Moneypenny alternatives UK: 7 cheaper ways to answer calls (2026)

Moneypenny is one of the best-known telephone answering services in the UK. It uses human receptionists, and it now sells a hybrid AI receptionist as well. Many small businesses start with Moneypenny because the name is familiar.

Then the invoice arrives, or the quote does, and they start looking around. This guide lists seven alternatives with public prices. Five are AI receptionists. Two are human services. Line wrote this guide, and Line's own AI receptionist, Molly, is first on the list. Every third-party price links to its source.

Why people look for a Moneypenny alternative

The reasons we hear are practical, not personal. Moneypenny is a good service. These are the things people want that a quote-based human answering service does not always give them.

A public price. Moneypenny does not publish a plan table. You get a price after a call with sales. Many owners want to compare prices on a page before they talk to anyone.

A flat cost. Human answering services usually charge per call or per minute. Typical UK charges run £0.60 to £2.50 per answered call, or £0.30 to £1.20 per minute. A busy month costs more than a quiet one, and the bill is hard to predict.

The job booked, not a message taken. A message means someone still has to call back and book. Owners want the caller booked into the calendar while they are still on the line.

A transcript. A message summary tells you what the receptionist thought was important. A transcript tells you what the caller said.

24/7 without a premium. Out-of-hours cover from a human service is a staffing cost. Owners want the phone answered at 9pm on a Sunday at the same rate as 9am on a Monday.

None of these are complaints about Moneypenny's service. They are reasons to compare it with something built differently.

How much does Moneypenny cost?

Here is what is public and what is not.

What is public. Moneypenny advertises its AI Receptionist "from £25 a month". That figure is an entry point to a quote, not a fixed plan. Hey Jodie's guide to AI receptionists versus answering services notes the same: pricing is quote-based, with no public plan table.

What is not public. The price of the human answering service, the per-call or per-minute rate, any setup fee, and any minimum term. To get these, you need to speak to Moneypenny.

We will not guess at figures the sources do not give. If you have a quote in hand, use the comparison table below to price the alternatives at the same call volume.

The 7 alternatives

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, and 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 and flags the call for a named team member, and the hand-off lands in the inbox for a callback. If a call is not answered at all, Line sends a missed-call text back.

Price. 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. See pricing.

Best for: a business that wants the caller booked, answered and logged, with the phone system included.

Limitation: 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.

2. Hey Jodie

Hey Jodie is a UK AI receptionist sold on a flat monthly fee. Its plans run from £49 to £199 a month with unlimited minutes.

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

Limitation: the source does not state contract terms or what each tier includes beyond minutes. Ask before you sign.

3. ARROW

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

Best for: a business that wants clear terms and no lock-in.

Limitation: £99 is the highest flat price among the AI options here, and the 150-minute allowance means you still need to watch usage.

4. IONOS AI Receptionist

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

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

Limitation: the prices exclude VAT, and the source does not state what happens when you pass the call limit on the lower tiers.

5. Sayora

Sayora sells an AI virtual receptionist at a single flat price of £49 a month.

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

Limitation: the source does not state what the plan includes in minutes or calls, or whether there is a minimum term.

6. AnswerConnect (human)

AnswerConnect is a human answering service. Hey Jodie's guide lists it at about £169 to £205 a month for 50 calls, plus a £49.99 setup fee.

Best for: a business that wants a person on the phone and has a steady, known call volume.

Limitation: at 50 calls a month, the plan works out at more than £3 per answered call before the setup fee. Extra calls cost more.

7. Answer4u (human plus AI message-taker)

Answer4u is a UK human answering service with a pay-as-you-go plan at £19.99 a month plus £1.75 per call. Bundles run from £43.75 to £350 a month for 25 to 200 calls, and there is a 30-day free trial. Answer4u also sells an AI message-taker at about £27 to £35 a month for 50 calls.

Best for: a business that wants a human service with a public price, or a low-cost AI message-taker.

Limitation: it is a per-call model, so the bill rises with volume. The AI product takes messages. The source does not say it books appointments.

Human or AI: which alternative fits you?

Choose a human service when your callers need judgement, or when the call itself is the product. A law firm taking new client enquiries may want a person to listen and reassure. That is what a human virtual receptionist is for. It costs more per call, and a full-time in-house receptionist costs about £24,000 to £29,000 a year before employer costs.

Choose an AI receptionist when most calls end in a booking, an answer or a message. A plumber on a job needs the caller booked in. A salon needs appointments moved without a callback. An estate agent needs every viewing request logged with a name, a number and the property. Molly does these on a UK number and writes every call to the inbox with a transcript.

Choose a hybrid when you want AI to handle the routine calls and a person to take the rest. Moneypenny sells this. So does Answer4u, with its human service and AI message-taker sold side by side. For a longer look at the trade-off, read AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist in the UK.

Comparison table

To compare at your own volume, count your calls for a week and multiply by four. Then price each provider at that number. Our AI receptionist cost guide shows the working, and our comparison of ten UK AI receptionists covers more providers.

How to switch without losing calls

A switch goes wrong when the old service stops before the new one is ready. Do it in this order.

One more thing before you switch. Voice recordings and transcripts are personal data under UK GDPR. You need a lawful basis, a retention period and a privacy notice. Our guide to recording business calls in the UK covers what to put in place.

If you are still weighing up the cost of any of this, start with what missed calls already cost you. Our guide to the cost of missed calls for UK small businesses shows why an answered call pays for the service that answered it.