Ruby Receptionist Pricing 2026: $250 for 50 Minutes

Ruby's published virtual receptionist pricing, rechecked on ruby.com on 2026-07-29, is $250 a month for 50 receptionist minutes, $395 for 100 minutes, $720 for 200 minutes, and $1,725 for 500 minutes. Divide it out and the entry plan is $5.00 a minute and the largest plan is $3.45 a minute, which is the number worth writing down, because minutes are the thing you run out of.

The one figure Ruby does not publish is the rate for minutes past your bundle. We read the whole pricing page looking for it on 2026-07-29 and there is no overage rate, no per-minute figure for additional time, and no statement of what happens when you go over. That answer comes from their sales team at quote stage.

If you want a per-call number instead of a per-minute meter, you can hear what that sounds like before you read another table. Call the OnCrew demo line at (818) 578-4783 and put it through a real intake, or start the 14-day free trial with no credit card. The rest of this guide is Ruby's plan table, what the page does and does not commit to, and the per-call math at contractor call volume.

Last reviewed July 29, 2026.

Featured answer

Ruby Receptionist pricing in 2026, from ruby.com rechecked 2026-07-29: $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes, $395/month for 100 minutes, $720/month for 200 minutes, and $1,725/month for 500 minutes. That is $5.00 down to $3.45 per included minute. Ruby's pricing page publishes no rate for minutes beyond your bundle. Credit where it is due, the page does state 24/7 coverage including after-hours, weekends and holidays, and states there are no additional or hidden fees for activation, onboarding, setup, customization, or coverage during certain periods. Contractor-AI alternatives (OnCrew is the contractor-specific example we publish) start at $49/month for 100 included calls, then $0.99 per extra call; larger plans are on the pricing page.

Ruby Receptionist pricing tiers (2026)

Source: Ruby's own pricing page, rechecked 2026-07-29. The cost-per-minute column is the monthly price divided by the included minutes. Vendor pricing pages change; check the live page before committing.

Ruby also publishes live chat plans at $143, $335 and $520 a month for 10, 30 and 50 chats, and receptionist-plus-chat bundles at $115, $268 and $416 a month, described on the page as a 20% saving (rechecked 2026-07-29).

What Ruby's published price does not tell you

Ruby is clearer than most of this category about what is included, so start with the credit. As of 2026-07-29 the pricing page states coverage is 24/7 including after-hours, on weekends and on holidays, and states there are no additional or hidden fees for activation, onboarding, setup, customization, or coverage during certain periods. Several third-party round-ups still describe Ruby as business-hours-only with holiday surcharges. Ruby's page does not say that.

What the page leaves open is the part that decides your invoice:

• The rate for minutes past your bundle. The page lists four bundles and no overage rate. There is no per-minute figure for additional time anywhere on it, so the only way to learn what minute 51 costs is to ask Ruby. The page points pricing questions to their sales number.
• How talk time is counted. Whether a 70-second call bills as 70 seconds or rounds up to two minutes is not stated. On a plan with 50 included minutes, rounding is not a rounding error.
• What a long emergency intake does to the bundle. A burst-pipe call that captures shutoff status, address and leak context can run 4 to 6 minutes. Ten of those calls is most of the 50-minute bundle in one bad night.

Also worth noting: several widely-cited pricing round-ups currently quote Ruby entry pricing at $129, $235 or $245 a month. Ruby's own page said $250 on 2026-07-29. When a third-party number and the vendor's page disagree, the vendor's page is the one that bills you.

Real monthly math for a contractor shop

Worked example, using only Ruby's published bundle prices: a 4-truck plumbing shop fielding 130 calls a month (50 after-hours, 80 daytime intake), average call length 3 minutes for routine intake and 5 minutes for emergencies.

• 130 calls x 3.5 min average = 455 minutes of talk time
• The bundle that covers 455 minutes is the 500-minute plan at $1,725 a month (rechecked 2026-07-29), which is $3.45 per minute and about $13.27 per call at that volume
• Step down to the 200-minute plan at $720 and you are 255 minutes short, at a per-minute rate Ruby does not publish, so the invoice is not knowable from the page
• Step down to the entry plan at $250 and you are 405 minutes short

That is the honest shape of it. On a minute-metered plan the predictable outcome is either buying a bundle far bigger than your average month to stay safe, or accepting an overage rate you cannot look up. For comparison, the same 130 calls on a per-call plan is 100 included calls plus 30 at $0.99, so $49 plus $29.70, which you can work out yourself before signing anything.

How much does Ruby answering service cost per month?

Ruby answering service cost per month for a typical contractor shop: the published plans run $250 to $1,725 per month depending on the included minute pool (rechecked 2026-07-29). Which of those four numbers you pay comes down to talk time, not call count. At the contractor-typical 80 to 150 calls a month with 3 to 5 minute average intake, you are looking at 240 to 750 minutes, which lands you on the $720 or the $1,725 bundle. At very low volume, under 50 short calls, the $250 entry plan is the real number. The cost driver is talk time: emergency intake calls run long, and Ruby does not publish the rate for minutes past your bundle.

