Buyer’s guide · Contractors

Answering services for contractors: every option compared (2026)

There are three kinds of answering service a contractor can hire: live people, general AI receptionists, and AI built for the trades. Which one fits depends on three things: how many calls you miss, whether you run your shop on job software, and how much a missed emergency costs you. This guide compares 19 services on price, booking and software, using each company’s own pricing page.

By Eric Smith, founder of Outfitter AI and a former general contractor · Prices checked October 4, 2026

Who wrote this: Outfitter AI makes Front Desk, one of the 19 options here. We list it with the same kind of facts as everyone else, and in several situations below we recommend something else. Every competitor price comes from that company’s own website, checked October 4, 2026, and is linked. If anything is wrong or out of date, call or text (507) 628-0400 and we’ll fix it.

The short answer: what fits your shop

You run on Jobber

Try Jobber Receptionist first: $29 a month for 30 conversations, and it books straight into Jobber. Nothing else connects as tightly for the price.

You run on Housecall Pro

Ask for a quote on Housecall Pro’s CSR AI add-on, which books onto your Housecall Pro calendar. If you want people, Smith.ai’s live receptionists can book through your online booking link.

You run on ServiceTitan with CSRs

Compare ServiceTitan’s own voice agent, Avoca and Sameday AI. All three book against your technicians’ schedule. Expect demos and quotes, not a price list.

You want a real person on every call

MAP Communications is the lowest per-minute live service we found; PATLive adds emergency dispatch and free Spanish; Ruby is the premium option.

You want the lowest bill

Upfirst ($24.95 for 30 calls), Dialzara ($29 for 60 minutes) and Rosie ($49 for 250 minutes) are general AI receptionists. You’ll set up the trade questions yourself.

You run the shop from your phone, no job software

That’s who we built Outfitter Front Desk for: 35¢ a minute, trade questions set up for you, every call texted to you, plus a website and marketing in the same place. It doesn’t book jobs; you confirm the time.

Missed calls are the reason to buy any of these. Call-tracking company Invoca reports that 27% of calls to home-service businesses go unanswered [1], and a 2019 ServiceDirect study (as reported by PATLive, an answering service) found owners guessed they answered 97% of calls when the real figure was 66% [2]. Before you buy anything, check your own phone log for a normal week.

What a contractor’s answering service has to do

Most answering services are built for law firms, clinics and every other small business. A home-service call is different: a homeowner with water on the floor needs the on-call tech now, and a quote request at 9 p.m. just needs a time to call back. Check these eight things before you sign:

Emergencies. Can it tell a no-heat or burst-pipe call from a routine one, and what happens next: a live transfer to your on-call phone, a text alert, or just a message? Ask them to show you.
Booking, scheduling or a message. “Books jobs” can mean three things: it writes the job into your software, it puts a time on a calendar, or it takes a message for you to call back. Know which one you’re paying for.
Your software. If you use Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan, ask whether it writes the job into your software or only reads customer info. Several services only do the second.
How it charges. Per minute (watch for rounding up to whole minutes), per call, per conversation or per unique caller. Short spam calls can eat a per-call plan unless they’re excluded.
What happens in your busy month. Check the overage rate, not just the plan price. A plan that fits March can triple in July.
Contracts and setup fees. Most here are month to month. A few charge setup fees.
Spanish. Some include it free, some charge extra, some don’t offer it yet.
Your number. Most work by forwarding your existing number when you don’t pick up, so callers still dial the number on your truck.

