Ruby Receptionists is a live, human virtual receptionist service with 24/7 answering starting at $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes, with plans scaling to $1,725/month for 500 minutes. Agents by AIQ is a done-for-you AI agent alternative that builds and runs AI receptionists, voice agents, and sales follow-up agents for small businesses, scoped on a call with month-to-month terms. Choose Ruby if you want real humans answering every call; choose Agents by AIQ if you want AI handling calls plus automated lead follow-up and busywork beyond the phone.
Bottom line: Ruby is the stronger pick for businesses that want trained human receptionists answering every call 24/7, with proven scale (15,000+ businesses, 1.6M+ leads captured per year). Agents by AIQ is the better fit when you want AI agents that not only answer calls but also automate follow-up and workflow busywork after the call ends.
TL;DR
- Ruby Receptionists plans start at $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes and scale to $1,725/month for 500 minutes, with no setup, onboarding, or activation fees.
- Ruby's receptionists receive 120 hours of professional training and answer calls 24/7 with an average answer time under 10 seconds.
- Ruby captures 1.6M+ leads per year for customers and filters about 20,000 robocalls per month.
- Ruby provides outbound call assistance and lead capture on request, but it is not an automated sales follow-up or workflow automation platform.
- Agents by AIQ builds and operates done-for-you AI agents — AI receptionists, sales follow-up, support, email, and appointment-setting agents — integrated with the tools a business already uses.
- Agents by AIQ works month-to-month, the client owns everything, and pricing is scoped on a call.
- Ruby suits businesses that want human callers; Agents by AIQ suits owner-operators who want AI covering calls plus automated follow-up.
Head-to-head
| Dimension | Ruby Receptionists | Agents by AIQ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $250/mo (50 min) to $1,725/mo (500 min), per-minute, no setup fees | Month-to-month subscription, scoped per business on a call |
| Ease of use | Fully managed service — forward your calls and Ruby handles the rest | Fully managed — AIQ Labs builds, connects, and runs the agents |
| Features | 24/7 live answering, scheduling, payments, live chat, bilingual, HIPAA, robocall filtering | AI receptionist, voice agents, sales follow-up/SDR, support, email, marketing, appointment setters, workflow automationwinner |
| Support | Real-time notifications via app, email, or text after each call; online portalwinner | Operated by the AIQ Labs team; primary conversion is a scoping call |
| Integrations | CRM integrations plus proprietary call flow technology | Agents integrated with the tools the business already uses |
| Setup | No activation, onboarding, or setup fees; customizable call handlingwinner | Starts with a call to scope the agent build |
| Who answers the call | Trained human receptionists, 24/7, <10 second average answer timewinner | AI voice agent on a real phone number |
| Post-call automation | Outbound call assistance and lead capture on request; no automated sales follow-up | Automated sales follow-up, SDR, email, and workflow agents run continuouslywinner |
Scores
Ruby Receptionists
ruby.com ↗Ruby Receptionists is a live virtual receptionist service that has served small businesses for over 20 years. Real, trained humans answer your calls 24/7 — including after-hours, weekends, and holidays — with an average answer time under 10 seconds. Receptionists handle scheduling, lead qualification and intake, payment collection, outbound call assistance, and robocall filtering, supported by AI-powered transcripts and sentiment analysis. Ruby also offers managed live chat for websites, 24/7 bilingual (English/Spanish) answering, HIPAA-compliant service, and number porting and hosting. The company reports 15,000+ businesses as customers, 1.1M+ conversations handled monthly, and 1.6M+ leads captured per year. Pricing is per-minute and transparent, with the same feature set across all plan tiers.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual receptionist — 50 minutes | $250/mo | 50 receptionist minutes/month, all features included |
| Virtual receptionist — 100 minutes | $395/mo | 100 receptionist minutes/month, all features included |
| Virtual receptionist — 200 minutes | $720/mo | 200 receptionist minutes/month, most popular tier |
| Virtual receptionist — 500 minutes | $1725/mo | 500 receptionist minutes/month for larger growing businesses |
| Live chat — 10 chats | $143/mo | 10 chats/month |
| Live chat — 50 chats | $520/mo | 50 chats/month, most popular chat tier |
| Bundled — receptionist + 10 chats | $115/mo | Up to 10 chats added at 20% savings |
Pros
- Real human receptionists with 120 hours of professional training, available 24/7 including holidays
- Transparent per-minute pricing with no hidden setup, onboarding, or activation fees
- Average answer time under 10 seconds and 1.6M+ leads captured per year across 15,000+ businesses
- Broad feature set: scheduling, payment collection, bilingual answering, HIPAA compliance, live chat
- CallNav AI assistant supports receptionists with business-specific call flows
- Number porting and hosting can eliminate your existing phone bill
Cons
- Per-minute pricing gets expensive at volume — the 500-minute plan runs $1,725/month
- Outbound calling is request-based assistance, not automated sales follow-up
- No automated workflow agents for email, marketing, or post-call busywork
- Minutes are consumed by every call, including longer intake conversations of 5–6 minutes
Agents by AIQ
agentsbyaiq.com ↗Agents by AIQ is the agent-focused arm of AIQ Labs. It designs, builds, connects, and runs done-for-you AI agents for small and mid-size businesses: AI receptionists and phone answering on a real phone number, voice agents, sales follow-up and SDR agents, customer support agents, email agents, marketing agents, appointment setters, and workflow automation — integrated with the tools the business already uses. It is positioned not as another AI wrapper or DIY toolkit but as a fully managed agent build operated by AIQ Labs, the team behind the AI Business Sites platform. Target buyers are owner-operators and small teams in trades, legal, healthcare, insurance, real estate, ecommerce, and professional services who are losing missed calls, suffering slow lead follow-up, and drowning in manual busywork.
