Virtual Receptionist vs Heilo: Costs and What Each Does

See also: Heilo vs Live Answering Service | How Much Does an Answering Service Cost? | Automatic Answering Machine for Business

In short: A virtual receptionist is a person who answers your company's calls remotely, takes notes and often books appointments; you pay a subscription or for the time worked, depending on the provider's price list. Heilo never talks to the caller: it plays your greeting, records the message and turns it into a transcript and a summary. The Heilo Voicemail plan covers that, and you can find the current price on the pricing page. If you need someone who holds the conversation and books the calendar, choose a receptionist.

The question is whether you want a person on the phone or messages recorded for you. The Heilo team wrote this comparison, so it also says when a receptionist is the better choice.

How we compare

We compare five things: who talks to the caller, the hours the service works, what you are left with after the call, the unit you pay in, and whether a price is net or gross. Competitor prices come only from their published price lists, with the check date next to each link. Heilo prices are net, and VAT is added at payment.

What a virtual receptionist is

A virtual receptionist is a person working remotely who answers calls in your company's name, takes messages and often manages a calendar. It is sold in a few ways: by the hours of a virtual assistant, as a subscription for answering your number, or as a virtual-office package that bundles a phone line with an address and mail handling.

What you get:

calls answered by a person,
messages taken,
a calendar and appointment booking,
a human voice on the line.

What a virtual receptionist costs

Offers differ in what you pay for, so here is an example from a published price list: Smith.ai receptionists pricing (checked 20 October 2026). Starter costs $300 per month for 30 calls, then $11.50 per call; Basic is $810 for 90 calls and Pro is $2,100 for 300 calls. The agents are live-staffed 24/7, the plans are month-to-month, and a 12-month commitment brings 10% off.

A second example sold by minutes: Ruby (checked 20 October 2026) lists packages from $250 per month for 50 minutes, with 24/7 live answering.

Compare offers by what they include, not only by the amount. Coverage depends on the provider.

What to check in an offer

Before you sign, ask the provider:

Onboarding and company knowledge — whether it is charged separately and who writes the call script.
Cover for absences — who answers when the receptionist is away or the person changes.
Answering hours — whether they include evenings, weekends and holidays, and what happens to calls outside them.
What you get after the call — only a note, or also a recording.
Call reports — whether the provider sends a count of calls and how often.

What you get with Heilo

Heilo does not replace a receptionist and never talks to the caller; it takes a message when nobody answers. With Heilo Voicemail you get:

A greeting: your own text read by speech synthesis, with a greeting schedule for different days and hours.
Recording, transcript and summary: a short description of the matter next to the full transcript. The transcript is machine-made and may contain errors.
An SMS: with the caller's details, the topic and a link to the panel.
Call history in the panel.
A "Customer potential" card: where you record your own 1–10 rating of the inquiry and an estimated value.
Voicemail at any hour: once you set up forwarding of unanswered calls with your carrier, messages reach the Heilo mailbox at night, at weekends and on holidays too.

There is no per-call fee, only a flat fee per number. A fair-use limit of 500 minutes of recordings per number per month is informational and blocks no calls. Billing is monthly and VAT is added at payment. See the pricing page for current prices.

If you want to record the calls you answer as well, there are two higher plans. With Heilo Select you keep your number and invite Heilo into chosen calls; voicemail is included. Heilo Line is a Polish company number (+48), one for each salesperson. Inbound and outbound calls through that number are recorded automatically, and Heilo produces a transcript, a summary and tasks, while the call coach shows what went well and what to improve. Once the integration is set up, results go to your CRM through the API, webhooks, Zapier or Make. The plan requires company verification.

What Heilo does not do:

It does not book appointments — it has no access to your calendar, so you call back and book yourself.
It does not hold a conversation — it records the customer's message.
It does not replace a person in complex situations, such as complaints that need negotiating.

See also the business voicemail and automatic answering machine pages.

What you pay for: a cost comparison

Item	Virtual receptionist	Heilo (Heilo Voicemail)
Billing unit	Hours worked, subscription or package	Flat monthly fee per number
Example price	From the price lists above	See the pricing page
Hours	Per the package	Voicemail works at any hour once forwarding is set
Who talks	The receptionist	Nobody
Booking appointments	Yes, with calendar access	No
Annual billing	Some providers	None, monthly only

Example: Smith.ai's Starter plan covers 30 calls for $300 a month, while a Heilo number has a flat monthly fee whatever the number of messages (within the fair-use limit). The two services do different things, so the difference is not a "saving": the receptionist holds conversations, and Heilo takes messages.

When a virtual receptionist and when Heilo

Choose a virtual receptionist when:	Choose Heilo when:
You need someone to HOLD the conversation (complex questions, negotiations)	It is enough for the caller to leave the inquiry (name, problem, time)
You want someone to talk to the customer and are ready to pay for that person's time	You want a flat fee per number and messages as text
Your customers call only during office hours	Your customers call at all hours (breakdowns, urgent matters, weekends)
You want the receptionist to book appointments for you	You prefer to call back and book yourself

Using both

The receptionist answers during working hours and Heilo takes messages when nobody answers. Heilo takes calls that are forwarded to its number, so ask the provider whether unanswered calls can be passed to the Heilo number. If you want to regularly record calls that a team answers, Heilo Select or Heilo Line fit, described on the call assistant page.

Summary

A virtual receptionist is better when customers must talk to a person right away and you want someone to book appointments. Heilo fits when you want to stop losing inquiries from missed calls and keep every message in writing for a flat fee per number. You can also combine the two.

FAQ

Will Heilo replace a virtual receptionist?

Not in conversations that need a person. Heilo takes a message when nobody answers, and you call back with the matter already described. It does not replace a receptionist in complex conversations such as negotiations or complaints.

How does Heilo's cost compare with a virtual receptionist?

Heilo is a flat monthly fee per number, net, depending on the plan; see the pricing page. A receptionist is usually billed by hours, a subscription or a package. The services do different things, so compare them by what they include, not only by the amount.

Won't customers be disappointed that it's a machine?

Callers hear your greeting and leave a message. Heilo does not introduce itself or hold a conversation. Some people will hang up without leaving a message, so keep the greeting short and say when you will call back.

What if I already have a full-time receptionist?

Heilo can be the backup when the receptionist is on vacation or after hours.

Can I try Heilo before deciding?

Plans are billed monthly and you can cancel at any time; the service runs until the end of the paid period. Current terms are on the pricing page.