The short answer
An AI receptionist for a garage costs £99 to £249 a month at the prices companies publish, and the number to look at is not the monthly fee but how many call minutes come with it. A human answering service charges a standing fee and then every minute on top, which for 400 minutes of calls comes to about £490 a month.
RepairRing is £189 a month for 400 minutes, 20p a minute over that, and £249 once to set up. A booking call runs about three minutes, so that is around 133 calls a month at about £1.42 each. The full price list is on the pricing page.
What each kind of service costs
Each figure below is what that company publishes on its own pricing page, read in September 2026. The human answering service is reported by others rather than published by one provider, so treat it as a guide to the shape of the bill.
| Service | A month | Minutes included | A minute | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RepairRing | £189 | 400 | 47p | Its own pricing page |
| ReceptionMate Assist | £200 | 400 | 50p | Its own pricing page |
| ARROW | £99 | 150 | 66p | Its own pricing page |
| Garage Receptionist | £159 | Not published | Not published | Its own pricing page |
| Torqueflow | £249 | Not published | Not published | Its own pricing page |
| A human answering service | £90 standing | Not published | 100p | Reported by others |
Where a company does not publish its allowance, the price of a minute cannot be worked out, and that gap is worth a question before you sign anything.
Compare the price of a minute, not the headline
The cheapest monthly fee is rarely the cheapest service. A plan that is £99 a month for 150 minutes costs more a minute than one at £189 for 400, and a garage that takes forty calls in a week will use the smaller allowance in the first fortnight and then pay the over-allowance rate for the rest.
To compare any two services, divide the monthly fee by the minutes included, then check the rate for minutes over. Those two numbers tell you what a busy month costs, which is the month that matters.
The costs that are not on the price card
- Setup. Some providers charge nothing and some charge hundreds of pounds. RepairRing charges £249 on Cover and £349 on Diary, invoiced only once the line is live and you have heard it answer your own phone.
- Minutes over the allowance. 20p a minute on Cover and 18p on Diary. Ask any provider for this figure in writing, because it decides what a busy month costs.
- The diary. Answering calls and offering real appointment times are different jobs, and the second is often a higher tier. RepairRing includes it from £299 a month on Diary.
- Term and exit. How long you are committed for, and what you get back if it is not right. RepairRing refunds the setup fee if you stop within thirty days of going live. The guarantee terms say exactly what that covers.
What a missed call costs you
The sum is short. Take the calls that ring out in a week, the share of them that would have booked, and what one booked job is worth to you. If that comes to more than the monthly fee, the service pays for itself. The calculator on the pricing page does it with your own numbers, and it is built to be able to say no.
Six questions to ask any provider
- How many minutes are included, and what does a minute over cost?
- What is the setup fee, and when is it invoiced?
- Does it tell the caller it is an assistant, in the first sentence?
- Does it read the registration back, and only offer times you have set?
- Do I keep my own phone number?
- What can I get back if it is not right, and until when?
The guide to choosing an AI receptionist goes through what a good answer to each looks like.