Best AI receptionist UK: Five options compared for 2026

The phone rings while you are with a customer, up a ladder or already on another call. You cannot take it, and you have probably wondered whether software could. In 2026 it can. The best AI receptionist for a UK business might be a £39 a month self-serve plan or a fully managed set-up, and the choice comes down to how much each call is worth to you.

We build and run AI voice agents for UK businesses, so one of the options below is ours. It goes first because it is the one we know inside out. We have also said plainly who should not buy it.

Quick answer: If phone calls bring in most of your revenue, pick a managed AI receptionist that someone builds, tests and runs for you, such as ours. Set-up is where self-serve tools fall down. If you just want to try the idea cheaply, IONOS and Fasthosts start at £39 a month with a free month, and if you want a human team behind the AI, look at Moneypenny.

How much does a missed call cost a UK business?

Nobody has measured it properly for the UK. What you can measure is what it costs to pay a person to answer, so that is where we start.

• £12.71 an hour is the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026, according to the government's April 2026 announcement
• 15% employer National Insurance is due on earnings above £5,000 a year in 2026 to 2027, according to HMRC's rates and thresholds for employers
• 3% is the minimum employer pension contribution under automatic enrolment, according to The Pensions Regulator
• 22% of the week is all a 37.5 hour receptionist covers, out of 168 hours (our own arithmetic)

A word of caution on missed call statistics. Almost every "most callers never ring back" figure online comes from a company that sells call answering. We looked for an independent UK study and did not find one. So we have not quoted one.

What is an AI receptionist?

An AI receptionist is software that answers your business line in a natural voice, works out what the caller wants and deals with it, using what you have told it. It answers common questions, books appointments, takes messages and puts calls through to a person. Most suppliers let you keep your number. You simply forward calls to the AI, either all the time or only when nobody picks up.

Say someone rings a plumbing firm at 8pm about a leaking boiler. The AI takes the name, postcode and problem. It checks that against what you told it counts as an emergency, then either passes it to the engineer on call or books a morning visit. You get a summary by email. The job stays yours instead of going to whoever picked up first.

What an AI receptionist can and cannot do

What it handles well

• Answering every call at once, at 3pm or 3am
• The questions you answer ten times a day: opening hours, parking, how to book
• Booking, moving and cancelling appointments in a connected calendar
• Clean messages, with a summary in your inbox minutes after the call

What still needs a person

• Complaints, and anyone who is upset. Software that apologises well is still software
• Clinical, legal or financial advice. It should take the details and pass them on
• Callers who refuse to talk to a machine. Some will hang up, and that is fine
• Anything you have not told it. A vague brief produces vague answers

Best AI receptionist UK options compared

Each one is a service a UK business can sign up to now, can pass a call to a human and states its UK GDPR position. We checked every price on the supplier's own page on 21 October 2026. OMH is listed first because it is ours.

The five options in more detail

OMH AI Receptionist

This is ours. You do not write the instructions, we do. We set up the OMH AI Receptionist around your business: we connect your call forwarding and diary, load your services, prices, opening hours and booking rules, and you test it and sign it off before it goes live. Then we review the first two weeks of live calls with you, and keep changing it when your business changes.

It answers every call on the first ring, handles several calls at once, qualifies the caller and books into your calendar. Anything complex goes to your team with a written summary, so nobody rings back cold. We already have versions shaped for dental practices, estate and letting agents, law firms and plumbers. In our experience, that sector knowledge is where most of the set-up time goes on a self-serve tool. And you can ring our demo agent on 020 3489 3934 before you speak to anyone.

Who it does not suit: it costs more than the self-serve plans below, there is a setup fee and there is no free month. If you only miss a few calls a week, start with a self-serve trial. We would rather you did that than overpay.

Verdict: our pick when each call is worth real money and the set-up has to be right first time.

IONOS AI Receptionist

IONOS lists three plans at £39, £69 and £99 a month excluding VAT, covering 30 calls, 100 calls and unlimited calls, with a one month free trial and no minimum term. The catch is the entry plan. Thirty calls is about one a day, extras cost 49p each, so a busy line soon ends up on the top plan.

Verdict: the cheapest sensible way to find out whether an AI receptionist suits you.

Fasthosts AI Receptionist

Fasthosts sells the same three tiers at the same headline prices and call allowances, also with a free month. Its page says calls are not recorded, only summarised. Good for privacy. Less good if a customer ever disputes what was said. The VAT wording on the page was unclear when we checked, so confirm it before you sign up.

