Best AI Receptionist UK (2026): 9 Options Compared on Price and Channels
There is no single best AI receptionist for every UK business: the right one depends on which channels your customers use, how many calls you get and whether you want to set it up yourself. For cheap self-serve call answering, Fasthosts and IONOS start at £39 a month plus VAT and Sayora at £49 a month. Trades who want jobs sent to WhatsApp can look at Whoza, from £59 a month. If you want a person behind the AI, Moneypenny starts from £49 a month. If you want calls, WhatsApp, web chat and email answered by one agent that is built for you, DeskAgent® (Phone Agent £125 a month, no contract) and UpZilo (£99 a month plus £299 setup on a 12-month agreement) are the done-for-you options. And BT now sells its own phone-only AI Receptionist in minute bundles.
Disclosure: this guide is published by DeskAgent, which is one of the nine options. Every competitor fact comes from that provider's own website, checked on 9 November 2026, and we list DeskAgent's downsides too. We don't give scores or name a winner, because the right choice depends on your business. Prices change, so check each provider's site before you buy.
How did we choose and compare them?
To be included, a product had to meet four tests on its own website on 9 November 2026:
- Available to UK businesses, with prices in pounds or a UK business behind it.
- Answers inbound phone calls with AI, rather than being a human-only answering service or a website chatbot.
- Publishes enough to compare: a price or pricing model, the channels it covers and its contract terms.
- Built for small and medium-sized businesses, not enterprise contact centres.
We then recorded what each provider publishes about price and what it covers, VAT, channels, setup, contract, free trial and how you keep your number. Where a provider doesn't publish something, we say so rather than guess. We have not paid for trials of every product, so treat this as a shortlist built from published information, and try or demo before you decide. We group the products by type, because a self-serve tool and a done-for-you service do different jobs.
How do the 9 AI receptionists compare?
| Provider | Type | Price (as published) | Channels | Contract | Setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeskAgent | Done-for-you AI front desk | Phone Agent £125/month with unlimited inbound calls; Web or Inbox Agent £85; all four £285; no VAT to add | Phone, WhatsApp, web chat, email | None | Built for you; Phone Agent live in under two weeks |
| UpZilo Respond 24/7 | Done-for-you | £99/month + £299 setup; 100 AI phone minutes and 300 digital sessions a month; VAT not stated | Phone, WhatsApp, web chat, Instagram, Messenger | 12-month agreement | Built for you |
| Moneypenny AI Receptionist | AI with human backup | From £49/month (VAT not stated); quote for your plan | Phone | Not published | Done with a Solutions Architect |
| Fasthosts | Self-serve | £39 (30 calls), £69 (100 calls) or £99 unlimited a month, plus VAT | Phone; web call button on Unlimited | No long-term contract | Self-serve, under 15 minutes; 1 month free |
| IONOS | Self-serve | £39 (30 calls), £69 (100 calls) or £99 unlimited a month, plus VAT | Phone; website widget on Unlimited | Cancel anytime; 30-day money-back guarantee | Self-serve, under 15 minutes; 1 month free |
| Sayora | Self-serve, for UK trades | £49/month early bird with unlimited minutes; no VAT charged | Phone; text and email alerts | None | Self-serve; 7-day free trial |
| Whoza | Self-serve, for UK trades | £59/month (100 minutes, 10 jobs) to £230 (700 minutes, 40 jobs); no VAT charged | Phone; jobs sent to your WhatsApp | None; 30-day money-back guarantee | Self-serve, under 30 minutes; 7-day free trial |
| BT Business AI Receptionist | From your phone provider | No list price; 100-minute bundles from 100 to 14,000 minutes a month; optional £150 setup session | Phone | Monthly rolling | Self-service portal |
| bOnline AI Receptionist | Phone-plan add-on | £10/month on top of a bOnline phone plan (plans from £7 per user per month plus VAT) | Phone | Plan terms not published on the pages we checked | Self-serve; free trial, no card |
Prices are as published on each provider's own website on 9 November 2026. Where a provider says whether VAT is included, we have said so.
Done-for-you AI front desks
These are built, trained and tested on your business by the provider, and both answer more than the phone.