All 19 compared

Service	Type	Listed starting price	Books jobs?	Contractor software named	Best fit
Ruby	Live people	$250/mo for 50 min	Scheduling offered	Not listed	Premium human service, low call volume
Smith.ai	People + AI	AI from $0 (25 calls); people $300/mo for 30 calls	Yes, Calendly and others; Housecall Pro via booking link	ServiceTitan (logs callers), Housecall Pro	AI with a live-person backup
AnswerConnect	Live people	$325/mo for 200 min + $49.99 setup	Not listed	Not listed	Human-only, mid-size minute bundles
PATLive	Live people	$49/mo + $2.99/min, or $99 for 50 min	Yes, scheduling and dispatch	Not named	24/7 emergency dispatch by people
Abby Connect	People + AI	$165/mo for 50 Abby Minutes	Not listed	Not named (“1,000+ integrations”)	A dedicated human team with AI overflow
MAP Communications	Live people	$49/mo + $1.37/min, or $179 for 125 min	Yes, appointment scheduling	Not listed	Lowest-cost live answering we found
Moneypenny	People + AI	People $165/mo for 50 min; AI $69/mo for 25 calls	Not listed	Not listed	Human or AI from one company
Goodcall	AI	$79/mo per agent, 100 callers	Claimed	Jobber, Housecall Pro (reads data; booking into them not confirmed)	AI when call length varies a lot
Rosie	AI	$49/mo for 250 min	Scale plan and up (Google Calendar, Calendly)	None	Cheap AI for owner-operators
Dialzara	AI	$29/mo for 60 min	Yes (calendar/CRM, not named)	Not named	Lowest entry price
My AI Front Desk	AI	$99/mo for 200 min ($79 yearly)	Not listed	None (Zapier)	Phone, website chat and texting in one
Upfirst	AI	$24.95/mo for 30 calls	Yes (Google, Outlook, Calendly, Square)	None	Cheapest per-call AI at low volume
Jobber Receptionist	AI inside job software	$29/mo for 30 conversations (Jobber required)	Yes, into Jobber	Jobber only	Shops already on Jobber
Housecall Pro CSR AI	AI inside job software	Add-on price not published (Housecall Pro from $59/mo)	Yes, into Housecall Pro	Housecall Pro only	Shops already on Housecall Pro
ServiceTitan AI Voice Agent	AI inside job software	Not published	Yes, real-time with capacity	ServiceTitan only	Larger ServiceTitan shops
Avoca	AI built for trades	Not published (demo only)	Yes, into job software	ServiceTitan (certified), Housecall Pro, Jobber, FieldEdge, AccuLynx and more	Larger trade shops, especially on ServiceTitan
Sameday AI	AI built for trades	From $449/mo for 500 min	Yes, into job software	ServiceTitan (certified), Housecall Pro, FieldRoutes, AccuLynx, JobNimbus and more	Multi-truck shops wanting trade AI at a flat price
ServiceAgent	AI built for trades	Free tier; $49/mo ($39 yearly)	Booking widget, own CRM	Says it syncs with Jobber and Housecall Pro (its blog)	Very small shops wanting a CRM with AI voice
Outfitter Front Desk	AI built for trades	35¢/min, no monthly fee	No. Pre-schedules a time you confirm	None. Texts and emails every call	Owner-operators without job software

Prices are the lowest plan each company lists on its own pricing page, checked October 4, 2026, before taxes and add-ons. “Not listed” means we couldn’t find it on the company’s own pages, not that the feature is missing. Ask in a trial.

What 100 calls a month would cost

Plans are priced so many different ways that the sticker price tells you little. Here is the same month, about 100 calls of 3 minutes each, priced on every service that publishes enough to work it out.

Upfirst

$69.95

Premium (90 calls, $59.95) + 10 calls at $1

Goodcall

$79

Starter, if no more than 100 different people call

Jobber Receptionist

$84.30

$29 for 30 conversations + 70 at $0.79, plus your Jobber subscription

Outfitter Front Desk

$105

300 minutes at 35¢

ServiceAgent

$119

Growth plan (6,000 credits, about 400 voice minutes), billed monthly

My AI Front Desk

$124

$99 plan (200 minutes) + 100 minutes at $0.25

Dialzara

$135

Pro (220 minutes, $99) + 80 minutes at $0.45

Rosie

$149

Scale plan (1,000 minutes); 300 minutes is over the $49 plan and its overage isn’t listed

AnswerConnect

$350

Growth plan, 300 minutes, no setup fee

MAP Communications

$403

250-minute plan ($339) + 50 minutes at $1.28

Sameday AI

$449

Launch plan (500 minutes)

PATLive

$479

300-minute plan

Moneypenny

$613

People: 200-minute plan ($422) + 100 minutes at $1.91

Abby Connect

$898.50

200-minute plan ($599) + 100 minutes at the plan rate

Smith.ai

$915

People plan: 90 calls for $810 + 10 calls at $10.50

Ruby

$1,725

500-minute plan; no overage rate is listed for the 200-minute plan ($720)

An example, not a quote: 100 calls a month averaging 3 minutes (300 minutes), using each company’s listed plan and overage rates. It leaves out taxes, add-ons and the job-software subscription that Jobber’s receptionist requires. Services that don’t publish prices or overage rates aren’t shown. Your real cost depends on how long your calls run.

