$0
Per minute or per call
A 30-second question and a 10-minute intake cost the same.
Flat-rate answering service with unlimited calls
NextPhone answers every call for one monthly price. Plans start at $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls: no per-minute or per-call fees, no overages, and spam calls cost nothing.
7-day free trialCancel anytime
What flat-rate means at NextPhone
A flat-rate answering service charges one monthly price, however many calls come in. Most live answering services bill by the minute or by the call instead, and charge $1.28 to $5.40 for each minute past the plan, so the bill is highest in your best month.
NextPhone Pro is $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls. It costs the same at 20 calls or 500, at 2pm or 2am, for a quick question or a long intake call. There is no meter to watch and no overage to pay.
- Price
- Pro $199 a month, or $1,990 a year. Growth $299 adds done-for-you setup and CRM integrations.
- Inbound calls
- Unlimited on every plan. No monthly cap, no allowance.
- Per minute
- No per-minute or per-call charges. Call length never changes the bill.
- Overage
- None. There is no allowance to go over.
- Spam
- Labeled as spam and never billed. Block any number from your dashboard.
- Hours
- 24/7, with no night, weekend or holiday surcharge.
- Busy hours
- Answers several calls at once, so callers never wait in a queue.
- Terms
- No setup fee. Monthly or yearly, cancel anytime. 7-day free trial.
What "unlimited inbound calls" means on Pro
Pro is $199 a month. Every call that reaches your NextPhone number counts, including calls forwarded from your current line.
$0
For spam calls
Robocalls and wrong numbers are labeled and never billed.
24/7
Same price
No night, weekend or holiday surcharge.
- No monthly cap
- No queue at busy hours
- Transfers to your team included
CRM integrations, Zapier and done-for-you setup are on Growth ($299 a month). Every plan has unlimited inbound calls. Compare plans.
How it works
See how it handles your calls.
Trained on your website. It figures out who is calling, follows your playbook for that caller, and gets it done.
Incoming callUnknown number
Your website
NextPhone
Understands who's calling
Caller memory
Shown: a law firm's playbook. Consultants, contractors, and service teams route their callers the same way.
Your bill at 100 calls a month
100 calls at 3 minutes each, on each service's cheapest published plan for that month.
- NextPhonePro$199
- PATLive300 minutes$479
- Posh200 minutes$630
- Moneypenny (US)200 minutes$661
- Abby ConnectProfessional (200 Abby Minutes)$898
- Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists90 calls$915
- Ruby200 minutes$1,160
At 200 calls the same services come to $2,125 at Ruby, $938 at PATLive and $1,194 at Moneypenny. NextPhone Pro stays $199.
The math line by line, and how each service bills spam
| Provider and plan | Plan price | The math at 100 calls | Monthly bill |
|---|---|---|---|
NextPhone Pro | $199 | 100 calls, unlimited on the plan No overage: call volume and length never change the bill | $199 |
Ruby 200 minutes | $720 | 100 calls x 3 min = 300 minutes, 200 included 100 extra minutes x $4.40 = $440 | $1,160 |
Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists 90 calls | $810 | 100 calls, 90 included 10 extra calls x $10.50 = $105 | $915 |
PATLive 300 minutes | $479 | 100 calls x 3 min = 300 minutes, 300 included Within the plan, no overage | $479 |
Moneypenny (US) 200 minutes | $422 | 100 calls x 3 min = 300 minutes, 200 included 100 extra minutes x $2.39 = $239 | $661 |
Posh 200 minutes | $420 | 100 calls x 3 min = 300 minutes, 200 included 100 extra minutes x $2.10 = $210 | $630 |
Abby Connect Professional (200 Abby Minutes) | $599 | 100 calls x 3 min = 300 minutes, 200 included 100 extra minutes x $2.99 = $299 | $898 |
Spam calls don't cost extra
On a per-minute or per-call plan, a robocall is a billed call unless the service exempts it. NextPhone has no meter, so spam costs nothing. It labels spam calls in your inbox, and you can block a number so it never reaches you again.
Here is how the most-compared live services treat spam, next to their cheapest published plan and what they charge past it.
