AnswerConnect CA alternative
Hey Jodie answers your calls 24/7 from a flat C$99/month, billed in Canadian dollars, with no per-minute meter.
Priya from Calgary
Jodie answering...
Lead texted to you
12 seconds after the call started
AnswerConnect ships from their Toronto office but invoices in USD. Numbers below assume 1.37 USD/CAD at 60 calls a month, 4 minutes a call.
| Hey Jodie | AnswerConnect | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per call (60 calls/mo, 4 min avg) | C$3.32 per call (Professional) | C$9.02 per call (Growth, USD billed) |
| Starting monthly price | From C$99/month (Basic) | US$350/mo (~C$480) Entry + US$49.99 setup |
| Currency billed in | Canadian dollars on every plan | US dollars - converted by your card issuer |
| Setup fee | C$0 on every plan | US$49.99 (~C$68) on Entry and Standard |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly, unlimited minutes | Tiered + per-minute overage |
| Per-minute overage | C$0.50 (Basic only) | US$2.50/min Entry; US$1.85/min Growth, Standard |
| Free trial | 7 days free, no card required | Demo call + 30 free under-30-second interactions per month |
| Contract | Cancel anytime, no minimums | Month-to-month per their site |
| Who answers | Trained AI receptionist | Human receptionist (Toronto + Portland) |
| Setup time | Minutes - forward your phone | Onboarding call and script briefing |
| Trustpilot rating | 4.82 out of 5 (56 reviews) | 4.9 out of 5 |
Pricing reflects AnswerConnect's published rates on answerconnect.com at the time of writing. There is no separate answerconnect.ca property; Canadian customers are invoiced in USD. CAD conversions assume a 1.37 USD/CAD reference rate; your card issuer will apply its own exchange rate plus any foreign-transaction surcharge.
Slide the minutes you'd use - the calculator picks AnswerConnect's cheapest tier plus £1.75/min overage and compares to Hey Jodie's flat plan.
Cost calculator
Hey Jodie Basic
C$99/mo
Flat. Unlimited.
Competitor: Growth
£245/mo
roughly C$422/mo
£245 base
You'd save
C$323/month (C$3,873/year)
AnswerConnect tiers and the £1.75/min UK overage rate are from answerconnect.co.uk at the time of writing. Entry (£205 base, 150 min included) and Standard (£395, 350 min) include a £49.99 one-off setup fee; Growth (£245, 250 min) does not. The setup fee appears in the month-one math above when the cheapest tier for your usage is Entry or Standard. Hey Jodie Basic is flat monthly with unlimited minutes at your locale rate.
FX rates as of 2026-05-13. Hey Jodie price is the published locale rate, not converted.
Verifiable from public information on AnswerConnect.com and our pricing page - not marketing copy.
Even though AnswerConnect runs a Toronto office, your invoice goes through answerconnect.com in USD - so a Calgary plumber on Growth pays US$395 plus FX plus a 2-3% card fee. Hey Jodie's Professional plan is C$99 flat, billed in CAD.
C$99/month flat in CAD vs roughly C$540/month USD-converted on AnswerConnect Growth, after FX and card fees.
AnswerConnect's Entry and Standard plans charge a US$49.99 setup fee (around C$68) and onboarding requires a scripting call. Hey Jodie has no setup fee on any plan - forward your phone and Jodie starts answering inside ten minutes.
C$0 setup on every Hey Jodie plan vs roughly C$68 setup on AnswerConnect Entry and Standard.
AnswerConnect earns its price for regulated firms needing bilingual reception and CRM-deep integrations. Hey Jodie is built for the other end: roofers in Hamilton, accountants navigating CRA letters, electricians on jobs in Edmonton.
Forbes 2026 Best Answering Service for a reason - just not the right tool for a solo HVAC operator paying C$540/month.
AnswerConnect holds a 4.9 on Trustpilot; Hey Jodie sits at 4.82 across 56 verified reviews. The reviews are the real comparison - here are four from real customers.
We used to get a different number every month depending on how long the calls ran. Hey Jodie is £49 and it stays £49. The AI captures everything we'd ask a human receptionist to capture.
Sarah W.
Solicitor, Manchester
Apr 2026
No onboarding call, no scripting workshop. I forwarded my number after coffee and Jodie was answering before lunch. The job summaries by text are exactly what I need from the van.
James K.
Plumber, Leeds
Apr 2026
Every existing client rings me about a self-assessment letter in January. The AI handled the wave without me getting an overage bill. Worth it for the 6 weeks of January-February alone.
Priya N.
Accountant, Birmingham
Mar 2026
We needed to refine how the AI introduced our firm and which calls it transferred. Took a day or two of editing the script. Once that was settled it's been reliable, and the flat price is what kept us.
Michael R.
Estate agent, Cardiff
Feb 2026
Verified Trustpilot reviews. Edited for length; identifying business details removed.
