2026 guide

The best telephone answering services in the UK, honestly compared.

Six services worth your shortlist, from the biggest human brands to the flat-rate AI newcomers, with what each genuinely does best, what it costs, and who should pick it.

First, our cards on the table: Sayora is our product, the AI receptionist below. We've kept the comparison honest anyway. Every price is published or sourced from independent reviews (June 2026), rivals' strengths are stated plainly, and for several kinds of business we'll tell you a rival is the better choice. Sources are at the bottom of the page.

How we judged

Four tests, applied to all six.

Pricing you can verify

We prefer published rate cards to "call for a quote". Where a provider quotes per business, we say so and use figures from independent reviews, hedged.

Who answers, honestly

Human, AI, or hybrid, each is right for someone. We name which model each service uses rather than pretending one size fits all.

When they answer

24/7 as standard beats office hours with a surcharge. Evening and weekend calls are the ones a small business can least afford to miss.

UK fit

UK numbers, UK hours, pound pricing, Ofcom-compliant caller ID, and, for AI, disclosure to callers. Some big names are US services with a UK front door.

The shortlist

Six services, six different jobs.

Sayora

Best flat-price AI receptionist for UK small businesses

Our product, so weigh this entry accordingly. Sayora is an AI receptionist built for UK small businesses, trades first: she answers every call 24/7 in a warm British voice, tells callers she's AI, screens cold sales, books jobs into your diary, and texts you the lead the moment the call ends. Pricing is published: £49 a month flat with unlimited minutes, no setup fee, no contract.

  • £49/mo published, unlimited minutes
  • 24/7 included, no setup fee, month-to-month
  • Instant SMS lead summaries, recordings and transcripts

Worth knowing: Choose a human service instead if a real person on the line is non-negotiable for you.

See Sayora pricing →

Moneypenny

Best-known UK human service

The biggest name in UK answering, built on human PAs with a newer AI add-on. You get a named receptionist who learns your business, with the warmth and judgement of a real person, and a 25-year track record that carries weight in law, finance and other relationship-heavy fields. Pricing is quote-based and per-minute; independent reviews report the AI receptionist from around £99 a month on top of a human plan.

  • Human PAs with an AI voice agent as an add-on
  • Quote-based, per-minute; 3-month minimum on smaller plans
  • 24/7 human cover reportedly +£35/mo

Worth knowing: Look elsewhere if you want a published flat price or AI sold on its own.

Sayora vs Moneypenny →

AnswerConnect

Best human-only 24/7 cover with published plans

Deliberately human: "real people, not bots", answering around the clock since 2002, with a UK arm and one of the few published rate cards in the category. Plans run from £45 a month for 25 minutes to £205 for 150, with overage at £1.75–£1.85 a minute, so the bill tracks your call volume. A tree planted for every customer is a genuinely nice touch.

  • Human receptionists only, 24/7 as standard
  • Published: £45/mo (25 mins) to £205/mo (150 mins)
  • Overage £1.75–£1.85/min; £49.99 setup on some tiers

Worth knowing: Per-minute pricing punishes busy months; low, predictable call volume suits it best.

Sayora vs AnswerConnect →

JAM

Longest track record in UK answering

Answering UK phones with real people since 1977, which makes JAM the elder statesman of the category. Bespoke call handling, ISO-certified processes, and a team that suits businesses with complex call flows. The published entry point is £35 a month, with per-minute rates quoted per business rather than published.

  • Human receptionists, since 1977
  • Published entry from £35/mo; per-minute on a quote
  • Bespoke handling for complex call flows

Worth knowing: No full public rate card, so budgeting means getting a quote first.

Sayora vs JAM →

alldayPA

Established UK call-centre service

A Manchester call-centre team answering since 1999, with an omnichannel service ladder and vertical options like legal answering. Pricing is quoted per business and billed per call or per minute; independent reviews report entry points from around £90 a month, on a reported 30-day minimum plus 30 days' notice.

  • UK human call-centre team, 24/7
  • Quote-based; reportedly from ~£90/mo
  • Reported 30-day minimum plus 30 days' notice

Worth knowing: Quote-only pricing makes comparison slow, and leaving can take up to two months.

Sayora vs alldayPA →

Smith.ai

Best for US firms needing deep CRM integrations

A capable US hybrid: AI answering with live human agents as backup, and the deepest practice-management and CRM integrations in the category (Clio, Filevine, Salesforce). Billed per call in US dollars, with AI plans from around $97.50 a month and live-agent plans from around $292.50. For a UK business the fit is awkward: US time zones, US number porting, and a bill that moves with the exchange rate.

  • AI + human agents, 24/7, US-based
  • From ~$97.50/mo (AI); live plans from ~$292.50/mo, per call
  • Deep integrations: Clio, Filevine, Salesforce

Worth knowing: US-shaped; UK businesses should look at UK-native services first.

Sayora vs Smith.ai →

Not on the shortlist but compared in depth: Sayora vs Ruby, Sayora vs Davinci Virtual and Sayora vs AnswerForce.

Choosing

Which one is yours?

  • You want the best-known human brand and a named PA: Moneypenny, if the quote and minimum term suit you.
  • You want humans, 24/7, and pricing you can see before you call: AnswerConnect.
  • You want bespoke handling from the longest-standing team: JAM.
  • You're a US firm living in Clio or Salesforce: Smith.ai.
  • You're a UK small business that wants every call answered 24/7, the lead texted to you in seconds, and one flat published price: Sayora, £49 a month, and you can hear her answer a real call before you decide.

Still weighing it up? The cost guide does the per-minute maths, and the alternatives pages put Sayora side by side with each service. New to the category? Start with what an AI receptionist is, or see what Sayora's telephone answering service includes.

Fair questions

Picking the best, answered.

What's the best telephone answering service for a UK small business? +

It depends on the model you want. For human answering with a big-brand track record, Moneypenny leads; for human-only 24/7 with published pricing, AnswerConnect. For a flat-priced AI receptionist trained on your business, Sayora is £49 a month with unlimited minutes, and yes, that one is ours.

What's the best cheap answering service? +

On entry price, JAM (from £35 a month) and AnswerConnect (£45 for 25 minutes) publish the lowest starting figures, but both bill per minute, so real months cost more. On total cost at realistic volume, flat-rate AI is usually cheapest; our cost guide walks through the maths provider by provider.

Should I choose an AI or a human answering service? +

Choose human if warmth, judgement and a person on the line matter most and your budget stretches to per-minute billing. Choose AI if you want every call answered identically, 24/7 included, instant SMS lead summaries, and a flat price. AI services should tell callers they're AI; Sayora does, on every call.

Do these services all answer 24/7? +

AnswerConnect, JAM, alldayPA, Smith.ai and Sayora all offer round-the-clock answering as standard. Moneypenny's human answering defaults to weekday office hours, with 24/7 cover reportedly a paid add-on; its AI add-on runs 24/7.

Sources

The quickest way to judge her? Hear her.

Fifteen minutes with Jacob. We'll set Sayora up on a real call from a business like yours, and you decide where she ranks.

Book a 15-minute call

£49/mo. No contract. Cancel anytime.

Best AI receptionists → What answering services cost → All guides →