spam and wrong numbers: billed or free?
- Overage: the per-unit rate after your bundle, or whether you get bumped to the next plan.
- Add-on fees for booking, call recording, Spanish, text follow-up or extra transfer numbers.
- Your phone number: can you keep it and forward calls (most can), and is there a fee to take it back if you leave?
- What actually happens on an emergency: who gets alerted, how, and how fast?
How to choose
- Count your missed calls for two weeks: how many, what time, and how many were real jobs.
- If you already run Jobber, try its own Receptionist first. It’s the cheapest path and books into the software you already use.
- If you want trade-specific triage without a contract, trial one of the trade-built AI services (Wakeman, OnCrew). Both offer 14-day free trials with no card required, per their pricing pages.
- If you have dispatchers and run ServiceTitan, get demos from the FSM-connected platforms (Sameday AI, Avoca, Broccoli AI).
- If you want it set up for you across phone, text, booking and follow-up, AI Peak Biz is our company, from the team behind HomeTrade AI. It builds AI voice agents with missed-call text-back and booking for local service businesses. We’re obviously biased, so compare it against the tools above.
Whatever you pick, test it the way a customer would: call your own line after hours with a “burst pipe” or “no heat” and read what lands in your inbox.
Compare every option in our AI receptionists and answering services category, or see our take on whether an AI receptionist is worth it for a small plumbing company.
FAQ
How much does an answering service cost per month? On published 2026 plans, live services start around $164 to $300 a month for 50 minutes or 30 calls, and AI services start between $29 and $49. Trade-specific AI runs about $149 to $829 a month.
How much does Ruby answering service cost? Ruby’s published receptionist plans are $250/month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500, checked October 19, 2026 (Ruby).
How much does an AI answering service cost? From free (Smith.ai’s AI receptionist includes 25 calls a month) and $29 to $49 for small-business tools, up to $449+ a month for platforms that book into ServiceTitan. Some enterprise tools are quote-only.
Is an AI answering service cheaper than a human one? On published prices, yes, usually by a wide margin per minute or per call. Whether it’s better depends on how many of your calls need human judgment.
Does PlumbLine answering service publish its price? No. Its FAQ says you pay only for booked calls, not minutes. Ask for the per-booking rate and any setup fees or minimums.