AnswerConnect alternative
Hey Jodie answers your calls 24/7 from a flat $49/month, with no per-minute meter and no setup fee.
Priya from Austin
Jodie answering...
Lead texted to you
12 seconds after the call started
Two services that both answer your phone 24/7. The difference is the per-minute meter when volume spikes.
| Hey Jodie | AnswerConnect | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per call (60 calls/mo, 4 min avg) | $1.65 per call | $6.58 per call (Growth plan) |
| Starting monthly price | From $49/month (Basic) | From $350/month (Entry) + $49.99 setup |
| Setup fee | $0 on every plan | $49.99 on Entry and Standard |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly, unlimited minutes | Tiered + per-minute overage |
| Per-minute overage | $0.25 (Basic only) | $2.50/min (Entry); $1.85/min (Growth, Standard) |
| Free trial | 7 days free, no card needed | Book a demo call |
| Contract | Cancel anytime, no minimums | Month-to-month per their site |
| Who answers | Trained AI receptionist | US-based human receptionist |
| Setup time | Minutes - forward your phone | Onboarding call and script briefing |
| Average review rating | 4.82 out of 5 (56 reviews) | 4.9 out of 5 |
Pricing reflects AnswerConnect's published US rates on answerconnect.com at the time of writing. AnswerConnect bills by the minute, not per call; the per-call figures above are derived from a 60-call, 4-minute-average month. Hey Jodie pricing is published in full on the pricing page.
Slide the minutes you'd use - the calculator picks AnswerConnect's cheapest US tier plus per-minute overage and compares to Hey Jodie's flat plan.
Cost calculator
Hey Jodie Basic
$49/mo
Flat. Unlimited.
Competitor: Growth
$395/mo
$395 base
You'd save
$346/month ($4,152/year)
AnswerConnect's US tiers are from answerconnect.com at the time of writing: Entry ($350, 200 min) and Standard ($575, 400 min) add a one-off $49.99 setup fee; Growth ($395, 300 min) does not. Overage is $2.50/min on Entry and $1.85/min on Growth and Standard. The setup fee appears in the month-one math above when the cheapest tier for your usage is Entry or Standard. AnswerConnect bills by the minute, not per call. Hey Jodie Basic is flat monthly with unlimited minutes.
Verifiable differences, not marketing claims. Each comes from public information on AnswerConnect's site and ours.
AnswerConnect's Growth plan is $395/month for 300 minutes, then $1.85/min over. Hey Jodie's Professional plan is flat $99/month with unlimited minutes, so 60 calls is $1.65 each and the price doesn't move when volume spikes.
$1.65 per call on Hey Jodie vs $6.58 per call on the AnswerConnect Growth plan, at 60 calls a month.
AnswerConnect's Entry and Standard plans charge a $49.99 setup fee, 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.
$0 setup on every Hey Jodie plan vs $49.99 on AnswerConnect Entry and Standard.
AnswerConnect sells tiered receptionist plans on a per-minute meter suited to higher, script-heavy call volumes. Hey Jodie is built for the other end - plumbers under sinks, accountants in tax season, electricians on jobs - at a flat price.
Forbes 2026 Best Answering Service for a reason - just not the right tool for a solo plumber paying $350/month for 200 minutes.
AnswerConnect advertises a 4.9 review rating; Hey Jodie sits at 4.82 across 56 verified reviews. The reviews are the real comparison - here are four from real customers.
