A month of nights and weekends, priced.
| Option | Type | Plan that covers it | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | Live, per minute | 100 minutes | $159 |
| MAP Communications | Live, per minute | 125 minutes | $179 |
| Smith.ai (live) | Live, per call | 30 calls plus 10 at $11.50 | $415 |
| Quo Sona | AI, per call | 40 calls | $25 plus a Quo seat |
| Jobber Receptionist | AI add-on | 30 conversations plus 10 | $36.90 |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | AI, per call | 25 free plus 15 at $3 | $45 |
| Rosie | AI, per minute | 250 minutes | $49 (messages) |
| Goodcall | AI, per caller | 100 callers | $79 |
| Linq | AI, in the platform | Growth, unmetered | $179, all hours, whole platform |
How the table is built
40 calls at about 2.5 minutes is 100 minutes. Each row is the cheapest published plan that covers it, plus overage where the plan is smaller. Live rates from October 2026 and AI rates from November 2026, from each vendor's own page. Before tax, USD. See the full volume tables in answering service cost.
The big names do not add one.
Ruby, PATLive, Smith.ai and Abby all say that nights, weekends and holidays cost the same as daytime. Some smaller and local services do add an after-hours or holiday premium, and some sell after-hours-only plans with a higher per-minute rate. Ask for both before you sign.
Inside Linq
The call becomes a job, not a message.
The AI receptionist answers on the first ring, books the job into your schedule and texts back every call that slips through. The customer gets a live booking page.
See the AI receptionist
The 9pm caller has already decided.
A daytime caller is often shopping. An evening or weekend caller usually has a problem that will not wait: no heat, a leak, a door that will not close, a lockout. Those are the jobs with emergency rates, and the customer books whoever answers first.
That changes the math. If one after-hours job is worth a few hundred dollars, a cover plan pays for itself with the first booked call each month. Run your own numbers in the missed call calculator.
Decide what happens at 2am.
An after-hours service can do one of three things: take a message for the morning, page your on-call tech for true emergencies, or book the job into your schedule. Message-only is cheapest and loses the most jobs. An AI receptionist in your field service platform can book routine calls and escalate the real emergencies. Linq's night flow was built with Safe & Secure Locksmith, which runs emergency locksmith dispatch around the clock in Metro Vancouver.
What the plan card leaves out.
Patch-through or on-call paging fees, appointment booking sold as an add-on, setup fees, spam calls billed as real ones, and notice periods to cancel. Compare the AI options in our virtual receptionist cost guide.
Fourteen days. Your actual jobs.
Not a sandbox with fake customers in it. Put a real week through the board, answer real calls with it, and see what the Friday number looks like. Fourteen days, no card, cancel any day.
After-hours answering service questions
How much does an after-hours answering service cost?
For about 40 calls a month, roughly $159 to $415 with a live service and $25 to $79 with an AI receptionist. Higher volumes follow the same per-minute or per-call rates as daytime plans.
Do answering services charge more at night?
The large ones do not: Ruby, PATLive, Smith.ai and Abby include nights, weekends and holidays at the same rate. Some smaller services add a premium, so ask.
What does an HVAC or plumbing after-hours service cost?
The same as any other business on the large services, priced by minutes or calls. Emergency trades often pay more in total because their busiest after-hours weeks (cold snaps, storms) push them into overage.
Is AI good enough for after-hours calls?
For booking routine work and taking emergency details, yes, and it never puts a caller on hold. Make sure it can escalate true emergencies to your on-call tech.
Sources
Live rates from each service's pricing page as of October 2026: Specialty Answering Service, MAP, Smith.ai, Ruby, PATLive, Abby Connect. AI rates as of November 2026: Quo, Jobber's Receptionist help article, Smith.ai AI Receptionist, Rosie, Goodcall. All USD. Rechecked monthly; corrections welcome.
Answer at 2am without paying a 2am rate.
The 24/7 AI receptionist is included on Growth and up, books routine calls onto the board and flags the emergencies. Start free and run a real week of nights through it.
