Every vendor's real cost

AI customer service

From $29/seat/mo

$0.99 per Fin resolution

per-seat + per-resolution

The category benchmark — excellent product, but model your monthly resolution volume before you commit, because success raises the bill.

AI customer service

Suite from $55/agent/mo (Support from $19)

$1.50–$2.00 per automated resolution (hidden behind sales)

per-seat + per-resolution

Powerful but the least transparent of the majors on AI cost — you have to call sales to learn the per-resolution rate, which tells you who it's priced for.

AI customer service

Free; paid from $24.17/mo

Lyro AI from $32.50/mo (50 AI conversations)

flat-tier + per-conversation

The easiest free start for a small store — just watch the Lyro + Flows add-ons, which stack quietly.

AI customer service

From $60/mo (300 tickets) + $0.40/extra ticket

$1.00 per automated resolved conversation ($0.90 annual)

flat-tier + per-resolution

The right pick for a Shopify store and the wrong one for anyone not on Shopify — and watch the double-charge on resolved tickets.

AI customer service

Free (≤5 users); paid from $25/user/mo

$0.75 per AI Answers resolution

per-seat + per-resolution

The best-value per-resolution rate for a small, email-first team — and the AI is only billed when it actually answers.

Live chat / customer service

Starter $19/agent/mo (annual)

Live-chat core is per-seat; AI assist (One) is an add-on, not a per-resolution meter

per-seat

LiveChat is the dedicated, mature live-chat platform for teams that want human agents up front at a predictable per-seat price — not a per-resolution AI meter. Best when human-led chat with optional AI assist is the goal; look elsewhere (Intercom Fin, Help Scout) for a fully autonomous per-outcome agent or a free-forever tier.

AI customer service

From $19/agent/mo

$49 per 100 AI sessions (~$0.49/session)

per-seat + per-conversation

The budget pick on seats, but re-check session pricing — Freshworks quietly 5×'d it, and that's the number that scales.

AI customer service

Service Pro $90/seat/mo (+$1,500 onboarding)

$0.50 per resolved conversation (Breeze; since Apr 2026)

per-seat + per-resolution

If you're already on HubSpot, Breeze at $0.50/resolution is now a genuinely competitive AI rate — standalone, the onboarding fee bites.

AI customer service

Service Cloud from $175/user/mo; Agentforce add-on +$125/user

$2 per conversation (legacy) → Flex Credits (~$0.10/action)

per-seat + per-conversation

Only makes sense if you're already all-in on Salesforce; the pricing is enterprise-grade in both capability and opacity.

AI customer service

Enterprise $89/seat/mo (annual, 8-seat min)

Bots from $0.60/conversation; Copilot $40/user

per-seat + per-conversation

Capable at volume, but the 8-seat annual floor and per-conversation bot billing make it a poor fit for small teams.

AI customer service

Free (2 seats); Mini $45/mo (4 seats)

Included AI credits per tier (Mini $5 ≈ 90 automated convos)

flat-tier + per-message

The cheapest flat entry for a small team — predictable until heavy automation burns through the included AI credits.

AI chatbot builder

Free; Hobby $40/mo

Per message credit (1–5 credits by model; extra $12/1,000)

flat-tier + per-message

Great for a quick, embeddable site bot — just remember model choice is the real cost lever, not the headline plan price.

AI chatbot builder

$69/mo single plan

Included (fair-use) + Meta per-conversation passthrough on WhatsApp

flat-tier

A tidy flat price for Meta-channel commerce — just budget the separate WhatsApp conversation fees Meta charges on top.

Chat marketing automation

Free; Essential ~$15/mo

ManyChat AI add-on +$29/mo (not included in any plan)

flat-tier

Best for IG/Messenger marketing flows, not ticket support — and the AI is an extra you'll want to weigh against the add-on price.

AI customer service

Starter $40/mo (250 convos); Pro $200/mo (2,000 convos)

Flat by conversation volume (no per-resolution)

flat-tier

The pick if per-resolution uncertainty scares you — flat buckets trade upside surprises for a clear monthly number.

AI agent builder

Pay-as-you-go free start ($5 AI credit); Team $495/mo

Base plan + 'AI Spend' (model/token usage on top)

flat-tier + per-message

Powerful for builders, but treat the plan price as a floor — your real bill depends on AI Spend (tokens × model).

AI customer service

Contact sales (no public pricing)

Per conversation (billed even when AI fails); estimates only

contact-sales + per-conversation

Enterprise-grade and enterprise-priced — and the per-conversation model means failed bot handoffs still cost you, unlike outcome-based rivals.

AI customer service

Acquired

Contact sales (now a Zendesk company)

Not published

contact-sales

Acquired by Zendesk in 2026 — new buyers should evaluate Zendesk's AI directly rather than Forethought standalone.

AI customer service

Contact sales (~$150k/yr+ estimate)

Outcome-based, rate undisclosed

contact-sales + per-resolution

Premium enterprise agentic platform — outcome-based in principle, but you'll need a procurement team to learn what it costs.

AI customer service

Contact sales (~$50k floor + usage estimate)

Usage-based (per conversation/resolution), undisclosed

contact-sales

A fast-rising enterprise contender, but firmly in the contact-sales, six-figure tier — not for SMBs.

