AI Receptionist Pricing for Law Firms | ClaireAI Plans

Cost of Attorney Answering Services Compared

Understanding the true cost of attorney answering services requires looking beyond the monthly fee. Here's how the major options compare:

The predictability of flat-rate pricing matters more than most firms realize. Per-minute and per-call models punish you for success—the more leads you generate, the higher your answering costs climb. With ClaireAI, your cost stays consistent whether you handle 100 calls or 300.

Affordable Virtual Receptionist for Small Law Firms

Solo practitioners and small firms (1-5 attorneys) face a difficult tradeoff: they can't afford a full-time receptionist at $45,000+ per year, but they need professional intake to compete with larger firms. Missing calls during court appearances or client meetings costs cases. And the "just let it go to voicemail" approach loses 67% of potential clients who won't leave a message.

ClaireAI gives small firms enterprise-grade intake at a fraction of the cost of hiring. Our Starter plan at $650/month delivers 24/7 coverage, bilingual support, CRM integration, and practice-area-specific intake—capabilities that used to require a dedicated intake team. No training new staff. No sick days. No turnover.

The ROI calculation is simple: if ClaireAI helps you capture just one additional case per month that you would have otherwise missed, it pays for itself many times over. Most small firms see that within the first week.

How Much Does a Virtual Receptionist Cost?

Virtual receptionist pricing varies wildly depending on the service model. Here's what you'll actually pay:

Per-minute services (Ruby, Smith.ai): Base plans start at $245-$290/month, but that only covers 50-100 minutes. Most law firms use 200-400 minutes monthly. At $1.50-$2.50 per overage minute, actual costs typically land between $500-$1,200/month. The published starting price rarely reflects reality.

Per-call services: $2.50-$4.50 per answered call. More predictable than per-minute, but costs climb fast during busy periods. A 200-call month means $500-$900 just for answering—not including any add-ons for scheduling or CRM integration.

Flat-rate AI services (ClaireAI): $650-$2,999/month depending on call volume tier. No per-minute charges. No overages. Your 100th call costs the same as your 500th. For firms with unpredictable volume or heavy after-hours traffic, flat rate typically works out 30-50% cheaper than usage-based alternatives.

The "cheapest" option isn't always the most affordable. A $200/month answering service that misses calls, makes data entry errors, or lacks legal-specific training costs you far more in lost cases than the price difference to a proper solution.

What's Included in Each ClaireAI Plan

Every ClaireAI plan includes the core features law firms actually need—no nickel-and-diming for basics:

24/7/365 answering: Nights, weekends, holidays. The AI doesn't sleep, take PTO, or call in sick. Every call gets answered within seconds, regardless of when it comes in.

Practice-area-specific intake: Not generic scripts. The AI knows what questions to ask for personal injury versus criminal defense versus family law. It collects the information you actually need to evaluate the case.

CRM integration: Direct sync with Clio, Filevine, MyCase, PracticePanther, and Lawmatics. New leads appear in your system automatically—no manual data entry, no transcription errors.

Bilingual support: English and Spanish on all plans. Bilingual answering isn't an add-on—it's standard.

Call transcripts and recordings: Full documentation of every conversation. Review calls for quality, use transcripts for case notes, maintain complete records for compliance.

Higher-tier plans add more minutes, analytics dashboards, priority support, and enterprise features like custom integrations and dedicated account management. But the fundamentals are the same across all tiers.