A full-time receptionist in Australia costs about A$6,000 a month all in. Answering services charge about A$2.45 to A$3.99 a call. LeadGenie’s AI receptionist answers every call for tradies and small businesses on Growth: A$499 a month plus A$1,999 set-up, ex GST. Hire a person if people walk in, or the office needs running.
It usually happens on a Sunday night, after a week where three people rang and two didn’t ring back. You look up what a receptionist costs: about A$70,000 a year once super and a desk are in. You were after a A$500 fix, so you close the tab. Eighteen months later, the phone still rings out at ten past six.
A receptionist does things nothing on this website does: knows your regulars, handles the counter and calms an upset customer. So this page compares fairly. For the one job of not losing the call, a receptionist costs about A$6,000 a month and the AI A$499.
Example business: Northline Plumbing. We picked a call inside a receptionist’s hours, so the comparison is fair. The right column says what a receptionist would do.
Example call for an example business, not a recording. The prices are the kind a business gives us at set-up, not LeadGenie prices. How the AI receptionist handles a call → · How it tells callers it’s AI →
Already have someone on the front desk? Keep them. Growth covers the 130 hours a week they’re not at the desk, the second call while they’re on the first, and the six weeks a year they’re on leave. A$499 a month on top of a A$70,000 role, and nothing gets lost.
“Answering the phone” is really eight jobs. The highlighted side does each one better.
Not close. A receptionist who’s been with you two years knows the voice before the name.
One person, one line. In a rush, the hold tone loses callers too.
Walk-ins, couriers, reps. If people come through your door, nothing on this website does this job.
A full-time receptionist covers 38 of the week’s 168 hours. Missed calls cluster after five and on Saturday morning.
A good receptionist hears it in four words. The AI flags it and requests an urgent call-back. Not the same job.
The same questions, in the same order, on the last call of the week as on the first.
Suppliers, invoices, the schedule, the certificates. Often most of the role’s value, and none of it is on this website.
About six weeks a year of leave with nobody in the role. And when they leave, you hire and train again.
The four on the left are real work a subscription doesn’t do. If that’s where you’re short, hire a person. The four on the right are about hours and calls at once, which one person can’t fix by trying harder. What the AI receptionist does → · How it compares with an answering service →
What the role costs an Australian small business in 2026, from published figures, not ours. Seven costs, then one thing this page won’t claim.
Median full-time receptionist earnings run at about A$63,900 a year. Under the Clerks—Private Sector Award, an experienced receptionist is A$29.45 an hour from 1 July 2026. That’s about A$58,200 over a 38-hour week, before anything else.
Workers compensation is commonly planned at 1 to 2% of wages, so about A$650 to A$1,300. Payroll tax applies above your state’s threshold and the rate differs in every state, so we have left it out of our sums entirely.
They’re paid full rate while they learn your trade, your rates, your suburbs and your customers, trained by you, in the hours you don’t have, on live calls. Knowing your regulars (job 01 above) is built here, slowly.
None of the above says a receptionist isn’t worth it. It says what one costs. If the role earns that back, and in plenty of businesses it plainly does, hire someone. We won’t tell you a subscription replaces a person, on this page or on a sales call.
The role costed properly, against Growth costed properly. Every figure is an example built from the published sources above, not a quote and not a promise.
Read that as a worked example, not a claim. The weakest figure is the first one: most businesses this size would hire 20 to 25 hours a week, not full time. At 20 hours the role is roughly A$43,000 all in rather than A$81,685, but it covers 20 hours a week instead of 38. There’s no dollar figure on the four jobs a receptionist wins, because knowing a customer’s name can’t be priced honestly. Payroll tax is left out too, which understates the left column. Work out what missed calls cost you → · Check your reply speed free →
A receptionist answers a ringing phone, so the fair comparison is a plan that answers one. That’s Growth, at A$499 a month plus A$1,999 set-up, ex GST.
Your published number diverts to it, or use the Australian mobile number we include. It answers after five, on Saturdays and while you’re on another call. It asks your questions, checks your calendar, books the job and writes it down. If a caller wants you, it takes a message and requests a call-back. Unlimited calls and messages, fair use applies. Calls A$0.03 a minute and texts billed by use; most businesses spend about A$30 to A$70 a month on those (an estimate).
