Alternatives
No one service suits every business. The right one depends on how many calls you miss, when they come in and whether your callers need a person. Below are 13 UK services, While You Work included, with the prices each one publishes on its own website, listed A to Z. Where another service is the better fit, we say so.
Written by While You Work, which sells an AI receptionist. Prices checked on each provider’s own website: Moneypenny, ReceptionHQ, Jodie, Answer.co.uk on 16 October 2026; Cyberstaff, Face For Business, Answer4u, The Answer Centre, Vocalenda, Team Connect, AnswerConnect on 24 October 2026; IONOS AI Receptionist on 17 October 2026. Always confirm current prices with each provider.
The short answer
Choose a human answering service if callers need putting through to staff or the calls need judgement. Moneypenny suits larger teams, Answer4u and AnswerConnect answer around the clock, ReceptionHQ publishes its bundles, Face For Business adds website live chat and The Answer Centre gives you a small team of PAs you know by name. Expect a charge per call or per minute, or a quote.
Pay per call is cheapest when you miss a handful a month. The Answer Centre charges 99p a call in office hours, and Answer.co.uk has no monthly fee on its human service. Cyberstaff, IONOS and Team Connect have small AI plans with a set allowance of calls or minutes.
If every call should end in a booking, look at a service that writes into your calendar during the call. Vocalenda books into Google or Outlook on its one plan, £49 for its first ten businesses and £69 after. Jodie books from its £99 plan, IONOS from its £69 package and Cyberstaff into a connected calendar. At While You Work, Pro sends callers your booking link and Business, at £129 plus VAT, books into your diary on the call.
Once you pass about 75 missed calls a month, a flat price stops the bill moving with your busy weeks. Jodie is £49 before tax with unlimited minutes. While You Work Pro is £69 plus VAT for 150 calls, with questions set for your kind of business, and Business is £129 plus VAT for 400.
Each provider has its own page comparing it with While You Work, including the Answer4u alternative, Cyberstaff alternatives, the Face for Business alternative, Moneypenny alternatives and ReceptionHQ alternatives.
Side by side
| Service | Who answers | Price | How you pay | VAT | Contract | Trial | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Answer Centre Full comparison | People | 99p a call, no monthly fee | Per call, not by the second; 8.30am to 6pm on weekdays, longer hours extra | Not stated | No fixed monthly subscription | Two weeks free | A person you know by name on a handful of office-hours calls |
| Answer.co.uk Full comparison | People, or AI | People £2.20 a call; AI from £10 a month plus 85p a call | Per call, or AI call bundles | Plus VAT on the human service | Pay as you go | Not stated | Pay as you go with no monthly fee |
| Answer4u Full comparison | People | Not published, quote only | Monthly line fee plus calls, or a call bundle | Not published | No long-term contract | 30-day free trial | People on the phone around the clock, with a long trial first |
| AnswerConnect Full comparison | People | From £45 a month; plans shown after you give your details | Plan minutes, charged in whole minutes including work after the call; extra minutes on top | Plus VAT | End any time with notice, pay to the end of the billing cycle | None found | People on the phone around the clock, with website live chat covered as well |
| Cyberstaff Full comparison | AI | £30, £75 or £120 a month | Monthly talk time (100, 300 or 600 minutes), extra minutes charged | Not stated | None | Free trial, length not stated | A few short calls a month, with bookings into a connected calendar |
| Face For Business Full comparison | People | Plans from £49, £99 or £115 a month, plus calls | Plan price plus calls by the second or per call | Not stated | 90-day minimum, then 30 days’ notice | 7-day free trial | A human PA who learns your business, with website live chat as well |
| IONOS AI Receptionist Full comparison | AI | £39, £69 or £99 a month | Package plus a charge per call over 30 or 100 calls; unlimited on £99 | Plus VAT | None | One month free | IONOS hosting customers who want calendar booking on the call |
| Jodie Full comparison | AI | £49, £99 or £199 a month | Flat monthly, unlimited minutes | Tax added at checkout | None | 7-day free trial, no card | Busy lines that want unlimited minutes and a mobile app |
| Moneypenny Full comparison | People, or AI | Quote for people; AI Receptionist from £49 a month | Set by quote | Not stated | Three-month minimum on smaller receptionist plans | Free trial, details on request | Larger firms that want a human team to put calls through to staff |
