AI receptionist vs answering service vs hiring: real costs compared

For a small Canadian service business taking around 60 calls a month, an AI receptionist typically costs $600 to $2,000 a year in subscription fees, a live answering service $3,000 to $9,000 a year, and a full-time hired receptionist about $45,000 to $50,000 a year once payroll costs are added. The price gap is real, but it isn't the whole decision. A person handles difficult or unusual calls best, an answering service gives you a human voice without an employee, and an AI receptionist answers every call instantly, around the clock, but needs careful set-up. If your customers expect service in French, that narrows the options more than price does.

Below are the numbers behind those ranges, then the questions that decide which option fits.

The scenario

To compare like with like, the figures below assume:

• about 60 calls a month, averaging 3 minutes (180 minutes a month);
• calls are mostly enquiries, quote requests and appointment booking;
• the business is open weekdays, but customers also call evenings and weekends.

Vendor prices were checked in October 2026 on each company's pricing page. Most US vendors list prices in US dollars, noted as US$.

Hiring a receptionist

Wages

Job Bank's wage data for receptionists (NOC 14101) shows a median of $21.00 an hour across Canada, $20.50 in Ontario and $20.00 in Quebec. The low end is around $16 to $18 and the high end around $27 to $29.

What an employee really costs

Taking a full-time Ontario receptionist at the median wage, 40 hours a week:

On top of that come workers' compensation premiums where they apply, benefits if you offer them, equipment, recruiting and training time. In Quebec, the employer pays QPP instead of CPP, a lower EI rate and QPIP premiums; the total lands in a similar range.

What you get, and what you don't

A good receptionist does far more than answer calls: greeting walk-ins, handling admin, calming an unhappy client, spotting an important call. But one person covers about 40 hours a week. Evenings, weekends, lunch breaks, sick days and vacation (at least two weeks a year, with 4% vacation pay in both Ontario and Quebec) are still uncovered unless you add something else.

Hiring makes sense when there's a full job's worth of front-desk work, not just phone calls.

Using a live answering service

Answering services provide trained agents who answer in your company's name, take messages, and can often book appointments or transfer urgent calls. Pricing is usually by minute or by call, with a monthly plan.

Examples from published price lists:

• Ruby: US$250 a month for 50 minutes, US$395 for 100 minutes, US$720 for 200 minutes, US$1,725 for 500 minutes. Overage rates aren't published.
• MAP Communications: US$179 a month for 125 minutes with overage at US$1.30 a minute; US$339 for 250 minutes; a pay-as-you-go plan at US$49 a month plus US$1.37 a minute.

For our 180 minutes a month, that's roughly US$250 a month with MAP (the 125-minute plan plus overage), or US$720 a month on Ruby's 200-minute plan. Over a year, about US$3,000 to US$8,600.

On French: Ruby advertises Spanish and bilingual call handling, but neither price list mentions French. Some Canadian answering services do offer bilingual French and English service, but we didn't find published prices; expect to request a quote and to pay more for bilingual agents.

Using an AI receptionist

An AI receptionist answers the phone with a synthetic voice, understands what the caller says, answers common questions from your information, books appointments into your calendar and sends you a summary or a text. Pricing is usually a monthly plan with a set number of minutes or calls.

Examples from published price lists:

For our scenario, that's about US$600 to US$1,800 a year.

Some all-in-one platforms price AI voice by usage instead. GoHighLevel, for example, charges per minute for its Voice AI engine and text-to-speech (around US$0.06 a minute before language-model and phone charges), or a flat US$97 a month per location for its unlimited AI Employee plan, subject to fair use. That is on top of the platform subscription, so it makes sense mainly if you already use it as your CRM.

The cost that isn't on the price list

The subscription is the small part. The work is in the set-up:

• writing what the AI should say and what it must never promise;
• loading accurate services, service areas, hours and prices;
• connecting the calendar and CRM so bookings land in the right place;
• deciding when to transfer to a human, and to whom;
• testing with real calls, then reviewing transcripts for the first few weeks.

Done badly, an AI receptionist frustrates callers faster than voicemail does. Done well, it answers the routine calls and hands over the rest cleanly. Budget either your own time or a one-time set-up fee for this.

On French: none of the AI vendors above list French on their pricing pages; several mention English and Spanish only. Some platforms do support French voices, so test the actual French conversation with a Quebec accent and Quebec vocabulary before committing.

Twelve-month comparison

The combinations are often the best answer. Many small businesses keep a person (or the owner) answering during business hours and use an AI receptionist or answering service for overflow, lunch breaks and after hours.

Rules to check before you switch

Language of service in Quebec

Under the Charter of the French Language, consumers have the right to be informed and served in French. The OQLF states that this applies to every channel, including the phone, under equivalent conditions: wait times, quality of service and level of detail should be comparable to service in English. An English-only AI or answering service for Quebec customers doesn't meet that standard.

Telling callers about recording

AI receptionists and answering services usually record or transcribe calls. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says businesses must tell callers that the call is being recorded, explain why, and, where recording isn't essential to the service, offer an alternative. The OPC updated this guidance in October 2026 to address voice biometrics, which may require express consent. Your greeting should say that the call is recorded and, plainly, that the caller is speaking with an automated assistant.

Automated decisions under Quebec privacy law

If an AI system makes a decision about a person based only on automated processing (for example, automatically refusing a booking or ranking leads with no human review), Quebec's privacy law requires you to tell the person and let them submit observations to someone who can review the decision. Keep a person in the loop for anything that turns a customer away.

How to decide

1. Count your calls for two weeks: how many, when, how long, and how many go unanswered.
2. List what callers actually want. If most calls are "are you open, how much, can I book", automation can handle them.
3. Decide your language requirement before you look at price.
4. Price the after-hours gap separately from the business-hours gap.
5. Trial before committing: most AI and answering services are month-to-month.

Where PNE fits

PNE Solutions sets up AI receptionists and chat assistants as part of our AI growth systems work, connected to your calendar and CRM so every call becomes a tracked lead, in French, English or both.

Sources

• Wages: Receptionist in Canada — Job Bank, Government of Canada
• CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions — Canada Revenue Agency
• EI premium rates and maximums — Canada Revenue Agency
• Pricing — Ruby
• Pricing — MAP Communications
• AI Receptionist pricing — Smith.ai
• Langue de service — Office québécois de la langue française
• Recording of Customer Telephone Calls — Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada