Moneypenny Pricing and Costs for Live and AI Plans

Moneypenny pricing in the US starts at $165 a month for 50 minutes of live answering, then $265 for 100 minutes, $422 for 200 and $985 for 500. Extra minutes cost $2.28 down to $1.67. Its AI answering plans are priced per call instead: $69 for 25 calls, $99 for 50, $199 for 100 and $435 for 250. Every plan is month to month with 30 days' notice to cancel, and live calls are billed in 30-second increments.

We read Moneypenny's US pricing page on October 15, 2026, both the People Answering and the AI Answering tabs, plus its own article on how overage billing works. Every price below comes from those two pages. The cost per minute and per call, the upgrade points and the bills at real call volumes are our arithmetic on those numbers.

How much does Moneypenny cost per month?

Moneypenny's live answering costs $165 to $985 a month on its four published US plans, which include 50 to 500 receptionist minutes. Each plan comes with 24/7 answering, bilingual answering, CRM integrations and the mobile app and dashboard. Moneypenny calls the 200-minute plan its most popular.

The call counts are ours, at 2.5 minutes per call, the planning figure PATLive prints on its own card. Moneypenny does not print a cost per included minute either; that column is the plan price divided by its minutes.

The card has an unusual shape. At most answering services an extra minute costs more than an included one, which pushes you to buy a bigger plan. At Moneypenny it is the other way round on every tier: the 50-minute plan works out to $3.30 per included minute, and each minute over it costs $2.28. Going over your plan is cheaper per minute than the plan itself, so the smallest plan that covers your quiet months is usually the right buy.

How much are Moneypenny's AI answering plans?

Moneypenny's AI answering costs $69 to $435 a month for 25 to 250 calls, billed per call rather than per minute. Each plan includes 24/7 answering, a reporting dashboard and human escalation, so the AI can hand a call to a person.

One detail stands out. The 100-call plan, which Moneypenny marks as most popular, costs a cent more per included call than the 50-call plan. You buy it for the lower overage rate, not for cheaper calls. Moneypenny's site also mentions a one-time setup fee on its AI receptionist in some places, but the pricing card itself lists none, so ask for it in writing before you sign.

When should you move up a Moneypenny plan?

Move up when your usual month passes the point where the bigger plan costs less than the smaller one plus overage. These are those points, worked out from the rates on the card:

The live 500-minute plan almost never pays. Because overage on the 200-minute plan is only $1.91, staying on 200 minutes and paying for extra time costs less than the 500-minute plan until you pass 495 minutes. A business that averages 300 or 400 minutes should sit on the 200-minute plan and accept the overage line.

How does Moneypenny bill a call?

Moneypenny bills live answering in 30-second increments, rounding each call up. Its own example counts a call of 1 minute 5 seconds as 1 minute 30, and overage minutes are counted the same way. That is finer than services that round every call to a full minute, and it matters most on short message-taking calls, where a whole-minute rounding can add a large share to the bill.

Every inbound call a receptionist answers counts toward the allowance. Moneypenny's billing article does not say whether after-call notes or transfer time count, so ask. PATLive states it bills only the time a receptionist is on the line, and Ruby states it also bills after-call notes, so the same 100 calls can use quite different minute counts at each.

Cancellation needs 30 days' notice, effective from your next billing date. There is no long-term contract on any plan, live or AI.

What does Moneypenny cost at your call volume?

Here is the cheapest way to cover each volume on each card, either a plan alone or a smaller plan plus extra minutes or calls, at 2.5 minutes per live call:

At every volume the AI plan costs well under half the live plan. The trade is what happens on the call. A receptionist can calm an upset customer, follow an unusual script and judge whether a call is urgent. An AI handles short, similar calls well and hands the rest to a person. Count a month of calls by type before you choose, because the price gap is large enough to decide the question for most small offices.

Is Moneypenny cheaper than PATLive, Ruby and AnswerConnect?

No, not for live answering. PATLive is cheaper than Moneypenny at every volume on the published cards, and AnswerConnect is cheaper from about 140 minutes. Moneypenny is cheaper than Ruby everywhere. Here are the live plans side by side at the same minute counts:

AnswerConnect also adds a one-time $49.99 setup fee on its 200 and 400 minute plans. Ruby prints no overage rate, so its 300-minute cell is the next plan up. Our PATLive pricing and Ruby receptionist pricing pages go through those cards in full, and the answering service cost breakdown lists every published tier from all five vendors with its cost per minute.