Two things stand out. Live people cost roughly three to ten times what AI costs for the same calls. And the software add-ons (Jobber, Housecall Pro) are cheap per call but assume you already pay for the software, which runs more than the receptionist does.

Each service, in plain terms

Live answering services (real people)

Trained receptionists answer in your business name. They handle confused, upset or elderly callers better than any AI, and most can dispatch an on-call tech. You pay for that: roughly $1.30 to $5 a minute depending on the plan, usually billed in whole minutes. Most are built for every kind of business, so expect to write your own call script.

Ruby Live people

Price: $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, $1,725 for 500. No setup fees. source

The best-known premium live receptionist. Answering is 24/7 and bilingual answering is offered. Its integrations lean toward law firms, and it doesn’t name any contractor job software. At 50 minutes for $250 it works out to $5 a minute, the highest per-minute cost we checked.

Good fit: A remodeler or specialty contractor with a handful of high-value calls a week who wants a polished human voice. Not ideal: Busy service shops with lots of short calls; the minutes go fast.

Smith.ai People + AI

Price: AI plans: Free (25 calls, then $3 a call), Pro $150 a month ($2 a call), Enterprise $500 ($1.67 a call). Live-person plans: $300 a month for 30 calls ($11.50 each after), $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300. Appointment booking on people plans is $1.50 a call extra. No setup fees. source

Sells both an AI receptionist and North American live receptionists, so you can start on AI and escalate. Its ServiceTitan connection creates or matches the customer and adds notes; it doesn’t say it books the job. Housecall Pro booking goes through your online booking link. Per-call pricing is easy to predict, but people plans get expensive once add-ons stack.

Good fit: Shops that want AI most of the time and a human for the tricky calls, or Housecall Pro users who want people booking jobs. Not ideal: High call volume on a people plan; at $10 a call it adds up.

AnswerConnect Live people

Price: Entry $325 a month for 200 minutes ($1.95 a minute after) plus a $49.99 setup fee; Growth $350 for 300 minutes ($1.65 after), no setup fee; Standard $475 for 375 minutes. Every call is rounded up to the next full minute. Spanish routing is a $19.99 to $29.99 add-on. source

A large live answering service with bigger minute bundles than most, which brings the per-minute cost down to about $1.20 to $1.60. Its pricing page doesn’t list booking, emergency handling or software connections, so confirm those on a sales call.

Good fit: Shops that want people on every call and use 200+ minutes a month. Not ideal: Low volume; the entry plan is $325 before setup.

PATLive Live people

Price: Pay as you go $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute; 50 minutes $99 ($2.29 after); 100 for $189; 200 for $349; 300 for $479; 500 for $759. 14-day free trial on any plan. Prices exclude taxes and fees. source

Markets directly to home-service companies and lists emergency dispatch, call screening, transfers and appointment scheduling. Bilingual English and Spanish answering is included at no extra cost. It says it updates your CRM and calendar but doesn’t name which contractor software.

Good fit: HVAC, plumbing and restoration shops that want a person to dispatch the on-call tech at 2 a.m. Not ideal: Owners who want the cheapest possible coverage; AI is a fraction of the price.

Abby Connect People + AI

Price: Starter $165 a month for 50 Abby Minutes, Essential $329 for 100, Professional $599 for 200, Growth $1,380 for 500. An AI minute counts as half an Abby Minute. No setup fee, month to month, free trial on every plan. source

Assigns you a small team of US-based receptionists, with AI answering on every plan to stretch the minutes. Bilingual support and 24/7 coverage are listed. Booking and contractor software aren’t named on the pricing page.

