Answering service costs UK: what trades actually pay
We sell one of the options below. Here is the cost picture as straight as we can make it, with ranges that reflect what sole traders usually meet once out-of-hours reality shows up on the invoice.
Updated 31 July 2026
UK trades usually choose between free voicemail, diverting to a partner, a human answering bureau (often roughly £55–£150/month at entry, higher once nights and volume are in), or a flat-fee receptionist-style service around £60–£150/month. Graftline is £79.99/month after trial. Price who answers and what you receive, not the brochure teaser, and get a written quote for your real call volume.
A heating engineer comparing “from £55/month” banners will not see the same bill as a locksmith who needs nights and weekends in January. Price the outcome (who answers, what you receive, when), not the brochure teaser. Figures below are planning bands from publicly discussed UK tariffs and industry roundups in 2025–2026; confirm anything you buy against a live quote.
How much do UK answering options cost?
Voicemail only
£0- You get
- A recording if they leave one. Many urgent callers do not.
- Watch
- Looks free until you price the jobs that went to the next Google listing.
Divert to partner / mate / office
Favour + their time (or wages)- You get
- A human who knows you, if they are free. Same GSM divert codes as any other number.
- Watch
- Fails when they are busy, on holiday, or sick of being your unpaid receptionist.
Human answering bureau
Often ~£55–£150/mo entry for light plans; £200–£700/mo is a realistic small-business total once volume and out-of-hours are in- You get
- A message-taker (name, number, short note). Some offer warmer 'virtual receptionist' scripts at higher tiers.
- Watch
- Per-minute or per-call pricing climbs with emergency spikes. Out-of-hours is frequently an add-on. Minimum terms are common. Always read the live tariff; published bands move.
Flat-fee receptionist-style (incl. Graftline)
Graftline: £79.99/mo after trial, 180 minutes included; other providers often land roughly £60–£150/mo depending on minutes- You get
- 24/7 pickup, structured job details, often WhatsApp or SMS delivery. Quality varies wildly by product.
- Watch
- You are trusting software or a hybrid to sound right for your trade. Listen to a demo on your own work before you divert live traffic.
Graftline: £79.99/month after 7 days free
Flat fee, 180 minutes included, cancel anytime. Hear it answer a real call on the demo line before you divert anything.
How does the cost maths change by trade?
Quiet sole trader (~40 short enquiries/month)
Voicemail 'works' until the one £400 Friday job slips away. A light human plan can look cheap until OOH is added. A flat £80-ish fee is easy to compare to one saved attendance.
Emergency-leaning trade (locksmith / leak plumber)
Call value is high and timing is everything. Per-call bureau pricing hurts exactly when it is raining jobs. Flat fees or a reliable divert partner usually compare better; run your own numbers.
Builder with fat enquiries, low volume
Fewer calls, bigger tickets. Missing one extension enquiry can dwarf a year of answering fees. Reliability and good notes beat the cheapest message service.
For loss-side maths (what missed calls cost), use the missed-call cost calculator. For the divert mechanics themselves, see UK call divert codes. If you are still on voicemail, tighten the greeting while you decide.
How should you choose an answering option?
- Do you need a spoken message, or a structured job (postcode, urgency, access)?
- Do evenings and weekends matter for your trade, and what does OOH add to the quote?
- Can you cancel month-to-month, or are you in a 3–12 month term?
If the honest answer is “I need someone to catch jobs while I am under a floor, nights included, without a surprise per-call bill,” flat-fee options exist for a reason. If you want a human agent reading a paper script for delicate callers, pay a bureau and budget properly for it.
Graftline is £79.99/month after a 7-day trial
About £2.60 a day, 180 minutes included, cancel anytime. Divert with the same codes as any other number; we answer in your business name and send the job to WhatsApp. If a human bureau fits you better, hire one. If voicemail is truly enough, keep your money. If you want to test a flat-fee answer on real missed calls, the trial is there.
£79.99/month after the trial · about £2.60 a day · No commitment · cancel anytime
Cost questions
Why are the human-bureau figures so wide?
Because headline 'from £X' plans are often daytime message-taking with a small bundle of minutes. Real trades need evenings, weekends, and spikes. Bundles overage, and OOH surcharges, are where the bill moves. Treat any range here as a planning band; get a written quote for your volume.
Is Graftline an answering service?
We answer the phone in your business name, gather job details, and send them to you. We are not a room of agents writing paper messages. We sell that product, so read the comparison with that in mind and try the demo or trial before you decide.
What about hiring a part-time receptionist?
Salary, NI, holiday, sick cover, and the fact they cannot be in two places when you are a one-van firm. For most sole traders it is a different budget tier (often well over £1,000/month fully loaded for meaningful hours). Worth it when call volume and admin justify a person; overkill when you mainly need missed-call cover on the tools.
Where can I see the cost of doing nothing?
The missed-call cost calculator on this site. It will not match your books exactly; it shows scale.