If you're looking into a virtual receptionist service, you've probably seen a range like "$300 to $1,000 a month" and very little detail about where in that range you'd land. The answer depends almost entirely on how many calls you get and how each service bills for them. So instead of another estimate, we went to the pricing pages of three established services that take calls for Canadian businesses, Posh, Ruby, and Smith.ai, and ran the numbers for a small, medium, and busy call volume.
Key findings
- All three services bill by usage: Posh and Ruby per receptionist minute, Smith.ai per call.
- At 100 calls a month, published pricing works out to about $630 with Posh, $1,007 or more with Ruby, and $1,280 with Smith.ai, all in Canadian dollars.
- Ruby and Smith.ai price in U.S. dollars, which adds roughly 40% for a Canadian business at current exchange rates.
- None of the three lists French on its pricing page.
- An AI receptionist covers 100 calls a month for $99 CAD on a Starter plan with 300 included minutes.
What Each Service Charges
These are the prices published on each company's own pricing page as of November 2026. All three include 24/7 coverage at no extra charge, and none lists a setup fee.
Posh publishes Canadian-dollar pricing, effective January 1, 2026. Plans include a set number of receptionist minutes, with a per-minute rate after that:
- No minutes included: CAD $65/month, then CAD $2.30/minute
- 50 minutes: CAD $130/month, then CAD $2.20/minute
- 100 minutes: CAD $215/month, then CAD $2.15/minute
- 200 minutes: CAD $420/month, then CAD $2.10/minute
- 350 minutes: CAD $700/month, then CAD $2.00/minute
- 500 minutes: CAD $975/month, then CAD $1.95/minute
- 1,000 minutes: CAD $1,900/month, then CAD $1.90/minute
Ruby also bills by the minute. Its published plans are US$250/month for 50 minutes, US$395 for 100, US$720 for 200, and US$1,725 for 500, or about CAD $350, $553, $1,007, and $2,413. Ruby's pricing page doesn't publish a rate for minutes beyond your plan.
Smith.ai bills its live receptionist plans by the call rather than the minute: US$300/month for 30 calls (US$11.50 per extra call), US$810/month for 90 calls (US$10.50 per extra call), and US$2,100/month for 300 calls (US$8.50 per extra call). In Canadian dollars, that is about $420, $1,133, and $2,938 a month, with extra calls at roughly $16.09, $14.69, and $11.89. Some features cost extra per call, such as appointment booking at US$1.50 a call.
Ruby and Smith.ai both bill in U.S. dollars. To compare everything on the same basis, we've converted their prices to Canadian dollars at the Bank of Canada exchange rate of 1.3989 (November 5, 2026). For a Canadian business, that adds roughly 40% to the U.S. sticker price.
What It Actually Costs at Your Call Volume
A plan's sticker price only tells you so much, because every one of these services charges more as your calls increase. To compare them fairly, we picked the cheapest published plan for each volume, assuming an average call of 3 minutes. All figures are in Canadian dollars:
| Monthly calls | Posh | Ruby | Smith.ai | AI voice agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 calls (about 90 min) | $215 | $553 | $420 | $99 |
| 100 calls (about 300 min) | $630 | $1,007 plus extra minutes | $1,280 | $99 |
| 250 calls (about 750 min) | $1,462.50 | $2,413 plus extra minutes | $2,938 | $189 (Starter plus extra minutes) or $249 (Growth) |
How we got there: for Posh, 100 calls is the 200-minute plan (CAD $420) plus 100 extra minutes at CAD $2.10. For Smith.ai, 100 calls is the 90-call plan (US$810) plus 10 extra calls at US$10.50, or US$915, which is about $1,280 in Canadian dollars. Ruby's 200-minute plan covers about 67 three-minute calls, and because Ruby doesn't publish its rate for extra minutes, we've shown the plan price as a floor. Your own numbers will depend on how long your calls run, so if your calls are longer or shorter than 3 minutes, the per-minute services will move accordingly.