Some businesses with a phone problem really have an inbox problem: the work arrives typed. Starter, at A$199 a month plus A$999 set-up, answers web chat, Facebook, Instagram and email with AI. Get Connected, at A$89, puts them in one inbox for you to answer. Neither has a phone line, and alerts on both reach you by email. AI chat assistant →
Hire the person, then run Growth behind them for the 130 hours a week they’re not at the desk, the calls that land while they’re on another, and the six weeks a year they’re on leave. Nothing gets lost, and it costs about a tenth of the salary.
Prices in AUD, ex GST. Plans below Growth have no phone line, so no calls, no texts and no call charges: Get Found A$29, Get Organised A$59 and Get Connected A$89 a month, and Starter A$199. Their alerts and follow-ups go by email. Growth at A$499 includes an Australian mobile number, with calls at A$0.03 a minute and texts at A$0.11 sent and A$0.02 received, billed by use. Most businesses spend about A$30 to A$70 a month on those (an estimate). Pro is from A$799 a month. Set-up fees: Starter A$999, Growth A$1,999, Pro from A$2,499, charged on signing; the monthly plan starts the day the AI goes live. Growth takes 10 to 14 business days from the onboarding call; Starter 7 to 10 and Smart Tools 3 to 8. Prices locked in for your first 12 months. Month to month, no lock-in, 30 days’ notice to cancel. Do you need a phone number? → · Full pricing →
If most of the left column sounds like your business, hire a person. We’ll tell you the same on a demo.
People come through your door. A shopfront, a trade counter, a workshop customers drive to.
Forty or more calls a day. At that volume the phone is a full-time job.
The office needs running anyway: invoices, scheduling, suppliers, certificates.
Someone is already half-doing it: a partner, an apprentice, or you at ten at night.
The work is repeat and relationship-heavy. Same customers, year after year.
You can fill the role and keep it filled. One person deep, in a town where nobody applies, is harder.
The phone is one of six things you do, and you’re on a job with both hands full.
The calls cluster in the two hours you’re on the tools.
Most of what you lose is after five and on Saturday morning.
You’ve priced a hire twice and closed the tab twice. At your size, that’s a fair read.
The role would be one person deep, so every holiday and sick day puts the phone back on you.
You’re not sure the volume is there yet. Month to month is an easier way to find out than an employment contract.
Plenty of businesses sit in both columns: hire the person, then cover the evenings and Saturdays. Want a straight answer? Describe your week on a free demo. If the answer is “hire someone”, we’ll say so. Book a free demo → · How we set it up for you →
Median full-time earnings are about A$63,900, and the award rate for an experienced receptionist is A$29.45 an hour from 1 July 2026. Add 12% super, workers compensation, hiring, training and a desk, and year one comes to about A$81,700. That’s roughly A$6,000 a month once the one-off costs drop out, before payroll tax and leave cover. Work out what missed calls cost you →
No. It answers the phone, asks your questions, books the job and writes it down. It doesn’t greet people at your counter, run the office or calm an angry regular the way someone who knows them can. It does what one person can’t: answer three calls at once, at 7:40 on a Saturday, and never go on leave.
No. Someone who already knows your customers can’t be bought back for A$499 a month. Use it alongside them: after hours, when they’re on another line, and when they’re on leave. Redundancy is a legal process, so talk to your accountant and an employment adviser first.
About 20 hours a week costs roughly A$43,000 a year all in, rather than A$81,700, but covers 20 of 168 hours. An offshore virtual assistant costs less again and suits some businesses: check the time zone, local knowledge and privacy obligations. Virtual assistant or AI employee →
Yes. It says it’s an AI assistant in its first sentence. If a caller asks for you, is upset, or asks something it hasn’t been set up to answer, it takes a message and requests a call-back straight away. How we use AI →
Growth is A$499 a month plus a one-time A$1,999 set-up fee, ex GST. Calls are A$0.03 a minute and texts A$0.11 sent and A$0.02 received, billed by use; most businesses spend about A$30 to A$70 a month on those (an estimate). With a typical A$50 a month of call costs, year one comes to about A$8,600. Prices are locked in for your first 12 months. Month to month, no lock-in, 30 days’ notice to cancel. All prices →
10 to 14 business days from the onboarding call, tested with you before it takes a real call. Hiring usually takes six to ten weeks. If you’re hiring as well, hire first, then switch this on for the gaps that are left. How we set it up for you →
A thirty-minute video call, no obligation. Nothing is built until you say go. Describe your week and what your phone did after five last month, and we’ll tell you honestly whether the answer is Growth, a cheaper plan or a job ad.