DeskAgent
DeskAgent is a London-built AI front desk for UK service businesses. Four agents - the Phone Agent, WhatsApp Agent, Web Agent and Inbox Agent - answer every enquiry in the business's own name, qualify the job and send the owner a summary by email and WhatsApp, with urgent jobs sent straight to the owner's mobile. They share one brain, so a customer who rings and then messages doesn't have to start again, and the owner runs everything from WhatsApp through DeskAgent HQ. Each agent is built and tested on the business before it goes live.
Good fit if: you run a UK service business and want calls, WhatsApp, web chat and email answered by one agent that is set up for you.
Pricing (as published): Web Agent £85/month, Inbox Agent £85/month, Phone Agent £125/month with unlimited inbound calls, WhatsApp Agent £125/month, and Full DeskAgent (all four plus HQ) £285/month. Single agents have no separate setup fee: the first month covers the build. The 3-month pilot is a one-off £500 for the full build and three months live, then £285/month if you keep it. No contract and no VAT to add. See pricing.
Watch out for:
- A newer company than most names on this list
- AI only: there are no human receptionists behind it, so calls that need a person are passed to you
- Setup takes days, not minutes: under a week for Web and Inbox, under two weeks for Phone and WhatsApp
- No free trial, though you can ring the demo line or book a free demo first
- It costs more than the cheapest phone-only tools
Ring 020 7101 0617 and play one of your customers, or book a free 30-minute demo
UpZilo Respond 24/7
UpZilo sells "Growth Systems" for service businesses, including websites and local SEO. Its Respond 24/7 AI receptionist answers questions and captures leads on your website, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, and handles incoming calls through one business number or forwarding route. Leads go into UpZilo's CRM with email notifications, and you get a monthly performance report.
Good fit if: you want Instagram and Messenger covered as well as calls, WhatsApp and web chat, and you are happy with a 12-month agreement.
Pricing (as published): £99/month plus a £299 one-time setup fee on a 12-month agreement, including up to 300 digital conversation sessions and 100 incoming AI telephone minutes a month. UpZilo says higher usage moves to an agreed higher tier or overage charge.
Watch out for:
- 12-month agreement and a setup fee
- 100 phone minutes a month, so check that against your call volume
- VAT is not stated on the price
- Unlimited conversations and minutes are listed as not included
UpZilo Respond 24/7 pricing and details · DeskAgent vs UpZilo, side by side
AI with human backup
Moneypenny AI Receptionist
Moneypenny is a UK telephone answering company. Its AI Receptionist handles routine calls and recognises when a call needs a person, for example a high-value or complex call, a frustrated caller or someone asking for a human, and real Moneypenny receptionists can step in. A Solutions Architect sets it up with you, and Moneypenny says most clients are live within a few days. You keep your number and divert calls to a number Moneypenny provides.
Good fit if: you want AI to handle routine calls with real receptionists ready for the rest.
Pricing (as published): From £49 a month, according to its AI Receptionist page. It does not say whether VAT is included or what the starting plan covers, so ask for a quote.
Watch out for:
- Only a starting price is published
- Phone only
- Contract terms for the AI service are not published (its human answering schemes of 150 minutes or fewer have a three-month minimum, then one month's notice)
Moneypenny AI Receptionist pricing and details · DeskAgent vs Moneypenny, side by side
Self-serve AI receptionists
You set these up yourself from a dashboard, usually in minutes, and pay less. You also keep them up to date yourself.
Fasthosts AI Receptionist
Fasthosts sells a self-serve AI Receptionist, which it describes as a fully UK-based service. You pick a package, add your website, choose a voice, test it and activate, which Fasthosts says takes under 15 minutes. You keep your number through call forwarding, and the agent emails you after each call. Plus and Unlimited add appointment booking with Google Calendar, Outlook, Cal.com or Calendly, and Unlimited adds a call button for your website and API integrations. Fasthosts says call data is hosted in EU data centres and calls are not recorded.
Good fit if: you are a sole trader or small team who wants cheap call answering you can set up yourself today.
Pricing (as published): Lite £39/month (30 calls, then £0.49 per call), Plus £69/month (100 calls, then £0.39 per call), Unlimited £99/month. Fasthosts says all prices exclude VAT at 20%. 1 month free and cancel online at any time.