Good fit: Owners who want the same few people answering every time. Not ideal: Shops that need calls booked straight into job software.

MAP Communications Live people

Price: Pay as you go $49 a month plus $1.37 a minute; Business $179 for 125 minutes ($1.30 after); Enterprise $339 for 250 ($1.28 after); Premium $649 for 500. No long-term contracts; free trial with no credit card. source

The lowest per-minute live answering of the services we checked, with contractor and HVAC pages, technician dispatch, scheduling and Spanish-speaking agents. It doesn’t list software connections or an AI option.

Good fit: Small shops that want people, not AI, at the lowest price. Not ideal: Anyone who needs jobs written into their software automatically.

Moneypenny People + AI

Price: People: 50 minutes $165 a month ($2.28 a minute after), 100 for $265, 200 for $422, 500 for $985. AI: 25 calls $69 ($2.49 a call after), 50 for $99, 100 for $199, 250 for $435. No contracts; 30 days’ notice to cancel. source

A long-running answering company (it owns VoiceNation) with separate human and AI plans and bilingual answering on every plan. The pricing page doesn’t cover booking, emergency handling or contractor software.

Good fit: Owners who want to switch between people and AI with the same company. Not ideal: Trades that need detailed intake; confirm the script options first.

General AI receptionists

An AI voice answers, takes the details, texts you a summary and can often put a time on a calendar. They cost a fraction of live service, from about $25 to $100 a month for a small shop, and never put a caller on hold. Most are built for any small business, so the trade knowledge (what counts as an emergency, which questions to ask) is up to you to set up, and none of these list a field-service software connection that books jobs.

Goodcall AI

Price: Starter $79 a month per agent for 100 unique callers ($0.50 each after), Growth $129 for 250, Scale $249 for 500; 15% off yearly. Unlimited minutes. 14-day free trial. source

Charges by how many different people call, not by minutes, so long calls and repeat callers don’t cost more. It has home-service, HVAC, cleaning and pest pages. Its Jobber and Housecall Pro pages say it can read customer and job data; neither says it writes the booking into that software, so test that in the trial. Call history is kept 7 days on Starter.

Good fit: Shops with long, chatty calls or lots of repeat customers. Not ideal: Anyone counting on bookings landing in Jobber or Housecall Pro without testing it.

Rosie AI

Price: Professional $49 a month for 250 minutes, Scale $149 for 1,000, Growth $299 for 2,000. Calendar booking and live transfers start on Scale; the $49 plan texts the caller a booking link. 7-day free trial, cancel anytime. Overage rate not listed. source

A low-cost AI receptionist that shows plumbing, HVAC and home-service examples and answers in English or Spanish. It books onto Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity or Appointlet, but only on the $149 plan and up.

Good fit: A one- or two-truck operation on Google Calendar. Not ideal: Shops that need jobs in field-service software.

Dialzara AI

Price: Business Lite $29 a month for 60 minutes ($0.48 a minute after), Pro $99 for 220 ($0.45), Plus $199 for 500 ($0.40), Elite $349 for 1,000 ($0.35). 7 days free, no setup fees. source

A general small-business AI receptionist with an onboarding call to set up your script, English and Spanish, and call routing. It lists calendar and CRM connections without naming them.

Good fit: Very low call volume and a tight budget. Not ideal: Busy seasons; 60 minutes is about 20 calls.

My AI Front Desk AI

Price: $99 a month, or $79 a month billed yearly, for 200 voice minutes, 100 chatbot conversations and 400 texts. Extra minutes run 25 credits each at $0.01 a credit ($0.25 a minute). 7-day free trial, no long-term contract. source

Bundles a phone AI with a website chatbot, two-way texting and a simple built-in CRM. It speaks 20+ languages. Booking and contractor software aren’t listed; connections go through Zapier.

Good fit: Owners who want calls, chat and texts handled in one cheap tool. Not ideal: Shops that need trade-specific intake out of the box.