If the question is how Ruby's cost compares to an AI answering service, the difference at contractor volume is the billing unit before it is the price. Per-call contractor AI runs $49 to $349 a month with per-call rather than per-minute overage, so a 6-minute emergency call costs the same as a 40-second one, and you can compute your worst month in advance.

Contractor-AI alternatives at published pricing

The OnCrew Pro plan at $149 per month covers 400 included calls, more than three times the example shop's volume, and the overage is per call rather than per minute, so a 6-minute emergency intake costs the same as a 40-second wrong number. The Smith.ai rows are included for honest comparison, not as a recommendation: Smith.ai bills per call rather than per minute, and its human tier's per-call overage grows a busy shop's bill much like Ruby's minute meter. Smith.ai figures from smith.ai/pricing/receptionists and smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist, both rechecked 2026-07-29.

When Ruby Receptionists is still the right choice

• Large commercial accounts with sophisticated buyers who expect to hear a US-based human on every call
• Multi-location shops with a daytime in-house team that only need a polished overflow handler for low-volume periods
• Premium-priced brands where the human-touch positioning is part of the customer promise

For a 1 to 15-truck contractor shop, the per-call AI services cover the same talk time for a fraction of the monthly figure, and the trade-off you are accepting is an AI voice instead of a human one. Test that trade-off rather than taking anyone's word for it: call (818) 578-4783 and give it a real intake scenario from your own trade.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ruby Receptionist cheaper than Smith.ai?

It depends on call volume and minute length, and on 2026-07-29 both published entry prices were close: Ruby's smallest plan was $250 a month for 50 minutes, Smith.ai's smallest human plan was $300 a month for 30 calls. They diverge as you grow, because Ruby meters minutes and Smith.ai meters calls at $8.50 to $11.50 each. At contractor-typical volume, 80 to 150 calls a month with 3 to 5 minute average intake, Ruby lands on the $720 or $1,725 bundle and Smith.ai's Starter plan plus per-call overage runs past $1,400. Per-call AI at $49 to $349 a month is a different order of magnitude, which is a structural point about billing units, not a claim about who answers the phone better.

Does Ruby Receptionists bill per minute?

Ruby sells minute bundles: 50, 100, 200 or 500 receptionist minutes a month. Longer emergency intake consumes more of the bundle. What the pricing page does not publish, as of 2026-07-29, is the rate for minutes past your bundle, so ask that question in writing before you sign.

Does Ruby Receptionists handle after-hours calls?

Yes. Ruby's pricing page states 24/7 phone and website coverage including after-hours, on weekends and on holidays, and states there are no additional or hidden fees for coverage during certain periods (rechecked 2026-07-29). Plenty of comparison articles still claim Ruby charges extra for nights and holidays. That is not what Ruby's page says. The cost question with Ruby is the minute meter, not the clock.

What is the cheapest virtual receptionist for contractors in 2026?

At contractor-typical 80 to 150 call volume, per-call AI is the cheaper structure: $49 to $349 a month with $0.99 per-call overage (OnCrew tiers) against $720 to $1,725 a month for the Ruby bundles that cover the same talk time. That is a structural difference, not a quality claim. If a US-based human voice on every call is part of your brand promise, Ruby is selling something the per-call plans do not.

Will the AI alternative sound like a robot?

In 2026, no, not for contractor-AI vendors using modern voice stacks (Retell, ElevenLabs). Most homeowners do not realize they aren't speaking with a human until you tell them.

How is OnCrew different from Ruby for contractors?

OnCrew is contractor-specific (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing), runs trade-specific safety branches (gas smell, sparking panel, sewage backup), and emails a handoff to your on-call tech inside 90 seconds. Ruby is a generic human virtual receptionist not built for trades. The price gap is 4 to 8 times at typical contractor volume.

Where to start

If you are evaluating Ruby Receptionists pricing for a contractor shop, the honest path:

1. Pull your last 90 days of call records: how many calls, what time, average length, percent after-hours.
2. Apply Ruby's current minute-plan pricing and per-minute meter to your real call mix; use the live Ruby pricing page for current rates.
3. Apply a contractor-AI vendor's per-call pricing to the same call mix. For OnCrew that is $49/$149/$349 per month at the three tiers, with $0.99 per-call overage past the included calls.
4. Compare the totals at the volume you actually do, not at the demo line's example.

For OnCrew specifically: start with a 14-day free trial on any plan. No charge during trial, real test calls on real intake, founder-led onboarding. Cancel in one click. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Related reading

• Ruby Receptionist alternatives 2026: 7 options compared
• Ruby Receptionists alternative for trades businesses
• OnCrew vs Ruby Receptionists for contractors
• Smith.ai pricing 2026
• VoiceNation pricing 2026 (now Moneypenny, published AI rates)
• PATLive pricing 2026
• Abby Connect pricing 2026
• Best AI answering services for contractors in 2026
• HVAC virtual receptionist guide
• Plumbing virtual receptionist guide
• OnCrew vs Smith.ai for contractors
• Answering service for contractors: the trade-by-trade intake walkthrough for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing shops.