Best AI receptionist for UK trades in 2026, compared on price and what they actually do
Last updated August 2026. We built Grip, so we’re not neutral, and we’ll say so every time it matters. Every competitor below gets a fair “best for”, its real price, and an honest reason you might pick it over us.
If you’re a plumber, sparky, gas engineer or builder and you’ve just worked out that “AI receptionist” is a thing you can buy, this page is the shortlist. It answers the two questions you actually have: who offers this in the UK, and what does each one cost. Real prices in pounds, not “book a demo”.
The short version. For most UK sole traders and small outfits, the choice comes down to a handful of names. Grip and Hey Jodie are the two built around UK trades with prices you can read before you sign. Down To Earth AI is cheaper on the sticker but charges to set you up. Moneypenny and AnswerConnect put a real human on the phone if that’s what you’re set on, at three to five times the price. The big American platforms can do the job, but they’re not built for a plumber, and they bill in dollars.
The table
| Provider | From (per month) | Built for UK trades | Keeps your number | Calendar booking | Prices in £, published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grip | £49 | Yes | Yes, divert code | Yes (Pro+, or £5.99 add-on) | Yes |
| Hey Jodie | £49 | Yes | Yes, forwarding | Yes (£99 up) | Yes |
| Down To Earth AI | £45 (+ ~£299 setup) | Yes | Yes | Not clearly stated | Yes |
| whoza.ai | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not clearly stated | No |
| Scotsphere AI | Not published | Yes | Yes | Higher tiers | Editions only |
| Rosie AI | ~$49 (US) | No, US firm in UK | Yes | Yes | In dollars |
| Synthflow | ~$0.13–0.24/min | No, builder platform | Depends on setup | No native booking | In dollars |
| Goodcall | ~$59 (US) | No, multi-site focus | Yes | Yes | In dollars |
| Smith.ai | ~$97.50 / 30 calls | No, US human+AI | Yes | Yes | In dollars |
| Moneypenny | ~£160 (AI add-on) | General UK business | Yes | Higher tiers | Quote-based |
| AnswerConnect | ~£205 (+ £49.99 setup) | General UK business | Yes | Higher tiers | Published |
Figures are the cheapest published entry point as of 8 August 2026 and move often. Where a provider hides its price behind a demo, that’s marked, because for a busy trade it’s a real cost in its own right: you can’t budget for a number you can’t see.
How we compared
Five things decide whether one of these is worth your money, so that’s what we scored. Can you work out your real monthly bill before you sign? A “£19/month” headline that turns into £89 once the meter runs isn’t a £19 service. Does it answer at half nine on a Sunday, not just office hours? Does it hold a proper conversation and actually get the job details, or just take a name? Does it text you straight away so the lead’s on your phone by the time you’re out from under the sink? And is it built for how a trade works, or a generic tool with “plumber” typed into a box?
We didn’t score on features nobody uses. A CRM integration matters to an estate agency, not to a one-van plumber who wants the job texted over and the emergencies put through.
Grip, and who it isn’t for
Grip answers the calls you can’t get to, takes the caller’s name, number and job, and texts them to you within seconds. It works on the number you already have: one divert code sends your missed calls (or every call) to Grip, another switches it off. It puts genuine emergencies straight through and quotes your call-out fee first if you’ve set one. On Pro+ it books jobs into Google Calendar or Outlook. It’s £49, £99 or £149 a month, it always tells the caller it’s an AI, and the transcripts of every call sit in your account.
Where Grip’s honest weak spots are: the plans include an allowance (75, 175 or 250 answered calls) and then it’s 50p a call, so if you’re taking hundreds of genuine calls a week, a flat-unlimited plan can work out cheaper. Spam, wrong numbers and quick hang-ups don’t count towards the allowance, which takes the sting out, but the maths still favours flat-rate at very high volume. And if what you actually want is a person on the line, not an AI, Grip isn’t that, and won’t pretend to be. If either of those is you, one of the names below fits better. That’s the point of this page.
The alternatives, honestly
Every one of these beats Grip for someone. Here’s who, and why.
Hey Jodie
The closest thing to a direct rival, and a good product. £49, £99 and £199 a month, all with flat unlimited calls, no per-call meter and no contract. That flat-unlimited model is the real reason to pick it over Grip: if your phone goes constantly and your volume is unpredictable, you’ll never get a surprise bill. Grip’s edge is the divert-code setup on your existing number, WhatsApp delivery, and calendar booking on the mid tier rather than the top one. Worth knowing: Hey Jodie also publishes the “best AI receptionist” guides that rank Hey Jodie first, which is common in this category and worth reading with that in mind. Best for: a business with high, spiky call volume that wants one flat number every month.