Upfirst AI

Price: Starter $24.95 a month for 30 calls ($1.50 each after), Premium $59.95 for 90 ($1), Pro $159.95 for 300 ($0.75), Scale $299.95 for 600 ($0.70); 20% off yearly. Extra AI agents $9.95 a month. 14-day free trial, no credit card. source

Lists contractors, HVAC and plumbing among its customers. It does warm transfers with context, books onto common calendars and speaks 35+ languages. Spam and hang-ups under 15 seconds aren’t billed, which matters for trades that get a lot of robocalls.

Good fit: A small shop on Google or Outlook calendar that wants the lowest bill. Not ideal: Shops that schedule in Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan.

AI built for contractors

These know home-service calls and can book straight into job software. Three are add-ons inside the software itself (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber), so they only make sense if you already run your shop on it. The independent ones are priced and sold for larger shops with dispatchers, starting around $450 a month or sold only by demo.

Jobber Receptionist AI inside job software

Price: $29 a month for 30 conversations, $0.79 each after; unlimited on Jobber’s Plus plan. Requires a Jobber subscription and a Jobber phone number (your existing number can forward to it). source

Answers calls and texts 24/7, creates requests and schedules visits using your Jobber online booking settings, and can reschedule or cancel. You set emergency keywords (“burst pipe”) that trigger a transfer or a text alert.

Good fit: Any shop already running on Jobber. Try this first. Not ideal: Shops not on Jobber; the software itself costs more than the receptionist.

Housecall Pro CSR AI AI inside job software

Price: Sold as an optional add-on; Housecall Pro doesn’t publish its price. Housecall Pro plans are $59, $149 and $299 a month billed yearly ($79, $189, $329 monthly). 14-day free trial. source

Answers 24/7, books new appointments onto your Housecall Pro calendar through your online booking settings, and always forwards or texts you emergencies. Housecall Pro’s own pages don’t agree on whether you can turn off the “this is an AI” disclosure, and Spanish isn’t offered yet.

Good fit: Any shop already on Housecall Pro. Get the add-on quote first. Not ideal: Shops that need Spanish-speaking callers handled today.

ServiceTitan AI Voice Agent AI inside job software

Price: Not published. It’s part of ServiceTitan’s Contact Center Pro, which is sold on top of a ServiceTitan subscription. source

Books jobs in real time against your technicians’ capacity, confirms and reschedules, books recurring maintenance, and hands calls to your CSRs. Built for shops that already have a call center.

Good fit: Multi-truck shops on ServiceTitan with CSRs. Not ideal: Small shops; ServiceTitan itself is sized for bigger operations.

Avoca AI built for trades

Price: Not published; pricing comes after a demo. source

AI built only for home services (HVAC, plumbing, pest, roofing, electrical). It routes emergencies to your on-call tech, transfers with full context and books straight into your field-service software. Some integrations are marked “coming soon” on its own pages.

Good fit: Established shops with a dispatcher who want AI to take booking off their CSRs. Not ideal: Owner-operators; it’s sold and priced for larger companies.

Sameday AI AI built for trades

Price: Launch from $449 a month for 500 minutes and up to 3 locations; Scale from $789 for 1,000 minutes and unlimited locations; Enterprise custom. Overage not listed. source

AI built for trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest, landscaping, cleaning, garage doors). It qualifies emergencies, books and reschedules inside your field-service software and handles bilingual calls.

Good fit: Shops with several trucks on ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro. Not ideal: Shops with fewer than ~150 calls a month; $449 is a lot for light volume.

ServiceAgent AI built for trades

Price: Launch $0 (pay as you go); Core $49 a month, or $39 billed yearly, with 2,000 credits (an AI voice minute is 15 credits, so about 133 minutes); Growth $119 ($95 yearly) with 6,000 credits. source

An all-in-one front office for small trades: a CRM, booking widget, texting and an AI voice agent paid for with credits. Its blog says it syncs with Jobber or Housecall Pro during the call; the pricing page doesn’t.

Good fit: A small shop that doesn’t have job software yet and wants one cheap system. Not ideal: Owners who want a predictable per-call bill; credits make it harder to forecast.

