AI receptionist UKcompared on real prices
Compare the monthly bill for your call volume, then check the workflows you need. Bridge Voice is not the lowest-priced option for every business. This is our own comparison of selected providers, with source links and clear gaps where we could not verify a detail.
All company and product names are the trademarks of their respective owners. Unity Bridge Solutions and Bridge Voice are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any provider listed on this page.
The Bridge Voice minute-pack screen. Pack eligibility depends on your plan; these are extra-capacity purchases, separate from your subscription.
What would the same call volume cost?
Business starts at £149. Several competitors cost less, especially for light usage. These monthly voice-cost examples show both sides of that comparison.
Scroll sideways to compare all providers.
| Minutes used | Bridge Voice | Cyberstaff | The VoIP Shop | AIAnswerPhone | Fonio.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | £149 (Business) | £30 (Starter) | £30 (Premium) | £47 (Starter) | £119 (Solo) |
| 1,000 | £149 (Business) | £200 (Scale + 400 extra minutes) | £285 (Ultimate + 550 extra minutes) | £97 (Pro) | £119 (Solo) |
| 3,000 | £399 (Business Plus) | £600 (Scale + 2,400 extra minutes) | £885 (Ultimate + 2,550 extra minutes) | Quote required above 1,250 minutes | £359 (Team) |
Monthly subscriptions at the same inbound voice usage, using the lowest calculable published tier for each example. No annual discounts, bespoke quotes, setup extras, SMS, transfers or outbound charges are included. Bridge Voice adds no VAT; The VoIP Shop and Fonio figures exclude VAT. Cyberstaff and AIAnswerPhone do not state VAT treatment on the checked pricing pages, so confirm it before comparing final bills. Features and service limits differ.
Business is 14.9p/min per included minute only when all 1,000 minutes are used. At 100 used minutes, the same £149 bill is £1.49 per used minute. A larger allowance is useful when you need it.
Starting prices, allowances and extra charges
These are starting offers, not equivalent feature packages or a ranking. Included-minute rates divide the monthly fee by the full allowance. They are not the cost of extra minutes, and they do not prove better value for your usage.
| Provider | Entry price | Included | At full allowance | Overage | Trial or guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridge Voice1UK · AI | £149/mo | 1,000 minutes | 14.9p/min | 35p/min; prepaid packs from 13p/min on Business, 12p/min on Business Plus | 14 days, 100 minutes, 20 SMS; card required |
| Cyberstaff2UK · AI | £30/mo | 100 minutes | 30p/min | 30p/min on Starter | 7 days; no card required |
| The VoIP Shop3UK · AI | £30/mo excl. VAT | 100 minutes | 30p/min | 30p/min | Not stated on checked page |
| AIAnswerPhone4UK · AI | £47/mo | 350 minutes | 13.4p/min | Not stated on checked page | Not stated on checked page |
| Fonio.ai5Austria · AI | £119/mo excl. VAT | 1,000 minutes | 11.9p/min | £15 per 100-minute pack | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Electronic Receptionist6UK · AI | From £97/mo | Not stated on checked page | Not calculated | Not stated on checked page | Advertised; confirm terms |
| Moneypenny AI Receptionist7UK · AI | From £49/mo | Quote required | Not calculated | Quote required | Confirm with provider |
- 1.Bridge Voice: No VAT added. Business includes 25 SMS; Business Plus is £399 for 3,000 minutes and 100 SMS. Included-minute rates assume the whole allowance is used. Our pricing
- 2.Cyberstaff: Growth: £60/240 minutes, then 25p/min. Scale: £120/600 minutes, then 20p/min. Enterprise is quoted. VAT treatment is not stated beside these prices; confirm the payable total. Published pricing
- 3.The VoIP Shop: Ultimate: £120/450 minutes, then 30p/min. Bespoke plans are quoted. Prices exclude VAT. AI receptionist pricing
- 4.AIAnswerPhone: Other tiers: £77/750 minutes and £97/1,250 minutes. SMS is pay as you go. Confirm VAT and extra-minute charges; neither is stated on the checked pricing page. Published pricing
- 5.Fonio.ai: Monthly Solo: 1,000 minutes and one simultaneous call. Team: £359/3,600 minutes and three simultaneous calls. Monthly billing selected in the UK browser view, shown in GBP. Annual discounts are separate; confirm currency and tax at checkout. A money-back guarantee is not a free trial. Pricing and billing-period selector
- 6.Electronic Receptionist: Garage-focused call handling and booking. The plans page gives a starting price but no minute allowance, extra-minute rate, trial duration or VAT treatment. Ask for a complete quote. Published plans
- 7.Moneypenny AI Receptionist: This is separate from their human telephone answering service, which is quoted individually and advertises a free trial. The AI headline does not specify an allowance or VAT treatment. AI Receptionist offer
Public sources checked on 6 November 2026. Figures below are published offers, not negotiated quotes or a test of call quality. Unverified details are marked. Confirm tax, usage and contract terms with the provider before buying.
Six things worth checking on any quote
Price is one part of the decision. Test these requirements on Bridge Voice and on the alternatives, using the same realistic calls.
Can it complete your booking workflow?
Test availability, appointment creation and the confirmation with the calendar you use. A booking enquiry and a confirmed appointment are different outcomes.
Bridge Voice supports Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly and Cal.com once connected. SMS confirmations use the plan allowance, then the published SMS rate.
What will your actual month cost?
Use your expected minutes, extra usage and tax. Dividing the fee by every included minute understates your cost per used minute when the allowance is only partly used.
Business is £149 even if you use only 100 minutes. Standard extra usage is 35p/min; prepaid packs and spend caps are available.
How many calls can it answer together?
