Starter
$79/month
or $790 a year, two months free
Solo owners and small shops with a few calls a day
- 300 call minutes a month
- 1 call answered at once
- Every feature included
- A local number in your area code
Simple pricing. Every feature on every plan.
Pick a plan by how many minutes your calls use and how many callers you need answered at once. Everything else is the same on every plan: answering, booking, transfers, messages, the CRM and your local number.
Plans and prices
Pro
$199/month
or $1,990 a year, two months free
Busy teams that book jobs and appointments every day
- 1,000 call minutes a month
- 3 calls answered at once
- Every feature included
- A local number in your area code
Business
$399/month
or $3,990 a year, two months free
Multi-crew and multi-location businesses with heavy call volume
- 3,000 call minutes a month
- 10 calls answered at once
- Every feature included
- A local number in your area code
Prices in US dollars. 7-day free trial on every plan; cancel anytime in the console. Each call counts in whole minutes, rounded up. Yearly plans cost ten months and still give the minutes every month.
Compare the plans
The only differences are the minutes included and how many calls are answered at the same moment. Starter answers 1 call at a time, Pro 3 and Business 10, so if your calls often overlap, pick Pro or Business.
| Feature | Starter | Pro | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $79 | $199 | $399 |
| Yearly price (two months free) | $790 | $1,990 | $3,990 |
| Call minutes included | 300 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Effective price per minute | $0.26 | $0.20 | $0.13 |
| Calls answered at the same time | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Local phone number | Included | Included | Included |
| Every feature | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days | 7 days |
Extra minutes
Busy week? Add minutes on top of any plan, in a few clicks in the console. Included minutes are used first; extra minutes never expire.
| Pack | Price | Per minute |
|---|---|---|
| 100 extra minutes | $25 | $0.25 a minute |
| 500 extra minutes | $110 | $0.22 a minute |
| 2,000 extra minutes | $400 | $0.20 a minute |
Every plan includes
- Answers every call, 24/7, in a natural voice
- Books appointments and estimate visits into your open times
- Takes messages and call-back requests, with the details you need
- Puts callers through to the right person on your team
- Remembers returning callers and what they asked for
- Answers from your business information; what it can't answer comes to you
- A summary of every call by email, plus Slack alerts
- Google Calendar, a calendar link for Apple and Outlook, Zapier and Make
- Built-in CRM: every caller becomes a client record
- A local number in your area code, or keep yours with call forwarding
- Change anything by typing or talking to the assistant
Which plan is right for you?
Start from how many calls you get in a month and how long they usually last. Your phone bill or call log shows both; the table below assumes about three minutes a call, enough for a question, a booking or a message.
| Plan | Minutes | About how many 3-minute calls | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 300 | 100 a month (about 5 a weekday) | Solo owners, one location, a few calls a day |
| Pro | 1,000 | 330 a month (about 15 a weekday) | Busy shops and offices booking work every day |
| Business | 3,000 | 1,000 a month (about 45 a weekday) | Several crews or locations, heavy after-hours volume |
Not sure? Start with Pro. The console shows how many minutes you've used, and you can switch plans whenever you like.
How it compares
A full-time receptionist in the US earns a median $38,010 a year before benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), and covers about 40 of the 168 hours in a week. Live answering services usually charge per call or per minute: Ruby's plans start at $250 a month for 50 receptionist minutes, and Smith.ai's live receptionist plans at $300 a month for 30 calls, as listed on their pricing pages on October 19, 2026.
See what AI receptionists cost in 2026 for a vendor-by-vendor table, or our side-by-side comparisons.
Try Julius Answer free for 7 days
Set up in about ten minutes. Keep your number, cancel anytime.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial that includes up to 150 call minutes, whichever plan you pick. The trial starts when you add a card in the console, and nothing is charged until it ends; cancel in the console before then and you pay nothing.
What counts as a minute?
Time on the phone with a caller. Each call counts in whole minutes, rounded up, so a 2-minute 10-second call uses 3 minutes. Calls Julius Answer answers count, including short wrong-number or sales calls.
What happens if I run out of minutes?
Add an extra-minute pack in the console in a few clicks, or move to a bigger plan. Extra minutes start at $25 for 100 minutes and never expire.
Do unused minutes roll over?
Included plan minutes reset each month and don't roll over. Extra minutes you buy never expire and stay on your account until you use them.
Can I change plans later?
Yes, any time, in the console or by asking the assistant. An upgrade starts right away: you pay the difference for the rest of the month and get the new plan's extra minutes for the rest of the month straight away. A downgrade is free: you keep this month's minutes and calls at once until your next bill, which is at the new price, and nothing is refunded for the rest of the month.
Is there a contract or setup fee?
No setup fee. Pay monthly, or yearly with two months free. Cancel in the console whenever you like; calls are answered until the end of the period you paid for, and nothing is refunded for the rest of it.
Can I pay yearly?
Yes. A year costs ten months: Starter $790, Pro $1,990 and Business $3,990. The plan's minutes still come every month and don't roll over. You can move from monthly to yearly any time (you pay for the year minus what's left of the month, and the year starts that day); a yearly plan moves to monthly, or to a smaller plan, when the year renews.
Is the phone number included?
Yes. Every plan includes a local US number in your area code, set up automatically after you subscribe. You can also keep your existing number and forward it.
How do I pay?
By card, inside the Julius Answer console. Payments are processed by Stripe; your card number never touches our servers. Invoices are in the console to download.
Sources
- Receptionists: Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 data
- Ruby pricing, Ruby, 2026
- Smith.ai pricing (Virtual Receptionist plans), Smith.ai, 2026
Checked 2026-10-20. Third-party prices and features change; check the vendor before you buy.