How Much Does a Phone Answering Service Cost in the UK? (2026 Guide)
Search for "phone answering service UK" and you will find plenty of glossy pages and very few actual prices. Most providers want you on a call with a salesperson before they will tell you what anything costs. So here is the honest version: what the different pricing models are, where the hidden charges live, and what you should expect to pay in 2026.
The three ways answering services charge
Per-call pricing
You pay a fee every time the service picks up the phone — typically somewhere between £1 and £2.50 per call, often bundled into packages like "100 calls for £150". It sounds cheap until a busy month arrives. Wrong numbers, sales calls and the customer who rings three times to confirm one appointment all count. You end up hoping your phone stays quiet, which is a strange thing to pay for.
Per-minute pricing
Here you pay for talk time, typically £0.70 to £1.50 per minute. A pleasant, thorough receptionist who takes time with your callers is exactly what you want — and exactly what inflates your bill. A five-minute booking call can cost more than the per-call model entirely. Your invoice becomes a lottery you check with one eye closed.
Flat-fee pricing
One fixed monthly price, unlimited calls. The number on the pricing page is the number on your invoice. The trade-off used to be quality — flat-fee services historically rationed effort because every extra minute ate their margin. A managed virtual receptionist changes that maths: it can take unlimited simultaneous calls without anyone queueing, so the flat fee does not come with hidden corner-cutting.
The hidden costs nobody puts on the pricing page
Overage rates. Per-call and per-minute plans usually have a bundle, and the rate above the bundle can be double the headline price. Read that line twice.
Setup fees. Common and rarely advertised. Anywhere from nothing to several hundred pounds.
Out-of-hours surcharges. Some services charge extra for evenings, weekends and bank holidays — precisely when your callers most need answering.
Transfer and message fees. A per-message or per-transfer charge of 50p here and £1 there adds up quietly.
Minimum contracts. Twelve-month terms with notice periods are still common. If a service is confident, it should not need to lock you in.
What one month actually looks like
Take a small clinic on a per-minute plan at £0.95 per minute. In a typical month it might see 140 answered calls averaging four minutes each — that is 560 minutes, or £532. Add a £75 monthly platform fee and 30 out-of-bundle minutes at £1.40, and the invoice lands at £649. Next month, flu season hits and the phone rings more. The invoice goes up precisely when the team is busiest. Nobody budgeted for either number.
What £275 a month covers with We Answer Every Call
We Answer Every Call is flat-fee: £275 per month, plus a one-off £325 setup, with a 14-day free trial before you pay anything. That covers the whole front desk, not just the answering:
Every call answered, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — including evenings, weekends and bank holidays at no extra charge
Multiple simultaneous calls, so nobody holds and nobody hits voicemail
Appointments booked straight into your calendar while the caller is still on the line
SMS and email confirmations sent automatically
Reminders and follow-ups handled for you
Urgent calls escalated to a real human — you or whoever you nominate
No per-minute meter, no overage column, no out-of-hours surcharge. The price in February is the price in August.
The comparison that actually matters
The real alternative is not another answering service — it is hiring. A part-time receptionist costs upwards of £12,000 a year before you think about cover for holidays and sick days, and they still go home at five. A full-time hire can run to £30,000 or more. At £275 a month — £3,300 a year — a virtual receptionist that never sleeps costs roughly a quarter of the part-time option and a fraction of the full-time one, and it answers the 7.45pm call your office never could. There is more detail on how we compare on our FAQ page.
Frequently asked questions
Is £275 a month really the whole cost?
Yes — £275 per month plus the one-off £325 setup. No per-call charges, no per-minute meter, no out-of-hours surcharges, and the first 14 days are free so you can hear it working before you pay.
What happens if I get an unusually busy month?
Nothing changes on your invoice. The service takes multiple calls at the same time, so a busy month means a fuller calendar, not a bigger bill.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
No. The trial is free for 14 days and you are not locked into a long minimum term. If it is not paying for itself, you should be able to walk away.
The fastest way to know whether any of this is worth £275 a month is to work out what your missed calls already cost. Our missed-call calculator takes about a minute: put in your average job value and how often the phone rings out, and see the number for yourself.