How much does an AI receptionist cost? Minutes, not seats
The honest answer is: it depends on how much your phone rings. An AI receptionist is priced by the minute of conversation, so a quiet shop and a busy clinic pay very different amounts for the same software. This post explains what a minute is, lists NordTell's packages in one place, and gives you a sum you can do on the back of an envelope to find your own monthly bill.
The unit is the minute
A human receptionist is paid by the hour, whether the phone rings or not. An AI receptionist is priced by the minute of talk time on a connected call. Everything that makes the call work sits inside that minute: the hosting, the model that listens, the model that thinks, the voice that speaks. When nobody calls, nothing is used.
Two things sit outside the minute. A phone number has its own small carrier cost, which NordTell shows before you buy, and you can bring a number you already own instead. And a minute of talk does not cost the same on every engine. Pipeline is the cheapest; Speech-to-speech and Hybrid, which use a realtime model, cost more. The minutes used are printed on every call, so after a week of real traffic you know your true rate. Engines are explained here.
NordTell's packages in one place
Every package includes every feature. There are no seats, no per-agent fees and no setup fee. Prices are monthly, excluding VAT, and are also shown in USD, GBP, DKK, SEK and NOK.
- Launch: €29 with 60 minutes included; extra minutes €0.50 each.
- Momentum: €99 with 200 minutes; extra minutes €0.40.
- Authority: €299 with 1,000 minutes; extra minutes €0.15; includes white label for agencies.
- Empire: €899 with 3,500 minutes; extra minutes €0.11.
Included minutes renew every month. Minute packs you buy on top stay in the wallet until they are used. Auto top-up exists but is off by default, so a busy month cannot surprise you unless you asked it to. A free account lets you build and test agents in the browser with a microphone; a package is needed once a real phone number is connected.
Work out your own bill in four steps
Do not guess your call volume. Count it, then do this.
- Count the calls you would hand to the agent in a normal week. Include the ones you miss today.
- Time ten of them and take the average length in minutes. Booking calls are usually longer than "are you open" calls.
- Multiply calls by minutes, then by 4.3 to get a month.
- Find the package whose included minutes cover that number, and compare it with the package below plus its extra-minute price.
Here is the sum with made-up numbers, so you can see the shape. Suppose you count 15 calls a week at 3 minutes each. That is 45 minutes a week, about 195 a month. On Launch that would be 60 included minutes plus 135 extra at €0.50, so €29 plus €67.50, about €96.50. Momentum is €99 with 200 minutes included and cheaper extra minutes. The tidier choice is Momentum, and the sum tells you why. Repeat it with your own numbers.
Questions to ask any vendor before you compare prices
A headline price is only useful if you know what is around it. Ask these, and write the answers next to each product you look at. Is there a fee per seat, per user or per agent? Is there a setup fee? Do included minutes expire, and what happens to minutes you buy on top? Is the cost shown per call, so you can check the bill? Are any features locked behind the larger packages? Is the price of the number separate, and can you bring your own? What does it cost to build and test before going live?
For NordTell the answers are above. For the wider set of questions, including the ones about honesty and hosting that matter more than price, see Questions to ask before buying voice AI.
Compare it with what you pay today
The fair comparison is cost per handled call. Take what you spend on answering the phone now, whether that is a share of a salary, an answering service, or your own evenings, and divide it by the number of calls actually handled. Then take the package price from the sum above and divide it by the same number. Use your own figures, because nobody else's are right for you.
Remember to put the missed calls on the other side of the ledger. A package that costs more than voicemail but catches the calls voicemail loses may be the cheaper option. Here is how to count what a missed call costs you.
Where NordTell fits
NordTell's pricing is the list above and nothing hidden behind it: every feature in every package, minutes as the only unit, and a free account to build and test before a number is connected. The servers are in the EU and the company is in Copenhagen. If your sum lands between two packages, start with the smaller one; the minutes cost of each call is visible, so you will know within a month.