Check peak simultaneous calls and the overflow behaviour, not just the monthly allowance.
Business handles one call at a time; Business Plus handles three. Extra callers go to your configured backup number or hear a message asking them to try again.
Can you inspect the result?
Run the same realistic calls with each provider. Inspect what the receptionist said, the captured details and any booked appointment. Published specifications cannot prove call quality.
Full transcripts, AI summaries and call analytics are included. Use the trial to check your own scenarios.
Which languages and notifications are included?
Confirm the languages you need, the SMS allowance and any message charges. A feature listed by both providers is a shared capability, not a reason to claim one is better.
Multilingual handling is included: one primary language and up to two additional languages per receptionist. Business includes 25 SMS; Business Plus includes 100.
What happens after the trial?
Check card requirements, automatic conversion, cancellation and whether a guarantee requires an upfront payment.
Both Bridge Voice plans have a 14-day trial with 100 minutes and 20 SMS. A payment method is required. Cancel before the trial ends to avoid the selected plan charge. £0 setup; no long-term contract.
This is what “transcripts included” actually looks like
A comparison table can say a provider includes transcripts. It cannot show you what you get. Every Bridge Voice call arrives like this: the full conversation turn by turn with timestamps, an AI summary of what was agreed, the caller, the duration, and how the call ended.
It matters because this is the record you audit when a customer says they were told something different. A two-line message summary cannot settle that.
Taken from a Bridge Voice demo account. Caller details are fictional and use the reserved 07700 900xxx range.
Bridge Voice subscriptions and common extras
Compare the subscription, extra usage and required services together. Outbound campaigns use separate prepaid credit; the examples above cover inbound voice usage.
The published tariff
- Business - 1,000 minutes, 25 SMS
- £149/mo
- Business Plus - 3,000 minutes, 100 SMS
- £399/mo
- Standard extra voice usage
- 35p/min
- Prepaid packs - 100 / 250 / 500 minutes
- £15 / £35 / £65
- 1,000-minute pack (Business Plus only)
- £120
- Extra UK phone number
- £5/mo
- SMS beyond your included allowance
- 10p/text
- Multilingual call handling
- Included
- Setup fee
- £0
- VAT currently added
- None
No VAT is added. Business and Business Plus include a 14-day trial with 100 free minutes. Cancel any time, there is no long-term contract. A card is required; cancel before trial end to avoid renewal.
1,000 minutes for £149
At full allowance, Business works out at 14.9p/min per minute and includes SMS confirmations, bookings and transcripts. Business Plus adds more capacity for busier teams.
Where the others beat us
No product wins on every measure, and a comparison page that claims otherwise is not worth reading. Here is where a rival would genuinely serve you better.
- AIAnswerPhone
Its £97 plan includes 1,250 minutes. That is a lower monthly price and a larger allowance than Business. Choose Bridge Voice only if its workflows and service fit justify the difference for you.
- Cyberstaff and The VoIP Shop
Both publish £30 entry plans. At low usage their base voice charges are lower than Business. Tax, extra usage and feature requirements still matter.
- Fonio.ai
Team is £359 excluding VAT for 3,600 minutes and three simultaneous calls in the UK monthly view. Compare the final tax-inclusive quote with Business Plus; do not treat a discounted annual price as a monthly subscription.
- Cyberstaff
Its seven-day trial requires no card. That is a simpler payment commitment for someone who wants to test before supplying card details.
- Moneypenny telephone answering
Its staffed service is a fit if you want a person to answer at the outset. Bridge Voice can transfer to your team; it does not include an outsourced human answering team.
Comparing one provider in particular?
Each of these goes further than the table above: their full published tiers, a row-by-row comparison, and an honest note on where they beat us.
UK AI receptionist FAQs
Want the detail on one provider? Read our full Bridge Voice vs Moneypenny comparison, the broader AI vs human answering piece, or the AI receptionist overview.
Is Bridge Voice the cheapest AI receptionist?
No. Business starts at £149, above several providers in this table. AIAnswerPhone also offers more included minutes for a lower monthly fee. Compare the calls and workflows you need, the total bill and your trial results before choosing.
What does Bridge Voice include for £149 a month?
Business includes 1,000 minutes, 25 SMS, one simultaneous call, transcripts and multilingual handling. Supported calendar booking requires a connection. No VAT is added. Business Plus is £399 for 3,000 minutes, 100 SMS and three simultaneous calls, with multiple receptionists and outbound campaigns. Outbound usage is charged separately.
Does the included-minute rate equal what I pay per minute?
Only if you use the full allowance. Business is 14.9p/min at 1,000 minutes, but £149 divided by 100 used minutes is £1.49 per used minute. Business Plus is 13.3p/min at its full allowance. These are subscription averages, not extra-minute rates.
How are the same-usage examples calculated?
Monthly fee plus any minutes above the included allowance at the published extra-minute rate. We choose the lowest calculable published tier for that usage, excluding tax where stated and without inventing missing rates. The examples compare voice charges, not identical feature packages or negotiated deals.
Which providers let me try the service?
Bridge Voice offers 14 days with 100 minutes and 20 SMS, with a payment method required. Cyberstaff advertises seven days without a card. Fonio advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is different from a free trial. Confirm all trial and renewal terms before signing up.
Do missing details mean a provider lacks a feature?
No. Not stated means we could not establish it from the cited page. Ask the provider about the specific workflow, allowance and price. We have not benchmarked call quality or support response times in this comparison.
Stop comparing tables. Put it on your own calls.
Fourteen days with 100 free minutes, on your real phone line, with a transcript of every call so you can judge it on evidence rather than a feature list.
Or hear it first: +44 151 453 6966