AI Phone Assistant Cost 2026: Pay Per Use, No Subscription
In 2026, the cost of an AI phone assistant depends above all on the pricing model: monthly plans with included minutes, a base fee plus per-minute rates, or pure pay-per-use with prepaid credit. With pay-per-use you only pay for the minutes that are actually spent on the phone – at anicall.io, for example, €0.13 net per inbound minute and €1.80 net per phone number every 30 days. A business with 150 call minutes a month ends up at roughly €21 net. This article gives you a neutral overview of the pricing models, the typical hidden costs, three worked examples and a formula to calculate your own AI phone assistant cost.
What pricing models are there for AI phone assistants?
In 2026 the market essentially offers four pricing models: a monthly plan with included minutes, a base fee plus per-minute rate, pay-per-use with prepaid credit, and the classic human answering service. Which model keeps your AI phone assistant cost lowest almost always comes down to your real call volume – and how much it fluctuates.
| Pricing model | How it's billed | A good fit if … | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan with included minutes | Fixed monthly price with a minute allowance | your volume is stable and predictable | Unused minutes often expire, extra minutes cost more, often a minimum term |
| Base fee + per-minute rate | Fixed monthly fee plus every minute | you have medium, growing volume | The base fee keeps running in quiet months |
| Pay-per-use / prepaid | Top up credit, every minute is deducted | your volume fluctuates or you want to test first | Billing increment (per second or per started minute) and price per call type |
| Human answering service | Per call, per minute or as a bundle, depending on the provider | calls must be answered by people | Service hours, surcharges outside office hours, bundle limits |
For a fair comparison: a bundle can be cheaper than pay-per-use if your volume is high and steady. On the other hand, with a subscription you pay for minutes you don't use in every quiet month. So always calculate your AI phone assistant cost with your real numbers from the last few months, not the best case.
For setup, integration and running costs over the full lifetime, see our article on the total cost of ownership of AI.
Which hidden AI phone assistant costs should you check?
Hidden costs with an AI phone assistant usually don't sit in the per-minute price but around it: setup, minimum term, phone number, call forwarding and more expensive call types such as calls to mobiles or abroad. If you ask about these points upfront, you avoid most surprises on the invoice.
Ask every provider these questions:
- Setup: Is there a one-time setup fee? What does it cover – knowledge base, voice, calendar connection?
- Minimum term: How long are you locked in, and how do you cancel? Is there a surcharge for monthly cancellation?
- Phone number: Does the number cost extra, and is it billed monthly? Can you port your existing number?
- Forwarding: If you forward your existing number, the cost depends on your own phone tariff. Also ask how live transfers to people are billed.
- Mobile and international: Outbound calls to mobile numbers or abroad cost more than landline calls in telephony. Check whether the provider shows this separately.
- Billing increment: Is billing per second, in 30-second steps or per started minute? With many short calls this makes a noticeable difference.
- Add-ons: Are calendar, CRM connection, API or a better voice included, or do they cost extra?
- Parallel calls: How many conversations can the assistant handle at once before callers hear a busy signal?
How much does an AI phone assistant cost per month? Formula and examples
With pay-per-use, your AI phone assistant cost grows only with actual use: at anicall.io a small business with 150 minutes pays €21.30 net a month, a practice with 300 minutes €40.80 net. It mainly gets more expensive when many outbound calls to mobile numbers are added.