| Provider | Entry plan | Overage past the plan | Spam and wrong numbers | How a call is billed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NextPhone AI receptionist | $199/mo Unlimited inbound calls | None (no per-minute or per-call fees) | Not billed separately (no per-call or per-minute charge) | Flat monthly subscription, unlimited inbound calls No usage meter |
Ruby Live answering service ruby.com/plans-and-pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 | $250/mo 50 minutes | $5.40/min (help center) Across plans: $3.65 to $5.40 a minute | Opt-in robocall filter not billed | Per minute 60 seconds, rounded up per call |
Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists Live answering service smith.ai/pricing/receptionists, read Oct 26, 2026 | $300/mo 30 calls | $11.50/call Across plans: $8.50 to $11.50 a call | Spam, misdials and callers who leave no message are not counted when caller ID passes | Per call Per call; extended intake must average 120 seconds or less |
PATLive Live answering service patlive.com/pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 | $49/mo None (pay per use) | $2.99/min Across plans: $1.69 to $2.29 a minute | No exemption for spam calls (spam chats are free) | Per minute 6 seconds, with a 1-minute minimum per call |
Moneypenny (US) Live answering service moneypenny.com/us/plans-pricing-people, read Oct 26, 2026 | $165/mo 50 minutes | $2.85/min Across plans: $2.09 to $2.85 a minute | No exclusion published (number blocking on request) | Per minute 30 seconds per call, rounded up after adding wrap-up and dispatch time |
AnswerConnect Live answering service answerconnect.com/view-pricing, read Oct 26, 2026 | Quote only, no published price | Not published | Only the first 30 calls under 30 seconds each month are free | Per minute Whole minute, rounded up |
Every plan and every source: answering service costs compared.
NextPhone
vs your answering service.
An answering service is a call center reading your script and passing on messages. NextPhone is trained on your business and gets the work done while the caller is still on the line.
Have a receptionist? Keep them. NextPhone takes the overflow and the after-hours calls.
| Feature | NextPhone | Answering service |
|---|---|---|
| Answers every call, 24/7 | ||
| Pricing | Flat monthly fee | |
| Knows your business | ||
| Books appointments into your calendar | ||
| Spam and wrong numbers never billed | ||
| Transcript, recording and summary of every call |
AI Receptionist Reviews
Their busiest weeks, handled.
4.9 average rating2M+ calls answered7,000+ businesses
84
after-hours intakes captured this year
“When I'm in court I can't answer my phone. NextPhone handles the intake and books the consult. I come back to a calendar, not a voicemail box.”
Sarah Mitchell
Family Law Attorney (Seattle)
47
tax-season client intakes
“Tax season my phone doesn't stop. NextPhone handles intake, qualifies prospects, and books discovery calls. I focused on returns, not phone tag.”
Jasmine Carter
Founder, Carter & Co. CPAs (Atlanta)
One flat price.
Never per call.
You set it up yourself
Pro
$199 / month
Live in 5 minutes. Unlimited calls, no overages.
- Answers every call, 24/7
- Trained on your business and website
- Asks your intake questions
- Books into Google Calendar or Outlook
- Transfers calls to your team
Cancel anytime
We set it up for you
Growth
$299 / month
We build it, test it and tune it. Live in days.
- Everything in Pro
- We build your agent for you
- You test it, we tune it
- Updates your CRM, including HubSpot and Clio
- Priority support
We set it up for you · Live in days
For complex call flows
Scale
$599 / month
Everything in Growth, set up for your team.
- Everything in Growth
- Custom call flows and routing
- Large directory: up to 500 contacts
- 2-way texting from your number
- Custom integrations for your stack
For multiple offices, lines and routing rules
Flat-Rate Answering Service FAQ
Before you forward
your line.
Price, spam, hours and your number, before you forward your line.
Still have questions? Contact our support team
A flat-rate answering service charges one fixed monthly price instead of billing by the minute or by the call. NextPhone works this way: plans start at $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one.
Yes. NextPhone is an AI answering service with flat monthly plans from $199 a month and unlimited inbound calls, with no per-minute or per-call fees. Most live answering services bill by the minute, including Ruby, PATLive and Moneypenny, and Smith.ai's receptionists bill by the call.
Yes. Every plan includes unlimited inbound calls with no monthly cap, no allowance and no overage. Call length does not change the bill, and NextPhone answers several calls at once.
No. NextPhone labels spam and robocalls and never bills for them, because there is no per-call or per-minute charge. You can also block numbers. On per-minute plans spam is billed unless the service exempts it: PATLive publishes no spam exemption for calls, and AnswerConnect waives only the first 30 calls under 30 seconds each month.
At 100 calls a month, about 300 minutes, live answering services with published prices cost $170 to $1,160 (low end ReceptionHQ, message-taking only, no transfers). The median is $444, read from each service's own pricing page on October 26, 2026 (25 of 27 providers; the other 2 earlier). NextPhone Pro is $199 for the same month.
Yes. On every plan NextPhone transfers calls to your team or anyone you choose, with warm and announced transfers. You decide which calls go through, such as urgent jobs or existing clients. Transfers do not add to the bill.
No. NextPhone answers 24/7 at the same price, with no after-hours, weekend or holiday surcharge.
Yes. Forward your existing line to NextPhone, with step-by-step codes for 94 carriers and phone systems, or port your number to NextPhone for free. You can also take a new local number.
About 5 minutes on Pro. NextPhone reads your website, you hear it on a test call, pick a number and forward your line. On Growth our team builds and tests it for you, and it goes live within a few days.
Yes. Plans are monthly or yearly with no setup fee and no cancellation fee. The 7-day free trial takes a card at signup, and you are not charged if you cancel before it ends.
Run your business,
not your phone.
Unlimited calls. Cancel anytime.