The Detail Most Comparisons Miss: French
For many Canadian businesses, and nearly every business in Quebec, New Brunswick, and parts of Ontario, French-speaking callers aren't an edge case. Of the three services we looked at, none lists French on its pricing page. Ruby and Smith.ai both list Spanish, with Smith.ai charging US$1.00 extra per call for its dedicated Spanish line. That doesn't mean French isn't available from any of them, but it's worth confirming before you sign up. On our Growth and Pro plans, our AI voice agent answers in French or English based on how the caller speaks, and switches mid-conversation if they do.
What You Get for the Higher Price
To be fair to human services, the higher price buys something real. A trained person handles unusual requests, upset callers, and sensitive conversations with judgment that's hard to match. For a law firm doing intake on difficult cases, or any business where every call is high stakes and different from the last, a human receptionist can be worth the cost.
But for most small businesses, the bulk of calls are routine: booking an appointment, asking about hours or pricing, or getting a quote. Paying by the minute for a person to handle those is where the cost adds up. An AI receptionist handles that routine work for a predictable monthly price, around the clock, and can transfer the calls that genuinely need a person. We've covered the broader options in the best answering service for small business in Canada and the overall cost of a virtual receptionist.
Why the Pricing Model Matters as Much as the Price
Per-minute and per-call billing means your receptionist bill is highest in your busiest months, exactly when you're making money but also when every extra dollar of overhead stings. It also creates a quiet incentive to keep calls short or to avoid answering certain calls at all. A plan with a generous included allowance and a low overage rate removes most of that tradeoff: at 15 to 20 cents a minute, a busy month costs a little more, not a lot more, so there's no reason not to answer every call. Given that nearly half of business calls go unanswered, that matters.
A Note on the Data
All prices come from each company's own published pricing page as checked in November 2026 and may change. Posh lists prices in Canadian dollars. Ruby and Smith.ai bill in U.S. dollars, which we converted at the Bank of Canada daily exchange rate of 1.3989 for November 5, 2026, rounded to the nearest dollar. Posh's FAQ describes its entry plan slightly differently from its pricing table; we've used the pricing table. The cost scenarios assume an average call length of 3 minutes and the cheapest published plan for each volume, and don't include optional add-ons or taxes.
Sources
- Posh, Virtual Receptionist Pricing (Canada), effective January 1, 2026.
- Ruby, Pricing, checked November 2026.
- Smith.ai, Pricing, checked November 2026.
- Bank of Canada, Daily exchange rates. USD/CAD rate of 1.3989 for November 5, 2026, used to convert Ruby and Smith.ai prices.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a virtual receptionist cost in Canada?
Based on published pricing as of November 2026, Posh charges from CAD $65 a month plus CAD $2.30 a minute, up to CAD $1,900 for 1,000 minutes. Ruby charges from about CAD $350 a month for 50 minutes to CAD $2,413 for 500 minutes, and Smith.ai's live receptionist plans run from about CAD $420 a month for 30 calls to CAD $2,938 for 300 calls (both converted from U.S. dollar pricing). For a business taking about 100 calls a month, that works out to roughly CAD $630 to $1,280 or more a month.
Do virtual receptionist services charge per minute or per call?
Both models exist. Posh and Ruby charge for receptionist minutes, with a set number included in each plan. Smith.ai's live receptionist plans charge per call, with a set number of calls included and a per-call rate for extra calls. Either way, the bill rises with your call volume.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a virtual receptionist?
Usually by a wide margin. Canadian AI Lab's AI voice agent starts at $99 CAD a month for 300 included minutes, or $990 a year. A human virtual receptionist service handling 100 calls a month costs roughly CAD $630 to $1,280 or more based on published pricing. The tradeoff is that a human handles complex or sensitive calls with more judgment.
Do virtual receptionist services answer calls in French?
It depends on the provider. Of the three services we looked at, none lists French on its pricing page. Ruby and Smith.ai both list Spanish. If French-speaking callers matter to your business, confirm with the provider before signing up.
When is a human virtual receptionist worth the extra cost?
When most of your calls need real judgment, involve sensitive or emotional situations, or are high-value enough that a person's touch clearly pays for itself. For routine calls like booking appointments, answering common questions, and capturing new leads, an AI receptionist handles the work at a fraction of the price.
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