A receptionist that never starts the meter.
Ruby Receptionists built its reputation on friendly, US-based live agents — and prices accordingly. The entry plan runs about $329/month for roughly 50 minutes, then charges around $1.85 for every minute after. Grow your call volume and your invoice grows with it.
OnCallClerk answers every call for a flat $29/month — no minute pool, no overages, no bill that changes when you have a busy week.
Flat $29/month · Unlimited calls · Live in 10 minutes
What Ruby actually costs as you grow
Ruby’s price is anchored to metered minutes. Assuming a typical three-minute call, here’s the estimated monthly cost at three call volumes — Ruby’s base plan plus per-minute overages, versus OnCallClerk’s flat rate.
Estimates as of 2026 based on Ruby’s published entry rate (~$329/month, ~50 minutes) and ~$1.85/minute overage, at an assumed three-minute average call. Your actual Ruby bill depends on plan, call length, and add-ons. OnCallClerk pricing is flat and does not vary with call volume.
Ruby vs OnCallClerk
The same job — answering your phone — priced and delivered two very different ways.
When Ruby is the better choice
We’re not going to pretend AI wins every scenario. Ruby is the stronger pick if:
- 01Your calls are emotionally sensitive or highly improvisational — think legal intake after a loss, or healthcare triage — where a trained human’s judgment matters more than instant pickup.
- 02You take a low volume of long, high-value calls, so 50 minutes covers you and the per-minute model never really bites.
- 03You specifically want a named human team that knows your regulars by voice and can hold an open-ended conversation.
For the far more common case — routine questions, bookings, and messages that just need to be handled fast and captured cleanly — paying human-per-minute rates on every call is money spent on availability you can get for a fraction of the price.
Everything comes standard
No tiers to climb for the basics. Every OnCallClerk plan includes what Ruby splits across upgrades and add-ons.
24/7 answering at one price
Nights, weekends, and holidays are answered at the same flat rate. There’s no meter to run down, so after-hours calls never cost extra.
English and Spanish, no surcharge
Greet and handle callers naturally in either language without a separate bilingual plan or added minutes.
Warm transfers and messages
Screen calls, transfer the ones that matter to a real person, and take detailed messages when you’re unavailable — with the full transcript sent to you.
Calendar and CRM built in
Book appointments straight into your calendar and push caller details to your CRM. On Ruby this typically means a higher tier or integration add-on.
Comparing other receptionist services?
Ruby isn’t the only premium answering service. Here’s how the field lines up.
Hybrid AI-plus-human model billed per call (~$285/month for 30 calls). Better fit if you want a human on every conversation but more predictable than pure per-minute.
True 24/7 human answering at ~$329/month for 50 minutes, with strong field-service CRM integrations — and the same per-minute overage model as Ruby.
Long-running 24/7 human service at ~$199/month for 75 minutes. A lower entry point than Ruby, still metered by the minute.
Our independent 2026 comparison of 25+ human, AI, and developer answering options, with per-minute rates and hidden fees.
Ruby alternative FAQ
How much does Ruby Receptionists actually cost?
Ruby's entry plan is about $329/month and includes roughly 50 receptionist minutes. Once you pass that allowance, additional time is billed at approximately $1.85 per minute. Because most calls run two to four minutes, a business taking 80–100 calls a month can easily land between $600 and $900, and the bill changes every month with call volume. OnCallClerk charges a flat $29/month with unlimited calls, so the number on your invoice never moves.
Is an AI receptionist as good as Ruby’s live agents?
For the calls most small businesses actually receive — hours, location, pricing, booking, and message-taking — a well-configured AI answers instantly, 24/7, and never puts a caller on hold. Ruby’s advantage is a human on nuanced or emotionally sensitive calls. The honest trade-off: OnCallClerk wins on speed, availability, and predictable cost; Ruby wins when a caller specifically needs a trained person to improvise. Many businesses use AI for the 90% of routine calls and reserve a human line for the rest.
Does Ruby answer calls 24/7?
Ruby’s standard live answering covers business hours, with extended and after-hours coverage available on higher tiers or as add-ons that increase your minute usage (and therefore your bill). OnCallClerk answers every call around the clock — nights, weekends, and holidays — at the same flat rate, because there is no clock running on your minutes.
Can OnCallClerk transfer calls to a real person like Ruby does?
Yes. OnCallClerk can screen and warm-transfer live calls to you or a teammate, take a detailed message when no one is available, and send the transcript and caller details to your inbox or CRM. You keep the “human backup” option without paying human-per-minute rates on every routine call.
Does OnCallClerk offer bilingual answering like Ruby?
OnCallClerk speaks naturally in multiple languages and can greet and handle callers in English or Spanish out of the box, with no separate bilingual plan or surcharge. Ruby offers bilingual answering, but it draws from the same metered minute pool, so heavier bilingual volume increases your monthly cost.
How do I switch from Ruby to OnCallClerk?
There’s no migration project. Sign up, describe your business in the setup wizard (or let it read your website), pick a voice, and forward your existing business number to your new OnCallClerk number. Most businesses are answering calls the same day, and you can keep Ruby running in parallel until you’re confident.
Answer every call for $29, not $329.
Set up your AI receptionist in about ten minutes, forward your number, and stop watching a meter. Keep Ruby running alongside it until you’re sure.
Flat monthly pricing · Unlimited calls · No credit card required