Answering Service Care reviews and pricing: its live and AI plans, compared
Short answer
Answering Service Care offers two services, both billed by the minute: live answering from $179 a month for 100 minutes, and AI answering from $80 a month for 100 minutes, with a one-time $50 setup fee (as of October 2026). Before weighing Answering Service Care reviews, it helps to know which service a reviewer used and which features come with which plan. AIReceptionistGo is a 100% AI receptionist billed per answered call, with every feature on every plan and free setup.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Same month, three ways
Answering Service Care’s own pricing FAQ puts the average call at roughly three minutes. Here are 50 calls at 2 minutes (100 minutes), with the 3-minute total below the table, priced as of October 2026:
| ASC live | ASC AI | AIReceptionistGo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | People | AI, with escalation to people | AI, and it says so; transfers to you |
| What you pay for | Minutes | Minutes | Answered calls |
| A month of 50 calls | $179 (Small Business) | $80 (Small Business) | $29 on the 50-Call Plan |
| Setup | $50 one time | $50 one time (its FAQ doesn’t split it by service) | Free |
| Recording, booking | By plan | By plan | Included in every plan |
| Hours | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Transfers | Yes | Yes | Yes, to you, by your rules |
| Contract | None long-term | None long-term | None |
| Calls running long | Extra minutes | Extra minutes | Same price per call |
At 3 minutes a call (150 minutes), the same month costs $264 on live Small Business ($179 + 50 × $1.70) and $120 on AI Small Business ($80 + 50 × $0.80); ours doesn’t change. On Pay As You Go there’s no monthly fee at all: $0.99 for each answered call. Plans side by side are on pricing.
Example call
Hear how a call sounds
A comparison table only goes so far. This is an after-hours call to a plumbing shop, answered by the AI, and the summary the owner gets right after. Press play to hear it.
- It says it’s an AI up front, and again when the caller asks.
- It asks what matters, in order: what’s wrong, how urgent, who and where.
- It never promises what the owner hasn’t approved.
Example call: a leaking water heater after hours, answered by the AI.
Copperline Plumbing
Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. · after hours
Urgent
- AI
- Thanks for calling Copperline Plumbing. This is the shop’s AI assistant. How can I help?
- Caller
- Oh. Am I talking to a real person?
- AI
- No, I’m an AI assistant. I can take the details and get them to the on-call plumber. What’s going on?
- Caller
- My water heater is leaking. It’s not a flood, just a puddle that keeps growing.
- AI
- Okay. Is it still leaking right now?
- Caller
- Yes, it’s still dripping.
- AI
- Got it. I’m marking this urgent for the on-call plumber. Your name and address?
- Caller
- Megan Torres, 31 Willow Bend.
- AI
- Thanks, Megan. I’m sending this to the plumber now, and I’ll text you a confirmation.
Summary sent to you
- Urgent
- Water heater leaking, still dripping.
- Caller
- Megan Torres, 31 Willow Bend.
- Done
- Sent to the on-call plumber; confirmation text sent. No arrival time promised.
Answering Service Care pricing
From its pricing page, checked on October 16, 2026. Monthly prices; annual plans save up to 10%.
Live answering (people)
| Plan | Per month | Minutes | Each extra minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $40 | 0 | $1.75 |
| Small Business | $179 | 100 | $1.70 |
| Pro | $329 | 250 | $1.60 |
| Enterprise | $639 | 500 | $1.35 |
AI answering
| Plan | Per month | Minutes | Each extra AI minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $40 | 0 | $0.85 |
| Small Business | $80 | 100 | $0.80 |
| Pro | $195 | 250 | $0.75 |
| Enterprise | $350 | 500 | $0.70 |
Some features depend on the plan: call recording is included from Pro and appointment setting from Enterprise. There’s a one-time setup fee of $50 and no long-term contract.
What Answering Service Care does well
It gives you both options under one roof, with US-based receptionists. Its AI plans include 24/7 escalation to a person, so a call the AI can’t handle can reach a live receptionist; those minutes are billed at the live rate ($1.60 to $1.75 a minute). Every plan comes with a web and mobile app and call transfers. The Starter plans let you begin at $40 a month, and annual billing lowers the price. It also offers live chat and outbound calling. For a business that wants AI first with people behind it, that combination is its strongest point.
What you get with AIReceptionistGo on every plan
No feature is held back for a bigger tier. The AI answers 24/7 in English and Spanish, asks the questions your industry needs, books appointments in your calendar, transfers calls to you or your team by your rules, alerts whoever you choose when something is urgent, screens out spam, and sends you a summary of every call, with the recording and transcript in your dashboard.
Behind it is a protocol we write with you. Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses: what to ask a caller with a burst pipe, a new legal client or a family arranging a service, in what order, and what never to promise. You approve it before the first call. See our method and how it works.
Which one fits you
Answering Service Care fits if you want a live person available behind the AI on every call, or you also need outbound calling or human-staffed chat.
AIReceptionistGo fits if you want a single price per call with everything included, no setup fee, and calls handled to your trade’s protocol, with the important ones transferred to you rather than to an outside receptionist. If you’re still deciding between people and AI, read AI receptionist vs. answering service.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Questions about Answering Service Care
What do Answering Service Care reviews say?
Answering Service Care publishes customer testimonials and keeps a reviews page on its own site, with a link to its Trustpilot profile. Read them by service: a review of its live receptionists says little about its AI line. And check what reviewers say about minutes, because with an average call of about three minutes, the plan you land on can change.
How much does Answering Service Care cost?
As of October 2026, live answering starts at $40 a month with no minutes included ($1.75 a minute), or $179 for 100 minutes; AI answering starts at $40 with no minutes ($0.85 a minute), or $80 for 100 minutes. There’s a $50 one-time setup fee, and annual plans save up to 10%.
Is Answering Service Care’s AI the same as AIReceptionistGo?
Both answer with AI, but they bill differently and are built differently. Answering Service Care charges by the minute and can escalate calls to its own live staff. We charge by the answered call, include every feature on every plan, and transfer calls to you or your team instead of to outside receptionists.
Can I switch and keep my business number?
Yes. Your number stays with your carrier. We write your protocol with you, you approve it, and then you forward your line to the number we give you. Callers keep dialing the number they know. The forwarding options are on call forwarding answering service.
Try it on your own line
If you’d rather have every feature without picking a tier, click “Get started” and tell us your hours, your services and which calls should reach you. We draft the protocol, you approve it, and only then does it answer. Other services, with the same math, are on compare AI receptionists.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime