Posh Virtual Receptionist: Pricing and Alternatives (2026)
Posh puts a live, US-based receptionist on your business line, 24/7, and now an AI receptionist in front of them. You pay for the minutes they spend on your account.
That works until your phone gets busy.
The quick answer: Posh costs $65 a month plus $2.30 a minute on its smallest plan, then $130 for 50 minutes up to $1,900 for 1,000. Its AI + live plans cost the same and bill AI minutes at half the live rate. There’s a 7-day trial and no contract. If most of your calls are booking, questions and new leads, Carly answers every one with AI, books on your team’s real calendars and calls leads back within a minute, without a per-minute receptionist bill. Setup is one prompt in ChatGPT or Claude.
Pricing from Posh’s own pricing pages, checked October 20, 2026. Live plans effective January 1, 2026; AI plans effective June 1, 2026.
Posh at a glance
| Posh | |
|---|---|
| Who answers | Live US-based receptionists, an AI receptionist, or both |
| Hours | 24/7/365 |
| What they do | Transfer callers, schedule appointments, take messages, answer FAQs |
| Control | Posh app or portal to set when you take transfers |
| Industries | Law firms, home services, real estate, hospitality, salons, small business |
| Setup | 24 to 48 hours |
| Contract | Month to month |
| Trial | 7 days or 250 minutes, no credit card |
| Price | $65/mo plus $2.30/min, or $130 to $1,900/mo with minutes included |
Posh pricing
Live receptionist plans
| Plan | Price | Minutes included | Extra minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chïc | $65/mo | 0 | $2.30 |
| Vogue | $130/mo | 50 | $2.20 |
| Elegant | $215/mo | 100 | $2.15 |
| Luxurious | $420/mo | 200 | $2.10 |
| Prestigious | $700/mo | 350 | $2.00 |
| Lavish | $975/mo | 500 | $1.95 |
| Exclusive | $1,900/mo | 1,000 | $1.90 |
AI + live receptionist plans
| Plan | Price | Mixed minutes | Extra live minute | Extra AI minute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vogue AI | $130/mo | 50 | $2.20 | $1.10 |
| Elegant AI | $215/mo | 100 | $2.15 | $1.08 |
| Luxurious AI | $420/mo | 200 | $2.10 | $1.05 |
| Prestigious AI | $700/mo | 350 | $2.00 | $1.00 |
| Lavish AI | $975/mo | 500 | $1.95 | $0.98 |
Posh counts a receptionist minute as time on the phone with your caller or time spent on a task for your account, like sending you a message. It bills on a true monthly cycle, not 28 days, with no extra fees.
What that means per call
At 150 calls a month averaging 3 minutes, you use about 450 minutes. On live plans that’s Lavish at $975, or about $6.50 a call. Lean on the AI and the minutes go further, but every call still costs roughly $1 to $2 a minute past your plan.
What Posh does well
- Real people. Every live receptionist is US-based, and callers who ask for a human get one right away.
- You stay in control. Flip your status in the app to take transfers or let Posh handle everything.
- Honest terms. Month-to-month, a true monthly billing cycle and a trial with no card.
Where Posh gets expensive
- Busy months. Minutes scale with calls, so a good month costs more.
- Minutes include tasks. Message-taking and follow-up time counts, not only talk time.
- Leads still wait. A receptionist takes a message; calling back a new web lead in the first minute isn’t the service.
Posh alternatives
| Alternative | Who answers | Starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Carly | AI, handing off to your team | Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/mo |
| Ruby | Live receptionists | $250/mo for 50 minutes |
| Abby Connect | People, AI or both | $164/mo for 50 Abby Minutes |
| Smith.ai | AI, with live receptionists available | AI free for 25 calls; live from $300 for 30 calls |
| Upfirst | AI | $24.95/mo for 30 calls |
1. Carly
Carly answers every call with AI, books it, logs it and follows your rules exactly, the same way on the first call and the hundredth. Your team gets the calls that truly need a person.
- Answers 24/7, or only when your team doesn’t pick up. Spanish callers get Spanish (bilingual answering).
- Books during the call on your team’s real Google and Outlook calendars, round robin.
- Hands off to people through ring groups or a phone menu.
- Calls web leads back within about a minute, then texts and emails if they miss it (AI outbound calling).
- Texts from your number: two-way texts, reminders and a missed call text back.
- Morning recap. An email each morning with every call it took, what the caller wanted and what it did.
- One team inbox and CRM for every call, voicemail, text and email, written to HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or Carly’s own CRM.
- Runs from ChatGPT or Claude with the Carly connector: build the agent, place calls and steer a live one from a chat (tutorial).
Carly connects to thousands of apps, and every call can trigger free Zapier-style workflows.
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.- Best for: businesses that want every call answered and booked without paying by the receptionist minute.
- Setup: copy one prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, grab a number, and you’re live.
- Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
2. Ruby
The best-known live receptionist service.
- Pricing: $250 a month for 50 minutes up to $1,725 for 500.
- Limitations: pricier per minute than Posh. See Ruby Receptionist.
3. Abby Connect
Human answering, AI answering or both on one plan, with AI minutes counting half.
- Pricing: $164 a month for 50 Abby Minutes up to $1,380 for 500.
- Limitations: still minute-based. See Abby Connect.
4. Smith.ai
An AI receptionist and live receptionists sold separately.
- Pricing: AI free for 25 calls, Pro $150 for 75; live from $300 for 30 calls.
- Limitations: per-call pricing climbs on busy lines. See Smith.ai alternatives.
5. Upfirst
A low-cost AI receptionist billed per call.
- Pricing: $24.95 a month for 30 calls up to $299 for 600.
- Limitations: built around answering. See Upfirst AI.
Compare every option in virtual receptionist.
FAQ
How much does Posh virtual receptionist cost?
$65 a month plus $2.30 a minute on Chïc, or $130 for 50 minutes, $215 for 100, $420 for 200, $700 for 350, $975 for 500 and $1,900 for 1,000. AI + live plans cost the same, with extra AI minutes at about half the live rate.
Does Posh have an AI receptionist?
Yes. Posh’s AI receptionist greets callers, collects information, takes messages and answers FAQs, and transfers to a live receptionist the moment a caller asks for one.
Is there a Posh free trial?
Yes, 7 days or 250 receptionist minutes, whichever comes first, with no credit card.
Is Posh worth it?
If you want a real person on most calls and your volume is modest, yes. If most calls are booking, questions and new leads, an AI receptionist like Carly answers every call at once and books it, without a per-minute bill for people.
What is the best Posh alternative?
Carly for AI answering that books on your calendars and calls leads back. Ruby or Abby Connect if you want a human on every call.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
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."
