This comparison usually gets framed as a replacement question. It is not. The two things are good at different jobs, and pretending otherwise leads to bad decisions in both directions.
What a human receptionist costs
- Salary: $32,000–$45,000 depending on market.
- Payroll tax and benefits: roughly 20–30% on top.
- Coverage gaps: nights, weekends, lunch breaks, PTO, sick days.
- Ceiling: one call at a time.
What a voice agent costs
- Configuration and installation: a one-time build.
- Usage: telephony and model costs, typically $75–$260 a month at normal call volume.
- Coverage: all hours, all lines, simultaneously.
- Ceiling: it does not improvise well outside what it was configured for.
Where the comparison breaks down
A good receptionist who has worked your front desk for six years knows which customers to put through immediately and which ones are calling about something they already resolved. That judgment is not replicable and it is worth paying for.
What the agent is genuinely better at is the volume nobody wants: the 9pm call, the fourth simultaneous line, the caller who just wants your hours. Most businesses that install one do not lay anyone off — they stop losing the calls their existing person was never going to reach.