Short answer: Unavoidable CRM includes an AI receptionist on every plan, from £29 a month per business, with call minutes billed at the provider’s cost (typically 10p to 15p a minute) and no markup. Standalone AI receptionists in the UK start at about £49 a month, so the right choice depends on whether you want call answering on its own or joined up with your bookings, quotes and invoices.
This guide compares four options UK small businesses often shortlist, using prices from each company’s own pages in October 2026. It is not a ranking. Each tool suits a different kind of business, and the aim is to help you work out which one fits yours.
Before comparing prices, be clear about the job. For most small firms, an AI receptionist needs to do five things well:
The last point is where many setups fall down. A receptionist that answers well but leaves you copying details into another app still costs you time, and quotes still slip through the gaps.
| Unavoidable CRM | Hey Jodie | Ringmere | Moneypenny AI Receptionist | RingCentral AI Receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | CRM with a built-in AI receptionist | Standalone AI receptionist | Standalone AI receptionist for calls and chat | AI receptionist backed by human receptionists | AI receptionist from a business phone provider |
| Published UK price | Solo £29, Team £149, Agency £399 a month | Basic £49, Professional £99, Premium £199 a month (taxes extra) | Starter £49, Growth £99, Pro £249 a month (ex VAT) | From £49 a month, priced to your needs | Not published on its UK pricing page; contact sales |
| Call minutes | Billed by your own voice provider at cost, typically 10p to 15p a minute | Unlimited minutes on the three main plans | 150, 240 or 700 minutes, then 20p to 25p a minute | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page |
| Hand-over to a person | To you, or takes a message | Sends job details to your phone | Not stated on its pricing page | To a Moneypenny receptionist 24/7, or your team | Routes calls by name, location or keyword |
| Bookings, quotes and invoices | Included: diary, quotes, invoices, payment chasing, follow-ups | Not a CRM | Not a CRM | Not a CRM | Part of a phone system, not a CRM |
| Free trial | 14 days, every feature, no card | 7 days, no card | 7 days, card needed, month to month | Demo call and quote | Contact sales |
Competitor details are from each company’s own UK pages, read in October 2026. Prices change, so check before you buy, and check whether VAT is included.
Hey Jodie is a dedicated AI receptionist with clear monthly plans in pounds and, according to its UK pricing page, unlimited minutes on its Basic, Professional and Premium plans. If your call volume is high and unpredictable, a flat fee with no per-minute charges is easy to budget for. It is month to month with no setup fee.
Ringmere is UK-priced, month to month, and covers website chat as well as calls on its Growth and Pro plans. Its plans include a set number of minutes, which suits businesses that know roughly how many calls they get.
Moneypenny is a long-established UK answering company. Its AI receptionist can pass a call to a real Moneypenny receptionist, around the clock, when the AI cannot help or the caller is frustrated. If many of your calls are sensitive or complicated, that human back-up is a real strength.
RingCentral’s AI receptionist works with any phone system, routes calls by name, location or keyword, and handles conversations in several languages. It suits larger teams or businesses that already run their phones on RingCentral.
The honest trade-off: you pay per minute rather than a flat fee, and hand-over goes to you rather than to a team of human receptionists. For most small firms with a modest number of calls, per-minute billing at cost works out cheaper, but a business taking hundreds of long calls a month should do the sums. Our AI receptionist cost guide shows how to estimate a monthly bill.
Start with the problem you are trying to fix.
Whichever you test, use a week of real calls. Ring it yourself out of hours, ask an awkward question, and see what lands in your inbox or diary afterwards.
Related: AI receptionist or answering service?, what a CRM with an AI receptionist does and our full comparison page.
Published UK prices for standalone AI receptionists start at about £49 a month (October 2026). Unavoidable CRM includes one on every plan from £29 a month, with call minutes billed at the provider’s cost, typically 10p to 15p a minute.
Many can. Unavoidable CRM books straight into your calendar and syncs with Google Calendar and Outlook. Check whether a tool books directly or only takes a message for you to act on.
Modern AI receptionists sound natural, but being open with callers builds trust. Most tools let you set the greeting, so you can say who is answering and offer a person if needed.
Usually, yes. With Unavoidable CRM you forward your existing number to the receptionist or use a new local number.
Unavoidable CRM has a 14-day free trial with every feature and no card. Hey Jodie and Ringmere each offer seven days; Ringmere asks for a card.
14-day free trial, every feature, no card needed. From £29 a month per business.
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