How Much Does an AI Receptionist Cost for a Medical Practice?

Compare AI receptionist costs for medical practices, including per-minute pricing, monthly plans, overages, setup needs, and ROI factors.

By SpeechSage Team, 2026-05-12

AI receptionists for medical practices are billed per minute, per call, or as a monthly plan with included minutes. SpeechSage charges healthcare practices 15 cents a minute, pay as you go, with a signed BAA. A practice taking 500 minutes of calls a month pays about $75.

How much does an AI receptionist cost?

AI receptionists for medical practices are billed per minute, per call, or as a monthly plan with included minutes. SpeechSage charges healthcare practices 15¢ a minute, pay as you go, with a signed BAA. A practice taking 500 minutes of calls a month, about eight 3-minute calls a working day, pays about $75.

The right comparison is not only software cost. Practices should also consider missed calls, staff time, after-hours coverage, and how quickly patient requests are captured and routed.

For a side-by-side look at what eight services cost at 100, 500 and 1,500 minutes a month, read our AI receptionist pricing comparison for 2026.

How per-minute pricing works

With per-minute pricing you pay for the minutes your calls actually use, so a quiet month costs less than a busy one. Each call in the SpeechSage dashboard shows exactly what it cost.

New accounts get starter credit to try the agent on a shared demo number. Practices that want their own number sign the BAA when they set it up. Practices that would rather pay a set amount each month can choose a plan with included minutes; see pricing.

What affects AI receptionist pricing?

The main pricing drivers are monthly call minutes, how the vendor bills (per minute, per call or per caller), number of locations, scheduling complexity, call transfer needs, compliance review, and whether the assistant needs custom integrations.

Watch for costs a headline price leaves out: overage past a plan's minutes, setup fees, per-location charges, and features such as booking or transfers that only come on higher tiers.

How should clinics calculate ROI?

Start with the number of calls your practice receives, the share that go unanswered or to voicemail, the percentage tied to appointments, and the value of recovered bookings. Then add staff time saved from routine calls and after-hours message handling.

Compare that with the cost of the minutes those calls would use. At 15¢ a minute, a single recovered new-patient appointment can pay for hundreds of minutes of calls.

When is the cheapest option not enough?

The cheapest option is not enough when it can't book into your schedule, when it has no BAA, or when it can't route urgent calls to the right person.

For those teams, the better goal is predictable coverage and clear escalation rather than the lowest monthly fee.

Common questions

Is AI receptionist pricing monthly or per minute?

Both exist. Some vendors sell monthly plans with included minutes and charge for overage; others charge per minute, per call or per unique caller. SpeechSage charges healthcare practices 15 cents a minute, pay as you go.

Does SpeechSage charge setup fees?

No. Practices sign up, sign the BAA and set up their agent and phone line themselves. Groups with several locations or custom integrations can talk to us about rollout.

What is the easiest way to estimate savings?

Multiply your monthly call minutes by the per-minute price, then compare that with the appointments you lose to missed calls and the staff time spent on routine calls.