Outfitter Front Desk AI built for trades

Price: 35 cents a minute from a prepaid balance (1 token = 1 cent). No monthly minimum, no contract. Setup and changes are free. source

Our product, so read this one with that in mind. It answers the calls you can’t, says it’s an AI assistant at the start of every call, asks the questions you taught it for your trade, flags emergencies, and texts and emails you every message. It doesn’t book jobs: it offers the caller a time and you confirm. It can use your own cloned voice from a recording you make. It doesn’t connect to job software; it works alongside whatever you use. It’s part of a larger kit (website, ads, postcards, hiring ads) you run by texting one AI assistant.

Good fit: A 1 to 10 person shop that runs from the owner’s phone and wants calls, website and marketing in one place. Not ideal: Shops that want jobs booked straight into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber, or want a live person on the line.

By trade: what the service should ask

Each trade gets different calls, different emergencies and different questions that need asking. These guides cover what the service should ask and which options fit that trade:

Plumbing

burst pipes, sewer backups and the main shutoff

HVAC

no heat, no cool, CO alarms and heat-wave volume

Electrical

outages, burning smells and panel calls

Roofing

active leaks, storm surges and insurance claims

Restoration

water, fire and mold losses and insurer timelines

Pest control

stinging insects, swarmers and recurring routes

Lawn care

rain-day reschedules and spring signups

Landscaping

design inquiries, irrigation breaks and walls

Pool service

openings, closings and green pools

Cleaning

move-outs, recurring cleans and lockouts

General contracting

bids, active jobs and subs

Kitchen & bath

design leads and leaks after install

Remodeling

estimate speed and lead-safe rules

Painting

estimates, listings and weather

Handyman

small mixed jobs and what to refer out

Junk removal

same-day pickups and cleanout deadlines

Pressure washing

square-foot quotes, HOAs and rain-outs

Property maintenance

tenants, managers and work orders

Outdoor services

snow, gutters, lights and storm days

The rules: AI disclosure and call recording

This isn’t legal advice, and the rules are still moving, but four things are worth knowing:

Recording consent. About a dozen states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington, require everyone on a call to agree to recording [4]. If your service records calls, a short notice at the start covers you everywhere.
AI disclosure. Utah requires a business to disclose generative AI when a consumer asks, and up front in “high-risk” conversations [6]. California bans bots that hide what they are to make a sale online [5]. Saying “this is an AI assistant” at the start of the call is the simple, safe default, and it’s what callers expect now.
Outbound calls are different. In February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so AI calls you place (reminders, marketing) need the same consent as robocalls [3]. That ruling is about outbound calls, not an AI answering calls that come in.
Who owns the recordings. Ask how long the service keeps recordings and transcripts, and whether you can export them. Retention varies; Goodcall’s Starter plan keeps call history 7 days.

How to test one in a week

Count your misses first. Pull one normal week from your phone or carrier log: calls missed, and when (after 5 p.m., weekends, while you were on a roof).
Write your five questions. What every caller should be asked: address, the problem in their words, how urgent, how they found you, the best time to reach them. Give the same list to every service you try.
Set up forwarding on no-answer only. You still pick up when you can; the service gets what you miss.
Call it yourself three ways: a routine estimate request, a real emergency (“no heat and a baby in the house”), and a confused caller who won’t give an address. Note what you get on your phone and how fast.
Check the bill against your week. Multiply your missed calls by the plan’s real rate, including rounding and overage, and compare it to one job you’d have lost.

Common questions

How much does an answering service cost for a contractor?

On the plans we checked in October 2026, AI receptionists run about $25 to $150 a month for a small shop, and live answering services about $165 to $500 a month for 50 to 300 minutes. For about 100 calls a month, the AI options came to roughly $70 to $150 and live services roughly $350 to $900, before taxes and add-ons. Contractor-specific AI sold to larger shops starts around $449 a month or is quoted after a demo.

Is an AI receptionist good enough for emergency calls?

It can be, if it's set up to recognize your trade's emergencies and act on them immediately: a live transfer to your on-call phone or an instant text alert. Test it yourself with a fake emergency call before you rely on it. If your business lives on after-hours emergency dispatch and you want a person making the judgment call, a live service like PATLive or MAP is the safer choice.

