Nexa Receptionists: Pricing, Review and Alternatives
Nexa Receptionists is a 24/7 answering service that mixes live receptionists with AI. It answers calls, books appointments, qualifies leads and does client intake from scripts written for your business.
People answering your phone is the selling point. The minute-based bill and the quote-first sales process are the cost.
The quick answer: Nexa sells three plans by voice minutes, Nexa 100, Nexa 300 and Nexa 500, and doesn’t publish prices. You get a quote, pay a setup fee for programming and onboarding, and every minute over your allowance is charged at your base rate. Outbound sales start on Nexa 300 and CRM integration is listed on Nexa 500. If you want calls answered on your rules 24/7, leads called back within a minute and every call logged to your CRM, without a quote or a setup fee, Carly does that from one prompt in ChatGPT or Claude.
From Nexa’s plans page, checked October 21, 2026.
Nexa plans
| Nexa 100 | Nexa 300 | Nexa 500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice minutes | 100 | 300 | 500 |
| Price | Quote | Quote | Quote |
| 24/7 live answering | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Appointment scheduling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lead qualification | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inbound and outbound sales | No | Yes | Yes |
| Client and patient intake | No | Yes | Yes |
| CRM integration | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
Every plan includes custom scripting, a local and toll-free number, a client portal and 24/7 support. A one-time setup fee covers programming, onboarding and training.
How Nexa bills
Nexa bills receptionist work time: the time a receptionist spends working on your account. Go over your plan’s minutes and each extra minute is charged at your base rate. Third-party comparisons put Nexa’s plans anywhere from about $150 to $800 a month, but the real number comes from a sales call.
Where Nexa falls short
- No price until you talk to sales. Plans are quote-only, plus a setup fee before you go live.
- Minutes, not calls. A caller who needs a long explanation uses up your plan faster, and so does follow-up work on your account.
- Calling leads back costs a bigger plan. Outbound sales start at Nexa 300.
- CRM integration is a Nexa 500 line item, so smaller plans leave you copying details from the portal.
- Scripts change through Nexa. Updating what receptionists say means going back to your account team.
Why Carly is the better pick
Carly answers your business line and follows your rules exactly, on every call. You change those rules yourself, by asking.
- Live in minutes. Paste Carly’s setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, say how calls should go, and grab a number. Or forward just the calls you miss.
- Your team rings first. In business hours Carly rings your people and answers only if nobody picks up. After hours it answers on the first ring.
- Leads hear back in a minute. Carly calls new web leads within about a minute of a form fill, then texts and emails if they miss it (how it works).
- Two-way texting from your business number, plus a text back on every missed call.
- Every call in your CRM from day one: HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or Carly’s own CRM. Carly connects to thousands of apps.
- Change it with a sentence. Tell ChatGPT or Claude “for new patients, always ask for their insurance provider” and Carly asks from the next call on (see how).
- English and Spanish, detected from the caller.
- A person when it matters. Ring groups and phone menus up to nine options put urgent callers through to your team.
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.
Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.
# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app
> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.
MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)
## Setup
Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.
1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/integrations (Advanced > API Keys > Create a new key, with Owner set to the team and all scopes selected) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.
2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.
3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.
4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.
## Email, calendars and workflows
Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
Nexa vs Carly
| Nexa | Carly | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Quote plus setup fee | Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month |
| Who answers | Live receptionists and AI | Your team first, then Carly |
| Calls new leads back | Nexa 300 and up | Within about a minute |
| CRM logging | Nexa 500 | From the start |
| Changing the script | Through your account team | Ask in ChatGPT or Claude |
| Email and calendar | Appointment scheduling | Every Gmail and Outlook inbox and calendar |
Other Nexa alternatives
- Carly: AI answering, lead callbacks, texting and CRM, live today.
- Ruby: live receptionists billed by the minute. See Ruby receptionist.
- Smith.ai: AI with a live receptionist option. See Smith.ai alternatives.
- Abby Connect: dedicated receptionist teams. See Abby Connect.
- Posh: live receptionists for small offices. See Posh virtual receptionist.
More in virtual receptionist and best AI receptionist.
FAQ
How much does Nexa cost?
Nexa doesn’t publish prices. Its Nexa 100, 300 and 500 plans are quoted by sales, with a one-time setup fee, and extra minutes are charged at your base rate.
Is Nexa a human or AI answering service?
Both. Nexa describes its service as people-powered and AI call answering, with live receptionists working from scripts built for your business.
What happens if I go over my Nexa minutes?
Every additional minute in that billing cycle is charged at your plan’s base rate.
What is the best Nexa alternative?
Carly if you want calls answered on your rules, leads called back in a minute and every call in your CRM, set up from ChatGPT or Claude. Ruby or Smith.ai if you want live people on every call.
Ready to automate your busywork?
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See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