Watch out for:
- Phone only
- Per-call charges above the Lite and Plus allowances
- No appointment booking on Lite
- Self-serve: you build and maintain it
Fasthosts AI Receptionist pricing and details · DeskAgent vs Fasthosts, side by side
IONOS AI Receptionist
IONOS sells its AI Receptionist on three plans at the same price points as Fasthosts: Flex, Flex Pro and Unlimited. Each comes with its own phone number, or you forward your existing one, and you get an email summary after every call. You can connect Google Calendar, Outlook, Cal.com or Calendly, upload your own documents and connect a CRM. IONOS says it runs on European infrastructure and never uses your data for AI training.
Good fit if: you want self-serve call answering with a money-back guarantee, or outbound calling, which comes with Flex Pro.
Pricing (as published): Flex £39/month (30 calls, then £0.49 per call), Flex Pro £69/month (100 calls, then £0.39 per call, with outbound calls and scheduling), Unlimited £99/month (unlimited calls, API and a website widget). All excluding VAT. 1 month free trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee and cancel anytime.
Watch out for:
- Phone only
- Per-call charges on Flex and Flex Pro
- Self-serve: you build and maintain it
IONOS AI Receptionist pricing and details
Sayora
Sayora Ltd is registered in Scotland and built in Edinburgh. Its self-serve AI phone answering is aimed at UK trades such as plumbers, electricians, roofers, builders and heating engineers, and at estate and letting agents. It answers day and night, answers callers' questions, screens out cold callers, books into Google Calendar or Cal.com and sends you a text and email for each lead, with an optional text back to the caller. Your own local or 03 number is included, or you divert your existing calls.
Good fit if: you are a UK tradesperson who wants low-cost, self-serve call answering with no per-minute charges.
Pricing (as published): £49/month early-bird price for the first 50 accounts (34 places were left on 9 November), with unlimited minutes, kept for as long as you stay. Sayora is not VAT-registered, so there is no VAT to add. No contract, and a 7-day free trial with no card.
Watch out for:
- Phone only
- Early-bird places are limited, and the price for later accounts is not published
- Self-serve on the £49 plan; hands-on setup is part of its Enterprise plan, priced on request
Whoza
Whoza AI Ltd, registered in Scotland, sells an AI receptionist for UK trades. It answers calls 24/7, qualifies the enquiry and sends a job card to your WhatsApp for you to accept, call back or decline, and the customer can be notified on WhatsApp or by text. You forward your existing number, and Whoza says most trades are set up in under 30 minutes.
Good fit if: you are a tradesperson who wants each enquiry delivered to WhatsApp and is happy for the bill to grow with the work.
Pricing (as published): Starter £59/month (100 call minutes and 10 booked jobs, then £4.50 a job), Growth £125/month (300 minutes, 20 jobs, then £3.25 a job), Pro £230/month (700 minutes, 40 jobs, then £2.75 a job). Extra minutes are 40p each, or £20 for 100. Whoza says no VAT is charged. No contract, a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 7-day free trial on Starter.
Watch out for:
- The bill rises with booked jobs and call minutes in busy months
- Starter handles one call at a time (Growth two, Pro three)
- Self-serve, with optional setup help at £200 an hour
AI receptionists from phone providers
BT Business AI Receptionist
BT Business launched AI Receptionist on 1 October 2026 as the first product in "AI from BT", and its product page describes it as AI Receptionist "from RingCentral". It answers calls 24/7 or in business hours, handles routine enquiries, books appointments into Outlook and Google Calendar, captures and transcribes calls and transfers callers to the right person. BT says it works across any UK fixed or mobile network, so you keep your number, and you set it up through a self-service portal.
Good fit if: you want phone-only AI answering from a big UK network, especially if you already use BT Cloud Work, and you can predict your monthly call minutes.
Pricing (as published): No list price is published. It is sold in 100-minute bundles, from 100 to 14,000 minutes a month, billed on inbound minutes. An optional one-hour setup session costs £150. Monthly rolling contract.
Watch out for:
- No published price
- It stops answering at 100% of your minutes unless you buy more or switch on overage, which is off by default and charged at a higher rate
- Phone only
BT Business AI Receptionist pricing and details · DeskAgent vs BT Business, side by side
bOnline AI Receptionist
bOnline is a London-based business phone (VoIP) provider. Its AI Receptionist is an add-on to a bOnline phone plan that answers calls, sends them to the right person or handles them entirely, in 25+ languages.
Good fit if: you are on, or happy to move to, a bOnline phone line and want the lowest add-on price.
Pricing (as published): £10/month added to any bOnline plan. Plans start from £7 per user per month plus VAT. Free trial with no card.
