How much does an answering service cost?
Enter your own call volume and rates to see the real monthly and yearly bill — base fees, per-minute charges, and all. Your numbers, not an ad.
Your numbers.
Calls the service would actually handle for you.
Most answering-service calls run 1–5 minutes.
Commonly quoted rates run about $0.90–$1.70 per operator minute.
Many plans add a flat account fee on top of minutes.
What that service costs.
Estimated from your inputs. Surcharges and overages not included.
This estimates a typical base-plus-minutes plan from the numbers you entered. Real quotes vary — watch for per-call minimums, after-hours surcharges, and overage rates. An answering service covers your phone; Zurvo covers your website, 24/7, at a flat price that doesn't grow with volume.
Start your 3-day trialWondering what the inquiries you're missing are worth? Run the missed-call ROI calculator.
What answering services typically charge.
Most answering services price on operator time: a base account fee plus a per-minute rate for every call an agent handles. Commonly quoted per-minute rates run about $0.90–$1.70, and plans usually bundle a block of minutes with overage rates above it. The quote you see rarely includes everything — per-call minimums (a 20-second wrong number billed as a full minute), after-hours and holiday surcharges, and message-delivery fees all show up on real bills.
The math compounds with growth: more calls means a bigger bill, so the months you're busiest are the months you pay the most. That's the core trade of paying per minute for a human on the line.
The cost most owners miss: the website.
A lot of "calls" start as website visits — someone checking whether you handle their problem, what it costs, and whether you serve their town. If the website answers those questions and captures their contact details, many of those calls never need to happen. That's what Zurvo does for small businesses: it learns your website, answers visitors 24/7, and emails you each lead — from $39/mo flat, whatever your volume does. See pricing or try it live.
Answering service cost FAQs
How much does an answering service cost per month?
Most services bill a base fee plus a per-minute rate, with commonly quoted rates around $0.90–$1.70 per operator minute. A small business taking a few hundred short calls a month typically lands somewhere between $150 and $400 — use the calculator above with your own call volume to get a real number instead of an average.
What drives the price up?
Minutes are the big one: longer calls and higher volume scale the bill directly. Beyond that, look for per-call minimums, after-hours or holiday surcharges, charges for wrong numbers and spam calls, message-delivery fees, and overage rates that kick in above your plan’s included minutes.
Is an AI chatbot cheaper than an answering service?
They cover different doors. An answering service staffs your phone; an AI chatbot like Zurvo covers your website — answering questions and capturing leads 24/7 for a flat monthly price (from $39/mo) that doesn’t grow with volume. Many businesses find a lot of "calls" start as website visits, so covering the website first shrinks the phone bill.
Can Zurvo replace my answering service?
Not for phone calls — Zurvo doesn’t answer the phone. It answers the visitors on your website (often the same people who would have called), collects their name and number when they want follow-up, and emails you the details. Plenty of businesses run both: the service for the phone line, Zurvo for the website.
What happens to callers after hours if I don’t pay for 24/7 coverage?
Usually voicemail — and many callers won’t leave one. That’s the case for covering your website around the clock: visitors at 9pm get answers and you get their contact details, without paying overnight per-minute rates. See what missed inquiries cost you.
Cover your website for a flat price.
Point Zurvo at your website and try it free for 3 days. Set up in about five minutes.