Verdict: go for this one if you would rather no recordings existed at all.

Moneypenny AI Receptionist

Moneypenny is best known as a human answering service, and its UK AI Receptionist runs alongside that team. When the AI cannot help, or a caller asks for a person, the call can go to a Moneypenny receptionist at any hour or to your own staff. Prices start from £49 a month, but you get a quote rather than a price list, and we saw no free trial.

Verdict: the one to choose if a human safety net matters more to you than price.

Allo

Allo is a business phone system with an AI receptionist add-on. Its pricing page lists the add-on at $32 a month per agent, billed yearly, on top of a plan such as Business at $32 per seat. Prices are in US dollars, and the page did not confirm UK numbers when we checked. Ask before you commit.

Verdict: worth a look if your phone system is due for replacement anyway.

What does an AI receptionist cost compared with a person?

A full time receptionist on the National Living Wage costs about £2,359 a month once you add National Insurance and pension. The top IONOS plan is £118.80 a month including VAT. Here is the arithmetic.

The pension line uses the 3% minimum on earnings above the £6,240 lower limit that The Pensions Regulator sets for 2026/27. Holiday cover, sick pay and recruitment would push it higher.

That comparison flatters the software, though. A good receptionist greets visitors, chases invoices and notices when something is off. The mistake we see most is treating an AI receptionist as a replacement. Use it for evenings, weekends and busy spells, alongside your team.

How to choose the right AI receptionist for your business

1. Count your calls for two weeks. How many, when, and how many go unanswered. Done when you know whether 30 calls a month is plenty or far too few.
2. Write down the ten questions callers ask most, with the answers. This becomes the AI's brief. It is also most of the work, so do not rush it.
3. Decide what an urgent call looks like. Who gets it and what happens at 2am. Done when it fits in three lines.
4. Run the free trial out of hours first. Forward only evening and weekend calls for a fortnight, and read every summary.
5. Ring it yourself as an awkward customer. Mumble, interrupt, go off script. Done when it hands you to a person instead of guessing.

UK rules for AI receptionists: GDPR and telling callers

Callers give you their name, their number and often a lot more, so UK GDPR applies from the first hello. Sort this out before you switch the forwarding on. We are not lawyers, so take advice on anything unusual.

How the caller's data is handled

The supplier processes caller data for you, so you need a written data processing agreement and you should know where the data is stored. Every supplier here says it is GDPR compliant. Ask to see the agreement anyway. A badge on a website is not a contract.

What you have to tell callers

The ICO's guidance on the right to be informed says people must be given privacy information when you collect their data. In practice that means a short line in the greeting and an updated privacy notice on your site. We would also tell callers plainly that they are speaking to an AI assistant.

How long you keep recordings and summaries

Keep recordings and transcripts only as long as you need them, and write that period down.

What has to be written down

Add the AI receptionist to your record of processing. If callers share health details, as they will with a dental practice or clinic, carry out a data protection impact assessment before launch.

Frequently asked questions

What is an AI voice agent?

An AI voice agent is software that holds a spoken phone conversation. It listens, works out what the caller wants and replies in a natural voice, using information the business has given it. An AI receptionist is a voice agent set up for incoming calls: answering questions, booking appointments, taking messages and transferring callers to staff.

Is there a free AI voice agent?

Not one we would put on a business line. IONOS and Fasthosts both offer a one month free trial, which is long enough to see how your callers react. After that, you pay monthly.

Can I keep my existing business number?

Usually, yes. Moneypenny and IONOS both say you can keep your current number and divert calls to the AI. Many businesses start by forwarding only unanswered and out of hours calls, so the AI catches what the team misses.

Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small business?

It is worth it when missed calls are costing you work. For a trade, clinic or agency where the phone rings while you are busy, one extra booking a month can cover a self-serve plan. If you rarely miss a call, you do not need one yet.

Will callers know they are talking to an AI?

Many will notice. Tell them in the greeting anyway. In our experience an honest "you are speaking to our AI assistant" lands better than a caller working it out halfway through. A quick route to a real person matters more than how human the voice sounds.

Where to go from here

If you want to hear a managed AI receptionist on a UK line, ring our demo agent on 020 3489 3934 or read how the OMH AI Receptionist works. Our full range of AI voice agents includes a version for private clinics. If you would rather talk it through, book a free consultation or contact us. If the phone is not ringing enough to need any of this, local SEO is the better place to start.