Do I have to tell callers they're talking to an AI?

Utah requires disclosure when a caller asks and up front in high-risk conversations, and California bans bots that hide what they are to make a sale online. Rules are still changing, so the simple approach is to have the AI say it's an AI assistant at the start of every call. Most callers just want their problem handled.

Can an answering service book jobs straight into Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan?

Some can. Jobber Receptionist and Housecall Pro's CSR AI book into their own software, ServiceTitan's voice agent books into ServiceTitan, and Avoca and Sameday AI book into several. Many others only read customer information or put a time on a general calendar, so ask the service to show you a test booking landing in your software.

Live answering service or AI: which is better for a small contracting company?

For most small shops, AI covers the volume for a fraction of the cost and never puts a caller on hold. Live people are better with upset, elderly or confused callers and with judgment calls on emergencies. A common middle ground is AI for most calls with a live transfer to you, or a hybrid service like Smith.ai, Abby Connect or Moneypenny.

What's the cheapest answering service for contractors?

Among services with public prices, Upfirst starts at $24.95 a month for 30 calls, Dialzara at $29 for 60 minutes and Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes. If you're already on Jobber, its receptionist add-on is $29 for 30 conversations. The cheapest plan only stays cheap if it covers your busy season, so check the overage rate.

Can I keep my business phone number?

Yes, with almost all of them. You set your existing number to forward to the service when you don't answer, so customers keep calling the number on your truck and your website. A few, like Jobber Receptionist, use their own number that your existing line forwards to.

Is it legal for an answering service to record my calls?

In most states one party's consent is enough, but about a dozen, including California, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania, require everyone on the call to agree. A short recording notice at the start of each call covers you in every state.

Should I hire a part-time office person instead?

A good office person does far more than answer the phone, so if you can keep one busy, hire one. An answering service covers the hours a person can't: nights, weekends, lunch, and the times they're on another call. Many shops use both.

What should I check in a free trial?

Call it yourself with a routine request, a real-sounding emergency and a confused caller. Check how fast the message reaches your phone, whether the emergency got escalated the way you set it, and whether a booking actually landed where it was supposed to. Then price your busiest month, including overage.

Why is Outfitter in its own comparison?

Because it's one of the options a contractor will look at, and leaving it out would be odd. We gave it the same fields as everyone else, listed what it doesn't do (it doesn't book jobs into software and doesn't offer live people), and recommend other services for shops on Jobber, Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan.

If you’re the shop Front Desk was built for

No job software, calls on your cell, and you’d rather confirm a time than lose the caller. Front Desk is 35¢ a minute with no monthly fee, and it comes with a website and marketing you run by text.

See how Front Desk works

Sources and how we compared

We compared services a 1 to 25 person home-service company would realistically consider. Prices, plans and features come from each company’s own pricing, feature or help pages, opened October 4, 2026; we didn’t use third-party price lists. Where a company doesn’t publish something we say “not listed” or “not published”. We left out developer voice platforms that aren’t ready-made receptionists, and VoiceNation, which now redirects to Moneypenny.

Invoca: How much missed sales calls cost home services businesses — May 2024; vendor research
PATLive: Home service answering service (citing ServiceDirect’s 2019 call performance report) — May 2024; answering-service vendor, secondhand figure
FCC: AI-generated voices in robocalls are “artificial” under the TCPA — February 8, 2024
Metaverse Law: Two-party consent requirements for recording calls — October 2022
California Business and Professions Code §17941
Davis Polk: Utah scales back its generative AI consumer protection law — Davis Polk client update, April 2025; law effective May 7, 2025
Ruby plans and pricing
Smith.ai AI receptionist pricing
Smith.ai live receptionist pricing
AnswerConnect pricing
PATLive pricing
Abby Connect pricing
MAP Communications pricing
Moneypenny US plans and pricing
Goodcall pricing
Rosie pricing
Dialzara pricing
My AI Front Desk pricing
Upfirst pricing FAQ
Jobber Receptionist help article
Housecall Pro AI Team overview
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Last updated October 4, 2026. Prices change; if something here is out of date, call or text (507) 628-0400 and we’ll fix it.