Conversational marketing

Sunset

Contact sales — product being sunset

n/a

contact-sales

Do not buy — Clari/Salesloft announced Drift's sunset in 2026 with 1mind named as the successor. Listed here only so you don't waste time on it.

Agent design platform

Free Starter; Pro $60/mo; Business $150/mo per editor

Credit-based (voice calls burn more credits than chat)

flat-tier + per-seat

Best as a design and prototyping tool — its credit model makes real voice-minute cost hard to predict for production telephony.

Voice agent infra

Free start (60+ min/mo); usage-based

$0.05/min platform fee only (STT/LLM/TTS/telephony extra)

per-minute

The builder's choice — but the famous $0.05/min is orchestration only; budget $0.15–0.25 all-in once you add the stack.

Voice agent infra

$0 PAYG ($10 free credits)

$0.07/min platform; $0.07–$0.31/min all-in

per-minute

The most transparent infra option — it shows you every line item, which is exactly why it's a good teaching example of real voice cost.

Voice agent infra

Free ($0.14/min); Build $299/mo ($0.12/min); Scale $499/mo ($0.11/min)

$0.11–$0.14/min ALL-INCLUSIVE (no passthroughs)

per-minute

The 'no surprises' option — its headline rate is roughly the real rate, which is rare; you pay a monthly fee for that predictability.

Voice agent infra (no-code)

Free start, usage-based

$0.09/min voice engine; $0.15–$0.24/min all-in

per-minute

The agency/white-label pick — easy to build on and the most generous affiliate, but watch the per-minute add-ons.

Voice agent infra

Free (15 agent min/mo); Creator $22/mo

~$0.08/min overage (+LLM passthrough)

per-minute + flat-tier

Pick it when voice quality is the priority — just remember the bundled minutes don't include the LLM passthrough, and dead air bills.

Voice agent infra

Free; Pro $5/mo; Startup $49/mo

$0.06/min (Line) + $0.014/min telephony

per-minute

A strong low-latency voice layer for builders — but the $0.06/min Line figure is before LLM and STT, so model the full stack.

Voice agent infra

$0 PAYG ($200 free credit)

$0.075/min (std); $0.065 BYO-TTS; $0.163 advanced

per-minute

The cost-sensitive, high-volume builder's pick — best free credit in the category, but mind the websocket-time billing.

Voice agent infra

$25,000–$100,000 upfront license + per-minute

$0.11/min outbound, $0.32/min inbound (estimates)

per-minute + contact-sales

Enterprise outbound only — the steep upfront license and ring-time billing make it the wrong call for almost any SMB.

Voice agent (enterprise)

Contact sales (~$150k/yr estimate)

Not published

contact-sales

A serious enterprise contact-center voice platform — but everything about its pricing says 'large company with a procurement team.'

AI receptionist

Starter $79/mo; Growth $129/mo; Scale $249/mo

Flat per month, unlimited minutes (billed per unique caller)

flat-tier + per-call

A clean, flat-fee receptionist for a small service business — unlimited minutes makes the monthly bill genuinely predictable.

AI receptionist (+ human)

AI Receptionist from $95/mo; human from $292.50/mo

Per-call (set call quota per plan)

per-call + flat-tier

The trusted pick for law firms and pro services — the AI tier is affordable, but watch how multi-minute calls can count as several.

Virtual receptionist (human)

Call Ruby from $245/mo (50 min)

Human receptionists, billed by the minute within plan

flat-tier + per-minute

The human-receptionist incumbent — included here as the benchmark: if you don't need a human, AI receptionists do it for a fraction.

AI voice agent (no-code)

Free (10 min/mo); Starter $30/mo (300 min)

~$0.09/min

per-minute + flat-tier

A cheap, friendly on-ramp to a no-code voice agent — fine until your minutes outgrow the bundle.

AI automation + voice

Free (400 credits/mo); Pro $49.99/mo

$0.19/min voice + $10/month per phone number

per-minute + flat-tier

Worth it only if you're already on Lindy for automation — as a standalone voice agent, $0.19/min plus per-number fees is steep.

Business phone + AI

Phone from $15/user/mo; AI Agents = contact sales

Autonomous AI Agents priced via sales (no published rate)

per-seat + contact-sales

Buy it for the phone system with AI baked in — the autonomous voice-agent product, though, is a contact-sales black box.

AI receptionist

Starter ~$50/mo (figures conflict)

Per-month with included minutes (per-minute not published)

flat-tier

Promising SMB receptionist, but verify the current plan price on its own page — published figures conflict, so we hold it unverified.

AI voice agent

From ~$3/call (usage-based)

Per call (~$3); monthly available

per-call

Worth a look for multilingual needs, but the per-call price and thin public pricing keep it unverified for now.

Voice agent infra (TTS-first)

Creator ~$31.20/mo (annual)

Voice-agent per-minute not publicly published

flat-tier

Strong TTS, but its voice-agent pricing isn't published — hold off until the post-acquisition product and pricing settle.

Voice agent infra

Free start; paid tiers undisclosed

Not published

flat-tier

An early-stage low-latency option, but with no published pricing we can't yet stand behind any cost number for it.