AI receptionist, Pricing · 9 min read
RingCentral AI Receptionist: pricing, what it does, and the alternatives
By the CallRoute team ·
RingCentral AI Receptionist, which RingCentral shortens to AIR, is one of the most complete AI answering products sold by a phone provider. It is also priced like a subscription: a monthly fee with 100 minutes, then a per minute rate. This guide covers what AIR does and costs as published on November 3, 2026, works out the bill at three call volumes, and lays out how the other big providers price the same job. For the general buying guide, read the best AI receptionist software.
What AIR does
From RingCentral's own product page and its 2026 release notes:
- Answers and routes. It answers in a natural voice and sends callers on by name or by the reason they give, with custom labels for each transfer.
- Books appointments into Google or Outlook calendars, and sends follow up texts.
- Six languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese, switching mid call.
- Works on other phone systems through call forwarding or SIP, not only on RingEX.
- June 2026 additions: taking calls when a call queue is full, a spam filter before AI minutes are spent, using the AIR number as outbound caller ID, and answering inbound texts in controlled availability.
- July 2026 additions: usage alerts at 80 percent and a test call before you go live.
- AIR Pro, in early access since June 2026, handles multi step work across voice and digital channels.
What AIR costs
| With RingEX | Standalone | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | From $39, plus the RingEX plan | $49 |
| Minutes included | 100 | 100 |
| After that | $0.50 a minute, billed in 30 second steps | Same |
| Extra minute bundles | For sale | For sale |
On RingEX, the add-on sits on top of the plan, so the smallest setup is $39 plus the $30 Core plan billed monthly. AIR is included in the AI Customer Engagement Bundle, which is priced by quote.
Worked costs
AI minutes only, per month. For CallRoute Business Plus we assume a 5 person team, which includes 150 minutes.
| AI minutes a month | AIR add-on | AIR standalone | CallRoute, per minute | CallRoute Business Plus, 5 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $39 | $49 | $25 | $0 |
| 300 | $139 | $149 | $75 | $37.50 |
| 600 | $289 | $299 | $150 | $112.50 |
At 100 minutes, AIR works out to $0.39 to $0.49 a minute. Past 100, every minute is $0.50, twice the CallRoute rate. A quiet month still costs the full monthly fee on AIR, while per minute pricing costs nothing when no calls come in.
The alternatives and how they price AI answering
Each as published on November 3, 2026:
- Dialpad Resolve: $1.99 per voice conversation and $0.99 per digital conversation, from a prepaid credit pool set up through sales. See vs Dialpad.
- Quo (formerly OpenPhone) Sona: about 10 free calls on every plan, then credit packs from $25 for about 40 calls up to $199 for about 600. See vs Quo.
- Aircall AI Voice Agent: 50 minutes a month included, then $0.29 a minute. See vs Aircall.
- CloudTalk AI Receptionist: EUR 99 a month. See vs CloudTalk.
- Nextiva XBert: $99 a month for 100 conversations, or $1.50 per conversation. See vs Nextiva.
- JustCall AI Voice Agent: from $0.15 a minute. See vs JustCall.
- KrispCall AI Voice Agent: custom pricing through sales, listed as coming soon. See vs KrispCall.
- Talkroute AI Receptionist, in beta: $39 a month plus $0.40 a minute. See vs Talkroute.
- Smith.ai: AI plans from a free tier of 25 calls to Pro at $150 a month, with live receptionists sold separately.
- Rosie: Professional $49 a month for 250 minutes, then Scale $149 and Growth $299.
- Goodcall: Starter $79 a month for 100 customers, then Growth $129 and Scale $299.
- Upfirst: Starter $24.95 a month for 30 calls, up to Scale at $299 for 600.
- CallRoute: $0.25 a minute from your wallet, no monthly fee, with 30 minutes per user included on Business Plus.
Side by side
| Option | Price model | Included | After that | Books appointments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RingCentral AIR | Monthly fee | 100 minutes for $39 add-on or $49 standalone | $0.50 a minute | Yes, Google and Outlook |
| Dialpad Resolve | Per conversation | Prepaid pool through sales | $1.99 per voice conversation | Check with Dialpad |
| Quo Sona | Credit packs | About 10 calls | Packs from $25 for about 40 calls | Check with Quo |
| Aircall AI Voice Agent | Included minutes | 50 minutes | $0.29 a minute | Check with Aircall |
| Nextiva XBert | Monthly bundle | 100 conversations for $99 | $1.50 per conversation | Check with Nextiva |
| JustCall AI Voice Agent | Per minute | None | From $0.15 a minute | Check with JustCall |
| Rosie | Monthly plan | 250 minutes for $49 | Higher plans | Check with Rosie |
| Upfirst | Monthly plan | 30 calls for $24.95 | Higher plans | Check with Upfirst |
| CallRoute AI receptionist | Per minute | 30 minutes per user on Business Plus | $0.25 a minute | Not yet, takes messages |
Prices as published on November 3, 2026. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Where CallRoute fits
The CallRoute AI receptionist is built into the phone system on both plans. It answers when you are closed, when nobody picks up, or both, per number. It answers simple questions from what you write about your business and your hours, replies in the language the caller speaks, and takes a message with the caller's name, what they need and a confirmed callback number. The message lands in the caller's inbox thread with a transcript, and the number's owner gets an email.
Be clear on the gaps: today it does not book appointments, transfer calls or answer texts, and it runs on CallRoute numbers rather than on another provider's phone system. If you need any of those now, AIR does more. If you want every caller heard and called back at the lowest cost per minute, with no monthly fee, CallRoute costs less than AIR at every volume in the table above.
Next steps
See the AI receptionist page for setup and the full comparison, and CallRoute vs RingCentral for the rest of the phone system. For the plans around AIR, read RingCentral pricing explained, and for the concept, AI receptionist vs answering service. Our prices are on the pricing page, and you can start a free trial.