| ReceptionHQ Full comparison | People | From £15 a month plus £1.10 a call, or 25 calls for £25 | Monthly call bundle, extra calls £1.10 to £1.30 | Plus VAT | None, rolling monthly | 7-day free trial | A person on every call when you miss fewer than about 25 calls a month |
| Team Connect Full comparison | AI | £19.99, £79.99 or £199.99 a month with AI minutes | Monthly plan with AI minutes and landline minutes, top-up packs when they run out | Plus VAT | None, monthly renewal | None listed | A new business number, AI answering and SMS or email marketing from one supplier |
| Vocalenda Full comparison | AI | £49 a month for its first 10 businesses, then £69 | One flat plan with 500 call minutes; calls pause when used unless you top up | Not stated | None, no notice period | 30 days free, card needed | Salons, barbers and other appointment businesses that want bookings made on the call |
| While You Work Our own service | AI | £39, £69 or £129 a month | 50, 150 or 400 calls a month, then 60p to 40p a call. Calls count once up to 10 minutes | Plus VAT, which VAT-registered businesses can reclaim | None, cancel any time | Money-back guarantee for 14 days once your line is live | Trades and small businesses that miss a steady stream of calls and want a price per call, not per minute |
If you are not VAT registered, add 20% to any price marked plus VAT or not stated before you compare. Want to know what you would pay each month? Read how much a call answering service costs in the UK, with worked examples at 20, 50 and 100 calls a month.
Questions
It depends on what you want each call to end in. If callers book appointments, Vocalenda books into Google or Outlook on its one plan (£49 for its first ten businesses, then £69, VAT not stated), Jodie books on its £99 Professional plan (before tax), IONOS from its £69 package (before VAT) and Cyberstaff into a connected calendar. If you mainly need enquiries taken and sent to you, While You Work is £39 a month plus VAT for 50 calls, or £69 plus VAT for 150 on Pro. If you miss only a handful of calls, the Cyberstaff £30 Starter plan can cost less, and the IONOS £39 package is the same price as our Starter with 30 calls instead of 50. The table above has every price we compared.
If you want a person on the phone, Moneypenny suits larger firms that need calls put through to staff and gives prices by quote. Answer4u answers around the clock with a 30-day trial, and AnswerConnect answers 24/7 from £45 a month plus VAT, charged by the minute. ReceptionHQ publishes bundles from £25 for 25 calls plus VAT, Face For Business gives you a named PA and website live chat, and The Answer Centre charges 99p a call for a small team of PAs in office hours. If an AI receptionist will do the job, the AI services in the table usually cost less once you pass about 40 calls a month.
For a few calls a month, pay per call is cheapest. The Answer Centre charges 99p a call with no monthly fee for calls between 8.30am and 6pm on weekdays, and does not say whether VAT is included. Answer.co.uk’s AI receptionist is £10 a month plus 85p a call, or 50 calls for £30 a month, and its human service is £2.20 a call plus VAT with no monthly fee. Team Connect’s Lite plan is £19.99 plus VAT for 30 AI minutes and a business number. Above about 75 calls a month a bigger plan usually works out lower: While You Work Pro is £69 plus VAT for 150 calls, and Jodie is £49 a month before tax with unlimited minutes.
Count the calls you miss in a normal month and note when they come. A handful, mostly in office hours, is cheapest on a pay-per-call service. Evenings and weekends, or more than about 75 a month, usually cost less on a flat AI plan that answers at any hour. If your callers expect a person or need putting through to someone, choose a human service and budget for a charge per call or per minute.
Usually not. ReceptionHQ and IONOS show prices before VAT, the terms of Team Connect and AnswerConnect say their prices exclude it, Answer.co.uk adds VAT to its human service and Jodie adds tax at checkout. Several others do not say. While You Work’s prices are plus VAT too. If you are not VAT registered, add 20% to any price marked plus VAT or not stated before you compare.
They are good at different things. A person can use judgement on an unusual call and put a caller through to the right member of staff. An AI receptionist answers at any hour, and on a flat plan it costs the same however long the call lasts. Many trades use one to take the details and ring back themselves. You can ring 01202 144997 to hear ours.
Ring 01202 144997 to talk to our own receptionist, or see our plans: from £39 a month plus VAT, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 plus VAT for 12 months.