Best AI receptionist for small business UK (2026): 10 compared

An AI receptionist answers your business phone when you cannot. The good ones do more than take a message. They answer questions from your own information, book the job into your calendar and send you a transcript.

The UK market has grown fast. There are now flat-rate services, per-call services, per-minute services and quote-only services. The prices look similar on the surface and very different once you count your calls.

This guide compares ten of them. Line wrote it, and Line's own AI receptionist, Molly, is first on the list. We have tried to be fair. Where we only know a competitor's price, we say only the price and what the source says it includes.

How we compared them

We compared each provider on six things a small business owner asks about:

1. Price transparency. Is there a public price, or do you need a quote?
2. UK number and voice. Can it answer a UK number in a British voice?
3. 24/7 cover. Does it answer at night and at weekends without a premium?
4. Booking. Can it book an appointment, or does it only take a message?
5. Transcripts. Do you get a written record of every call?
6. Contract terms. Is there a setup fee, a minimum term or a lock-in?

Two things you should know before you read on.

First, Line wrote this article. We sell Molly. We have put her first and we have stated her limits in plain words.

Second, every third-party price comes from that provider's public page, or from a linked guide where the provider has no public plan table. We last checked the sources on 7 September 2026. We have not tested the competitors and we do not give them scores.

The comparison at a glance

1. Line (Molly)

Line is a UK business phone system. You get a UK number, calls, texts, WhatsApp, a shared team inbox and Molly, the AI receptionist. Molly answers inbound calls to your Line number 24/7, only outside your hours, or only when nobody picks up. She speaks in a natural British voice. She answers questions from your own knowledge: services, prices, hours and FAQs. She checks availability and books appointments into a connected Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 calendar. You can require a one-tap approval before a booking is confirmed. Every call lands in the Line inbox with a transcript, the caller's details and a next step. When a caller needs a person, she takes their details, flags the call for a named team member, and the hand-off lands in the inbox for a callback.

Molly is included with the Pro and Business plans and is a paid add-on on Starter. There is no setup fee and no separate subscription. Her calls are billed per minute in credits at the plan's inbound call rate. You can port your existing UK number or start with a new one. Setup takes minutes from the Line dashboard, with no scripts to record. See pricing for the numbers. Her honest limit: Molly does not give legal, medical or financial advice. She takes details and routes those calls. When she does not know an answer, she says the team will confirm and takes a message.

Best for: a small business that wants the caller booked, answered and logged, not just a message taken.

2. Hey Jodie

Hey Jodie is a UK AI receptionist sold on a flat monthly fee. Its own guide to the UK market lists its plans at £49 to £199 a month with unlimited minutes.

The flat fee is the point. You do not count calls or minutes, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one. The source does not state contract terms, so ask about minimum terms before you sign.

Best for: a business with a high or unpredictable call volume that wants one fixed bill.

3. IONOS AI Receptionist

IONOS sells an AI receptionist alongside its hosting products. The plans are priced by call count. The public price is £39, £69 or £99 a month ex VAT for 30, 100 or unlimited calls.

Note that the prices exclude VAT, so add 20 per cent if you cannot reclaim it. The source does not state contract terms or what happens when you pass your call limit on the lower tiers.

Best for: a business that already knows its monthly call count and can pick the right tier.

4. RingCentral AI Receptionist

RingCentral is a cloud phone provider with an AI receptionist product. The public price is from £32 a month with 100 minutes included.

This is a per-minute model. If your calls run long, or you take many of them, ask what a minute costs above the 100-minute allowance. The source does not state contract terms.

Best for: a business already on RingCentral, or one with short, predictable calls.

5. ARROW

ARROW, at aiphonecalls.co.uk, sells an AI phone answering service on a single plan. The public price is £99 a month with 150 minutes, no setup fee and no contract.

The terms are clear, which we like. The price is higher than the flat-rate services on this list, and the 150-minute allowance means you still need to watch your usage.

Best for: a business that wants clear terms and no lock-in, with moderate call volume.

6. The VoIP Shop

The VoIP Shop sells an AI receptionist on three plans. The public prices are £10, £30 or £120 a month. The £10 plan charges £0.85 per call. The £30 plan includes 50 calls. The £120 plan includes 200 calls.