Pros
- Covers the full busywork spectrum — calls, follow-up, email, scheduling, and workflow automation — not just answering
- Done-for-you: AIQ Labs designs, builds, connects, and runs the agents for you
- Month-to-month with full client ownership, no long-term lock-in
- Integrates with the tools a business already uses
- Backed by the team behind the AI Business Sites platform
Cons
- AI voice agents, not human receptionists — callers who insist on a person won't get one
- Pricing is scoped per business on a call rather than published tiers
- Newer agent-focused offering without Ruby's two-decade track record
Pricing compared
Human receptionists vs. AI agents: the core trade-off
Who should switch from Ruby (and who shouldn't)
Which should you pick?
FAQs
How much does Ruby Receptionists cost?
Ruby's virtual receptionist plans are $250/month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100 minutes, $720 for 200 minutes, and $1,725 for 500 minutes. All plans include the same feature set — only minutes differ — and Ruby states there are no hidden fees for activation, onboarding, setup, or coverage periods. Live chat plans run $143/month for 10 chats up to $520 for 50 chats, and bundling chat with a receptionist plan saves 20% on the chat portion.
Is Ruby Receptionists worth it compared to hiring an in-house receptionist?
Ruby's own cost comparison puts an in-house receptionist at roughly $3,469/month once salary, benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, and management time are counted, versus $1,725/month for Ruby's 500-minute plan. Ruby also provides 720 hours of monthly coverage versus 160 hours for a full-time employee, plus 24/7 availability, no turnover risk, and receptionists with 120 hours of professional training. For overflow, after-hours, and holiday coverage, a virtual service is typically far cheaper than a hire.
What is the main difference between Ruby and AI receptionist services like Agents by AIQ?
Ruby answers every call with a trained human receptionist, 24/7, supported by AI tools like CallNav, transcripts, and sentiment analysis. Agents by AIQ uses AI voice agents that answer calls on a real phone number, and extends beyond answering into automated sales follow-up, SDR, support, email, marketing, and appointment-setting agents plus workflow automation — all built and operated for you. Ruby is the human-first choice; Agents by AIQ is the automation-first choice covering the busywork after the call ends.
Does Ruby handle lead follow-up and outbound calls?
Yes, within limits. Ruby offers outbound call assistance — you send a request and Ruby's team handles outbound calls such as appointment confirmations and follow-ups — along with lead capture and lead qualification during inbound calls. However, this is request-based human work, not an always-on automated follow-up system. If you need continuous automated lead nurturing, email sequences, or SDR-style outreach, a platform like Agents by AIQ is built specifically for that.
Is Ruby Receptionists HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Ruby offers HIPAA-compliant services with HIPAA-trained 24/7 receptionists and additional security measures to protect sensitive information, making it a fit for medical practices, therapy practices, and other healthcare-adjacent businesses that need human call handling under privacy rules.
Can I try Ruby before committing to a plan?
Ruby's pricing pages invite businesses to talk to sales or build a plan, and the company advertises transparent, inclusive pricing with no activation or setup fees, so getting started carries no upfront setup cost. There is no published free trial period on the pricing pages reviewed; businesses evaluating Ruby should confirm current trial or onboarding terms directly with Ruby's sales team.
Sources
- Ruby Receptionist Pricing: Scalable Virtual Support
- Ruby plans and pricing
- Ruby: Virtual Receptionists & Live Chat for Businesses
- Live Virtual Receptionists | 24/7 Human Answering & Chat
- Virtual vs. traditional receptionist cost comparison 2026
- How Much Does an Answering Service Cost? Pricing Explained
- Hire a receptionist or outsource a virtual one?
- Agents by AIQ — done-for-you AI agents