Down To Earth AI
Built by a tradesman, and it shows in the plain-spoken pitch. £45 a month with no contract and a 30-day money-back guarantee, and it covers social channels (Facebook, Instagram, web chat) as well as calls. The catch is a setup fee of around £299, where Grip, Hey Jodie and most rivals charge nothing to get started, and there’s no free trial advertised. Best for: a trade that gets a lot of enquiries through Facebook and Instagram DMs and doesn’t mind paying upfront to be set up.
whoza.ai, Clara and Scotsphere AI
Three more UK-focused names worth a look. All three aim at trades or small service businesses. The honest problem is none of them publish a price you can read without a demo, so we can’t put a real number in the table. If you’re comparing, ring them and ask for the flat monthly cost and the overage rate in the same sentence, and see how straight the answer is.
Rosie AI
A capable US platform that’s expanded into the UK, from about $49 a month, with WhatsApp and app delivery. It’s genuinely good software. It’s just a US company that doesn’t know a CP12 from an EICR, prices in dollars, and won’t have the UK-trade specifics baked in. Best for: someone who wants a slick US-style product and isn’t fussed about a British company handling the calls.
Synthflow, Goodcall and the developer platforms
Synthflow is a voice-AI builder, not a receptionist you switch on. You pay by the minute (roughly $0.13 to $0.24 all-in once you add the language model and telephony), there’s no native calendar booking, and you’ll need to wire up your own scheduling and CRM. Goodcall starts around $59 but is built for multi-location businesses and caps you on unique customers. These are powerful if you’ve got a developer and want to build something custom. For a one-van trade who wants it working by Friday, they’re the wrong shape. Best for: a business with technical resources that wants to build its own flows.
Smith.ai
A US human-plus-AI service. The AI plans start around $97.50 for 30 calls, then you’re paying per call above that (about $3.25 a call), and it’s billed in dollars. Real receptionists, real quality, real per-call cost when January hits and everyone rings at once. Best for: a US-facing business, or one that specifically wants American-style live agents.
The other option: a human answering service
If you’ve read this far and decided you actually want a person, not an AI, that’s a legitimate choice, and two UK names lead it.
Moneypenny is the premium end: real PAs answering in your company name, and a brand built on how you sound on the phone. The trade-off is the price and the model. Its own AI voice agent sits on top of a telephone-answering subscription that starts around £160 a month, the human plans are priced per minute and quoted rather than published, 24/7 cover is an add-on, and the smaller plans carry a three-month minimum with longer commitments above that. Best for: a firm where the caller experience is the product and the budget’s there for it.
AnswerConnect runs UK-based human agents from around £205 a month (150 minutes) plus a £49.99 setup fee, up to £395 for 350 minutes, with per-minute overage above your bundle. Bilingual cover, proper humans, and a per-minute meter that a flu-season spike will find. Best for: a regulated firm that needs UK-based people and can absorb the per-minute cost.
The pattern across both: a human answering service is three to five times the price of an AI one, and it’s per-minute, so a busy month costs more exactly when you’re busiest. For a lot of trades that’s the wrong way round. But if a caller hearing a person matters more than the money, pay for a person.
How to choose: five questions to ask any provider
- What’s my real monthly bill at my actual call volume, including overage? Make them do the maths, not just quote the headline.
- Is there a setup fee or a minimum term? A £299 setup or a 12-month contract changes the sum.
- Does it keep my existing number, or do I have to move? Most good ones use a divert code. Some don’t.
- What happens to spam and wrong numbers? If those count towards your allowance, your real cost is higher than it looks.
- Can it tell an emergency from a price-check and put the emergency through to me? That’s the difference between a receptionist and a voicemail with a voice.
What we’d actually pick
The honest one-liner: Grip if you want a UK-built, trade-specific receptionist on your own number with prices you can read and calendar booking without paying for the top tier. Hey Jodie if your call volume is high and unpredictable and flat-unlimited helps you sleep. A human service like AnswerConnect or Moneypenny if you’re set on a real person and the budget’s there. Anything demo-gated, ask for the flat price and the overage in one breath before you commit.
FAQ
What’s the cheapest AI receptionist for a UK trade?
Do any of them keep my existing phone number?
Which ones book jobs into my calendar?
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a one-man band?
Do they have to tell callers they’re an AI?
Last updated 8 August 2026. We refresh this page and re-check every competitor price quarterly.