Calculate your AI phone assistant cost yourself
The pay-per-use formula is simple: minutes per call type times the per-minute price, plus the phone number. For anicall.io it looks like this:
Tokens per month = inbound minutes × 13 + outbound landline minutes × 16 + outbound mobile/international minutes × 62 + 180 per phone number
Since 1 token = 1 cent net, divide the result by 100 to get the net amount in euros (plus VAT). A tip for realistic numbers: billing is per started call minute, so a call of 2 minutes and 10 seconds counts as 3 minutes. Use number of calls × rounded-up average duration, not the sum of the seconds.
anicall.io rates at a glance
| Item | Tokens | Net equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound call | 13 per minute | €0.13 per minute |
| Outbound to a landline | 16 per minute | €0.16 per minute |
| Outbound to a mobile or international number | 62 per minute | €0.62 per minute |
| Phone number | 180 per number and 30 days | €1.80 per 30 days |
| Top-up | 2,000 / 5,000 / 10,000 / 25,000 tokens | €20 / €50 / €100 / €250 |
All prices are net plus statutory VAT; the offer is for businesses only (B2B). The current rates are always on the pricing page.
Example 1: Small trades business with about 150 minutes
A trades business has calls answered while the team is on site: appointment requests, callback requests, questions about services.
- 150 inbound minutes × 13 tokens = 1,950 tokens
- 1 phone number = 180 tokens
- Total: 2,130 tokens = €21.30 net per month
A €50 top-up lasts a good two months. When things are quieter during holidays or winter, the cost drops automatically.
Example 2: Practice with 300 minutes plus callbacks
A practice uses the assistant for appointment booking and standard questions, including over lunch and after hours.
- 300 inbound minutes × 13 tokens = 3,900 tokens
- 1 phone number = 180 tokens
- Subtotal: 4,080 tokens = €40.80 net
If the assistant also calls patients back on landlines, for example for appointment reminders, 100 outbound landline minutes × 16 = 1,600 tokens are added. Total: 5,680 tokens = €56.80 net per month.
Example 3: Sales team calling landlines and mobiles
A B2B sales team has an AI setter make first-contact calls to people with a documented contact basis. Some contacts can only be reached on their mobile.
- 400 outbound landline minutes × 16 tokens = 6,400 tokens
- 100 outbound mobile minutes × 62 tokens = 6,200 tokens
- 50 inbound minutes (callbacks) × 13 tokens = 650 tokens
- 1 phone number = 180 tokens
- Total: 13,430 tokens = €134.30 net per month
This shows the biggest cost driver: 100 mobile minutes cost almost as much as 400 landline minutes. If you reach contacts via the switchboard or a direct landline, you cut costs significantly. How such costs compare to booked meetings is covered in our article on voice agent costs and ROI.
AI or human on the phone: which is cheaper?
An AI phone assistant only costs the minutes you use, is available around the clock and takes several calls at once instead of giving callers a busy signal. A human is stronger in delicate, emotional or highly individual conversations – which is why a combination is usually the best solution.
A human answering service or virtual secretary bills per call, per minute or through monthly bundles, depending on the provider, often with fixed service hours. Your own receptionist costs working time, even when the phone isn't ringing. For scale: in Germany, one hour of work cost employers €45.00 on average in 2025 (Federal Statistical Office of Germany, press release of 29 April 2026). That's an average across industry and services, not an exact price for a receptionist. By comparison: 60 inbound AI minutes cost €7.80 net at anicall.io.
| Criterion | AI phone assistant | Human on the phone |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | 24/7, including evenings and weekends | Within working or service hours |
| Parallel calls | Several at once | One per person |
| Cost when few calls come in | Only the minutes used | Working time keeps running |
| Appointment booking | Straight into the calendar | Manually or via software |
| Difficult individual cases | Handover to a human or callback request | A human's strength |
| Documentation | Every call transcribed and summarised | Depends on discipline and tools |
Still, the fair comparison isn't "AI instead of humans": people handle many other tasks, and difficult conversations belong with them. The AI takes standard calls, appointment booking and the times when nobody can pick up.
Since 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act also applies: people must be told when they are talking to an AI system. A trustworthy AI phone assistant says so in the greeting and transfers you to a human on request.
How do you keep your AI phone assistant costs under control?
The best protection is a prepaid model with clear limits: when the credit is used up, no new calls start – so you can't overspend without noticing. On top of that comes dialing protection that blocks expensive premium-rate and special numbers by default.