The £10 entry price is the lowest on this list, but it is a per-call model. At 50 calls a month, the entry plan costs £10 plus £42.50 in call charges, which is more than the £30 plan. Work out your volume before you choose the tier.

Best for: a business with very few calls that wants the lowest fixed cost.

7. Team-Connect

Team-Connect sells an AI receptionist on three tiers. The public prices are £19.99, £79.99 or £199.99 a month. Extra usage is sold as top-ups at £34.99 per 150 AI minutes.

The top-up model means your bill can rise in a busy month. Check what each tier includes before you pick one. The source does not state contract terms.

Best for: a business that wants a low entry price and is happy to buy top-ups when needed.

8. AI Answerphone

AI Answerphone is a UK service with a simple public offer: from £47 a month with no contract.

The "no contract" term is clear. The "from" price means the cost rises with usage or features, so ask for the full plan table before you compare it with a flat-rate service.

Best for: a business that wants to try an AI answerphone month to month.

9. Sayora

Sayora sells an AI virtual receptionist at a single flat price. The public price is £49 a month.

A single flat price is easy to budget. The source does not state what the plan includes in minutes or calls, or whether there is a minimum term. Confirm both before you sign.

Best for: a business that wants one simple price with no tiers to compare.

10. Moneypenny AI Receptionist

Moneypenny is a well-known UK telephone answering service that uses human receptionists. It also sells a hybrid AI receptionist product. Pricing is quote-based, and there is no public plan table. The AI product is advertised "from £25 a month" as an entry point to a quote, as noted in Hey Jodie's comparison of AI and answering services.

The "from" figure tells you the floor, not what you will pay. You will need to talk to sales to get your price. If a public plan table matters to you, read our guide to Moneypenny alternatives in the UK.

Best for: a business that wants a human answering service with an AI layer, and is happy to get a quote.

Which is best for your business?

The right choice depends on what you need the call to end with.

Trades

A plumber on a job cannot pick up. The caller wants a time, not a voicemail. Choose a receptionist that books into your calendar and sends a missed-call text when a call is not answered. That is the setup on our pages for tradespeople and plumbers. If you only want a message taken, a flat-rate service such as Sayora or Hey Jodie keeps the bill fixed.

Salons and clinics

Most calls are bookings and changes. A receptionist that only takes a message creates work, because someone still has to call back and book. Choose one that checks availability and books, and that can hold the booking for your approval. See how this works for salons and barbers and clinics and practices. One caution for clinics: an AI receptionist should not give medical advice. Molly takes details and routes those calls to a person.

Estate agents

Viewing requests come in at all hours. You need every enquiry logged with a name, a number and the property, and you need the hand-off to reach the right negotiator. Choose a receptionist that writes every call to a shared inbox with a transcript. See our page for estate agents.

Professional services

Solicitors, accountants and consultants need a calm first impression and a careful record. They also need the receptionist to know its limits. Molly does not give legal or financial advice. She takes the caller's details and flags the call for a named person. If you want to compare an AI receptionist with a human virtual receptionist for a firm, read AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist in the UK.

Very low call volumes

If you take a handful of calls a month, a per-call plan can be cheapest. The VoIP Shop charges £0.85 a call on its £10 plan. On Line, Molly's calls are billed per minute in credits, so a quiet month costs little. See pricing. Compare both against the cost of the calls you miss now.

Questions to ask before you choose

1. Who does the setup? Some services need you to record scripts or send a form to the provider. Line's Molly is set up from the dashboard in minutes, with no scripts to record. Ask how long setup takes and who does it.
2. What happens when it cannot answer? Every AI receptionist meets a question it does not know. Ask what it says, whether it takes a message, and how it hands the call to a person. Molly says the team will confirm, takes a message and flags the call for a named person.
3. How do you get the message? An email is easy to miss. Ask whether every call lands in an inbox with a transcript, the caller's details and a next step, and whether your team can see it too.
4. What is the real cost at your volume? A £10 plan with a per-call charge can cost more than a £49 flat plan. Count your calls for a week, multiply by four, and price each provider at that number. Our AI receptionist cost guide shows the working.
5. Can you hear it before you pay? The voice matters. Ask for a demo call on a UK number before you sign anything.

For a deeper look at how Molly answers, books and hands off, see the AI receptionist page.