Watch out for:
- Needs a bOnline phone plan, so your phone service moves to bOnline (it says number transfers usually take 10 to 20 days)
- Phone only
- The AI Receptionist's call allowance isn't stated on the pages we checked
bOnline AI Receptionist pricing and details · DeskAgent vs bOnline, side by side
Which other AI receptionists did we check?
We also looked at three well-known names that don't meet our UK test. Smith.ai has a free plan with 25 calls a month and paid plans from $150 a month, with live receptionists based in North America, but publishes no UK coverage. Goodcall charges from $79 a month and bills by unique customer rather than by the minute, and also publishes no UK coverage. RingCentral sells its own AI Receptionist in the UK only as an add-on for RingCentral phone customers, with prices from an account representative. For London firms that want a phone agent built from scratch, see our guide to AI phone agent builders in London.
How do you choose the right AI receptionist?
- Where do your enquiries arrive? If customers message on WhatsApp, use your website chat or email as often as they ring, a phone-only tool will still leave gaps.
- Who will set it up and keep it right? Self-serve tools are cheaper, but you build, test and update them. Done-for-you services do that for you.
- What will a normal month cost? Work out your calls, minutes and booked jobs, then check per-call, per-minute and per-job charges, setup fees and VAT. Our AI receptionist cost guide shows how.
- What happens when you go over? Some plans charge per extra call or minute, and BT's stops answering at the limit unless you buy more.
- Is there a contract? Look for minimum terms, setup fees and notice periods.
- How do urgent jobs reach you? Ask how emergencies are flagged and how fast you hear about them.
- Will it be honest that it is an AI? A good agent says so if a caller asks.
If you are still weighing up AI against a human answering service or your own staff, our guide to 24/7 answering services in the UK compares every option with real prices.
FAQ
What is the best AI receptionist in the UK?
There isn't one best AI receptionist for every business. For cheap, self-serve call answering, Fasthosts and IONOS start at £39 a month plus VAT and Sayora at £49 a month on its early-bird plan. For trades who want jobs sent to WhatsApp, Whoza starts at £59 a month. For AI with real receptionists behind it, Moneypenny starts from £49 a month. For calls, WhatsApp, web chat and email answered by one agent that is built for you, DeskAgent and UpZilo are the done-for-you options. Prices checked on 9 November 2026.
How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?
Published prices for small businesses run from a £10 a month add-on to a bOnline phone plan and £39 a month plus VAT for 30 calls (Fasthosts and IONOS), through £49 to £59 a month for trades-focused tools (Sayora and Whoza), to £99 a month plus a £299 setup fee (UpZilo) and £125 a month with unlimited inbound calls (the DeskAgent Phone Agent). BT sells its AI Receptionist in minute bundles without a published price. Our AI receptionist cost guide covers overage, setup fees and VAT.
Can an AI receptionist answer WhatsApp and web chat as well as calls?
Most AI receptionists answer phone calls only. Of the nine in this guide, DeskAgent answers calls, WhatsApp, web chat and email, and UpZilo answers calls, WhatsApp, web chat, Instagram and Messenger. Whoza sends jobs to your WhatsApp and can notify customers there, and Fasthosts and IONOS add a call button for your website on their top plans.
Do I need to change my phone number?
Usually not. DeskAgent, Fasthosts, IONOS, Sayora, Whoza and Moneypenny all work by forwarding calls from the number you already have, and BT says its AI Receptionist works across any UK fixed or mobile network so you keep your number. bOnline's AI Receptionist is an add-on to a bOnline phone plan, so your phone service moves to bOnline.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
Modern AI receptionists use natural-sounding voices, but a good one is honest when a caller asks whether it is an AI. DeskAgent's agents always say so if asked. If honesty with callers matters to you, ask every provider how its agent answers that question before you sign up.
Which AI receptionist suits a London business?
Every option in this guide is available to London businesses. For a London-specific list that also covers bespoke builders, see our best AI receptionists in London and AI phone agent builders in London.
Want to hear DeskAgent answer?
Ring 020 7101 0617, tell our AI receptionist your business name and a typical enquiry, and it will answer as your front desk while you play the customer. If you want to see it built around your business, book a free 30-minute demo - we build a demo agent from your website before we speak. You can also compare DeskAgent side by side with BT Business, Moneypenny, Fasthosts and others.