What to look for:
- No automatic overspending: Check whether expensive extra minutes are charged automatically when your credit or bundle runs out.
- Dialing protection: Premium-rate, special and service numbers should never be called – not even via forwarding targets.
- Limit destination countries: Outbound calls should only go to countries you have enabled.
- Transparent history: Every deduction should be traceable to a call.
- Approval before campaigns: Outbound calls need human approval before they start. Legally you're responsible for the contact basis – in Germany, for example, under Section 7 of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG).
How anicall.io does it
Since November 2026, AI phone assistant costs at anicall.io consist exclusively of prepaid tokens: no base fee, no bundle, no subscription and no minimum term. You top up €20, €50, €100 or €250, 1 token equals 1 cent net, and tokens don't expire.
- All features for everyone: Inbound and outbound agents, the "grounded only" knowledge boundary with a traffic-light review of every call, calendar booking (Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, CalDAV, Calendly), AI setter campaigns, REST API v2, MCP server, signed webhooks and HubSpot integration are included at no extra charge.
- No overspending: When the credit is used up, no new calls start; a running call is limited to the remaining balance. The dashboard shows your balance, a low-balance warning and the full token history with links to the calls.
- Dialing protection: Premium-rate, special, service and emergency numbers (in Germany e.g. 0900, 0137/0138, 0180/0181, 019x, 0700, 118xx) are never called in any country, nor are numbers classified as premium or shared-cost. Forwarding numbers are checked too.
- Destination countries: The default is Germany, Austria and Switzerland; further countries can only be enabled from a fixed list (core EU, UK, USA, Canada).
- Outbound with approval: Before every campaign start and lead import you confirm the legal basis under Section 7 UWG; the confirmation is logged. Call lists from the API or a CRM only start after human approval.
You can test the AI phone assistant for free in your browser: import your website, run a test call, look at the review. You only need tokens for real phone calls. The phone agents are currently optimised for German-language calls.
Checklist: which pricing model suits you?
Before you compare AI phone assistant costs across providers, go through these points:
- I know my call volume for the last three to six months (number and duration).
- I know how much the volume fluctuates (season, holidays, campaigns).
- I've estimated the share of inbound and outbound calls.
- For outbound, I know the ratio of landline to mobile.
- Setup fee, minimum term and notice period are clear.
- Phone number, forwarding and billing increment are transparent in the price.
- I know what happens when the credit or bundle runs out.
- Dialing protection and destination-country limits are in place.
- Calendar, CRM and API work without hidden add-ons.
- I was able to test the assistant for free beforehand.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI phone assistant cost per minute?
What an AI phone assistant costs per minute depends on the provider and the call type. At anicall.io an inbound minute costs 13 tokens (€0.13 net), an outbound landline minute 16 tokens (€0.16 net) and an outbound minute to mobiles or abroad 62 tokens (€0.62 net). Billing is per started minute.
Does anicall.io have a base fee or minimum term?
No. There's no base fee, no bundle, no subscription and no minimum term. Ongoing costs only arise for call minutes and for phone numbers at 180 tokens per number and 30 days.
What happens when my credit runs out?
Then no new calls start, and a running call is limited to the remaining balance. You get a low-balance warning beforehand and can top up at any time. Tokens you've bought don't expire.
Is pay-per-use always cheaper than a subscription?
Not always. With very high, steady volume, a bundle with included minutes can be cheaper. With fluctuating or low volume, pay-per-use keeps your AI phone assistant cost lower because you don't pay for unused minutes.
Can I test the AI phone assistant for free first?
Yes. The agent test in the browser is free at anicall.io. You can also use the live demo on the homepage: call the AI reception right in your browser or request a demo call to your phone.
Try it now: The quickest way to understand the cost is to hear what you get for it. Try the live demo – talk to the AI reception right in your browser or request a demo call to your phone (the demo agents speak German). Then get started for free on anicall.io and test your agent in the browser before you top up your first euro.