AnswerConnect publishes most figures on the UK pricing page - the surprises are setup, billing cadence, and what counts as a billable minute.
| Hey Jodie | AnswerConnect | |
|---|---|---|
Base monthly price | ||
Per-minute overage rate Hey Jodie has no per-minute meter. AnswerConnect publishes £1.75/min across all UK tiers. | ||
Setup fee Hey Jodie: £0 on every plan. AnswerConnect: £49.99 on Entry and Standard (not on Growth). | ||
Free trial (no card) Hey Jodie offers 7 days free with no card. AnswerConnect offers a demo call plus 30 under-30-second free interactions per cycle once paying. | ||
Contract / notice period Hey Jodie: cancel any month from the dashboard. AnswerConnect's site says no long-term contract, but third-party comparisons allege a 90-day minimum at signup. | ||
Total first-year cost calculable from public info Hey Jodie: 12 x flat plan. AnswerConnect: depends on your minute usage at £1.75/min over the cap. |
AnswerConnect targets multi-location firms with bilingual reception and CRM workflows. If you are out on jobs and just need calls answered well, these are the businesses Hey Jodie was built for.
A frozen pipe at minus-twenty doesn't care about your 200-minute Entry plan. Jodie answers, captures the postal code, and texts the job to your phone before the next call lands.
See Hey Jodie for plumbersT1 deadline volumes spike fast every April. A flat plan with unlimited minutes priced in CAD beats US$1.85/min when half your clients are calling about a CRA reassessment.
See Hey Jodie for accountantsAnswerConnect targets multi-location firms with bilingual reception and CRM-deep integrations. Hey Jodie is built for the solo lawyer in Halifax whose phone rings during examinations for discovery.
See Hey Jodie for lawyers & law firmsA buyer browsing Realtor.ca at 8pm calls the next agent if you don't pick up. 24/7 cover comes standard at C$199/month, not a US$395 Growth plan with a 300-minute cap and FX surprise.
See Hey Jodie for real estate agentsYes - AnswerConnect runs a Toronto office at 99 Yorkville Avenue with 31-40 staff. The catch is there is no dedicated answerconnect.ca site and no separate Canadian price card. Canadian customers sign up through answerconnect.com and are invoiced in USD, so landed cost depends on the day-of exchange rate plus any card fee.
AnswerConnect is a virtual receptionist service founded in 2002 in Portland, with a Toronto office. CCH AnswerConnect is a different product - a tax research platform from Wolters Kluwer used by Canadian CPAs. If you are researching call answering, AnswerConnect is what you want.
AnswerConnect publishes three USD plans: Entry at US$350/month for 200 minutes plus US$49.99 setup, Growth at US$395 for 300 minutes, Standard at US$575 for 400 minutes plus US$49.99 setup. Overages are US$2.50/min Entry and US$1.85/min on Growth and Standard. After FX and a typical 2-3% card fee, those land closer to C$480, C$540 and C$790. Hey Jodie publishes C$99 Basic, C$199 Professional, C$399 Premium - all with unlimited minutes.
AnswerConnect is a 24/7 virtual receptionist service. Human agents based in Portland or Toronto answer in your business name, take messages, transfer urgent calls, qualify leads, capture web chat on higher tiers, and notify you by SMS or email.
The recurring complaints in public reviews are billing surprise from per-minute overages on tiered plans (worse for Canadian customers because of FX) and occasional inconsistencies in message accuracy. Most reviews are positive: 4.9/5 on Trustpilot. Hey Jodie addresses both: flat-rate CAD pricing and AI consistency.
No. AnswerConnect offers a demo call and 30 free under-30-second interactions per billing cycle once paying, but no risk-free trial. Hey Jodie offers 7 days free with no card - real customer calls go through Jodie before you pay anything.
Published Canadian entry-tier prices: Hey Jodie C$99/month unlimited minutes, Smith.ai from US$95 (~C$130), Ruby from US$250 (~C$343), AnswerConnect US$350 (~C$480) for 200 minutes plus US$49.99 setup. Canadian players like On Call Centre are quote-only. Hey Jodie is the cheapest published-price unlimited-minutes option billed in CAD.
AnswerConnect's site states no long-term contract. Some third-party comparisons allege a 90-day minimum at signup, so ask for written confirmation during your sales call. Hey Jodie has no minimum - cancel any month from the dashboard.
Hey Jodie setup takes minutes - forward your phone and Jodie starts answering. Check your AnswerConnect contract for notice period before cancelling. Most businesses run both for 5-7 days during cutover, then cancel. Bonus: your first post-cutover Visa statement is in CAD.
Move off the per-minute meter without dropping a call. Run both for a week, then cancel AnswerConnect once you have the written confirmation of cancellation terms.
Total time: Under 1 hour active time, 5-7 days for safe parallel running
Sign up at the register page. No card needed. You get your Hey Jodie phone number on the spot.
Set conditional forwarding (busy / no answer / always) from your phone provider to the Hey Jodie number.
Hey Jodie picks up via the forward; AnswerConnect remains as a backup until you decide. Listen to a few call recordings to confirm the AI is doing the job.
AnswerConnect's site says no long-term contract, but get written confirmation before you cancel. Some third-party comparisons reference a 90-day minimum at signup.
Once cancellation is confirmed, cancel from your AnswerConnect dashboard or via your account manager. Leave the forward to Hey Jodie in place. Confirm a test call lands on Hey Jodie.
Buyer's guides
This comparison is part of our independent buyer's guides ranking the whole field.
7 days free. No card required. Cancel in one click - and no FX surprises on the renewal.
First 7 days free, then pricing from C$99/month