On AI answering the picture is closer. Smith.ai's AI receptionist is $150 for 75 calls plus $2.50 a call, or $270 for 150 calls. At 40 calls Moneypenny is cheaper ($99 against $150). At 80 calls Smith.ai edges ahead ($162.50 against $170.70), and at 200 calls it is $385 against Moneypenny's $418. Our Smith.ai pricing page works out its full card.

These cards change. PATLive repriced its whole card within the last few months, and Moneypenny's own site shows different starting prices on different pages. If you are holding several quotes for longer than a few weeks, a tool that watches pricing pages for changes saves rereading every vendor's site before you sign.

What does every Moneypenny plan include?

Moneypenny states there are no feature tiers on its live plans, so the 50-minute plan gets the same service as the 500-minute plan. The list includes warm call transfer, bilingual answering, customized responses, unlimited caller information and employee contacts, message taking, a free forwarding number, caller recognition, lead qualification, CRM integrations, the mobile app, online dashboard management and proactive account management.

The free forwarding number is how most businesses connect it. You keep your own number on your own phone system and forward calls to Moneypenny when nobody answers, after hours, or all the time. That keeps the number yours if you later switch services, and it lets you send Moneypenny only the calls that need a person.

Who Moneypenny is a good fit for

Moneypenny suits a small business that wants one vendor for both a live receptionist and an AI line, with no contract and no feature tiers to compare. Its AI plans undercut Smith.ai's paid AI plan below about 70 calls a month, and the live card is simple to buy. It is a weaker choice on price alone for live answering, where PATLive publishes lower rates at every volume we checked and AnswerConnect from about 140 minutes. Our business phone answering page sets the live services next to an automated line, call type by call type.

Trades with a few urgent calls and many estimate requests often find they need neither all day. Our answering service for contractors page prices Moneypenny live and AI next to four other services at 40, 80 and 200 calls, including a storm month.

Moneypenny alternatives by price

• PATLive starts at $99 for 50 minutes, bills only time on the line and includes a phone system with an auto attendant on every plan.
• AnswerConnect is the cheapest published live option from about 225 minutes, with its 300-minute plan at $395.
• Smith.ai bills per call on both live and AI plans, which suits long calls, and its AI plan is cheaper than Moneypenny's from about 70 calls.
• A phone system with a menu answers every call instantly and routes it with no meter at all. Phoner Team is $17 per user per month billed yearly with a three-user minimum, $51 a month in total, with a phone menu, ring groups, a business hours schedule, voicemail to text and unlimited US and Canada calling. Nobody talks to the caller or books an appointment, so it does not replace a receptionist when you need one. Many offices use it in front of a live service and send only unanswered calls on with business call forwarding.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Moneypenny cost?

Moneypenny's US live answering costs $165 a month for 50 minutes, $265 for 100, $422 for 200 and $985 for 500, with extra minutes at $2.28 to $1.67. Its AI answering costs $69 for 25 calls, $99 for 50, $199 for 100 and $435 for 250, with extra calls at $2.49 to $1.89. Taxes are extra.

Does Moneypenny have a contract?

No. Moneypenny states that no long-term commitment is required on its plans. You can cancel with 30 days' notice, effective from your next billing date. Plans can also be changed as your call volume moves, and Moneypenny says it will suggest a better-fitting plan if your usage changes.

How does Moneypenny charge for extra minutes?

Each live plan prints its own overage rate: $2.28 a minute on 50 minutes, $2.12 on 100, $1.91 on 200 and $1.67 on 500. Usage is counted in 30-second increments, rounded up, and overage uses the same increments. On every plan an extra minute costs less than an included one.

Does Moneypenny have an AI receptionist?

Yes. Moneypenny sells AI answering plans priced per call, from $69 for 25 calls to $435 for 250, with 24/7 answering, a reporting dashboard and human escalation to a person when the AI cannot handle a call. They sit on the same pricing page as its live receptionist plans.

Is Moneypenny worth it for a small business?

It is worth it when callers need a person and you want no contract and no feature tiers. On live answering alone it costs more than PATLive at every volume, so compare both. If most calls only need routing to the right person or a message, a phone menu does that for a flat price with no minute meter.

Can I keep my business number with Moneypenny?

Yes. Moneypenny includes a free forwarding number, so you forward your existing number to it and keep the number on your own phone system. You choose which calls go over, for example only unanswered calls or only after-hours calls, and you can change services later without changing your number.