In our view, AnswerConnect makes its pricing harder to compare than it needs to be: at the time of writing the pricing page asked for your details before showing rates, and the trial terms and billable-minute rules were not spelled out up front. Here is what each side puts in the open.
| Hey Jodie | AnswerConnect | |
|---|---|---|
Base monthly price | ||
Per-minute overage rate Hey Jodie has no per-minute meter. AnswerConnect publishes $2.50/min on Entry and $1.85/min on Growth and Standard. | ||
Setup fee Hey Jodie: $0 on every plan. AnswerConnect: $49.99 on the $350 Entry and $575 Standard plans, and $0 on the $395 Growth plan. | ||
Free trial (no card) Hey Jodie offers 7 days free with no card. At the time of writing we found no free trial published on AnswerConnect's site. | ||
Contract / notice period Hey Jodie: cancel any month from the dashboard. AnswerConnect says its plans run monthly with no long-term contract. | ||
Every plan price on one public page Hey Jodie lists every plan on its public pricing page. At the time of writing, AnswerConnect's pricing page asked for your contact details before showing rates. | ||
Total first-year cost calculable from public info Hey Jodie: 12 x flat plan. AnswerConnect: depends on your minute usage over each tier cap. |
If you are out on jobs and just need calls answered well without watching a per-minute meter, these are the businesses Hey Jodie was built for.
A burst pipe at 11pm doesn't care about your 200-minute Entry plan. Jodie answers, captures the zip code, and texts the job to your phone before the next call lands.
See Hey Jodie for plumbersTax season call volumes spike fast. A flat plan with unlimited minutes beats $1.85/min when every existing client is calling about an IRS letter at once.
See Hey Jodie for accountants & cpasAnswerConnect sells tiered plans on a per-minute meter suited to higher, script-heavy call volumes. Hey Jodie is built for the solo attorney whose phone rings during depositions and court calls.
See Hey Jodie for attorneys & law firmsA buyer browsing Zillow at 8pm calls the next agent if you don't pick up. 24/7 cover comes standard at $99/month, not at $395 with a 300-minute cap.
See Hey Jodie for real estate agentsAnswerConnect is a virtual receptionist and 24/7 call answering service founded in 2002 in Portland, Oregon. CCH AnswerConnect is a different product - a tax research platform from Wolters Kluwer used by accountants. If you are researching call answering, AnswerConnect is what you want.
AnswerConnect publishes three US plans: Entry at $350/month for 200 minutes plus $49.99 setup, Growth at $395 for 300 minutes, Standard at $575 for 400 minutes plus $49.99 setup. Overages are $2.50/min on Entry and $1.85/min on Growth and Standard. Hey Jodie publishes $49 Basic, $99 Professional, $199 Premium - all with unlimited minutes.
AnswerConnect is a 24/7 virtual receptionist service. US-based human agents 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 two recurring complaints in public reviews are billing surprise from per-minute overages, and occasional inconsistencies in message accuracy. Hey Jodie addresses both: flat-rate pricing removes billing surprise, and AI consistency means message accuracy does not depend on which agent picked up.
At the time of writing we could not find a free trial published anywhere on AnswerConnect's US site - no trial page, length or terms - and the site points you to a demo call instead. Hey Jodie offers 7 days free with no card - real customer calls go through Jodie before you pay anything.
This is our opinion, based on what their website showed at the time of writing. Most answering services put a plain price list on a public page; we found AnswerConnect harder to pin down - the pricing page asked for our contact details before showing rates, we could not find a free trial or its terms published anywhere, and the rules for what counts as a billable minute are easy to miss. None of that is wrongdoing, but we think you should be able to see the price and the terms before you hand over your details - so Hey Jodie publishes every plan, the trial length and the overage rate in full.
Published entry-tier prices: Hey Jodie $49 unlimited minutes, AnswerHero from $79, PATLive from $75, Smith.ai from $95, Abby Connect from $99, Moneypenny from around $145, Ruby from around $250, AnswerConnect $350 for 200 minutes plus $49.99 setup. Hey Jodie is the cheapest published-price option in the bracket.
AnswerConnect states its plans run monthly with no long-term contract, so you can cancel anytime. Hey Jodie also has no minimum - cancel any month from the dashboard.
Hey Jodie setup takes minutes - forward your phone and Jodie starts answering. Check your AnswerConnect billing date before cancelling. Most businesses run both for 5-7 days during cutover, then cancel.
Move off the per-minute meter without dropping a call. Run both for a week, then cancel AnswerConnect - their plans run monthly with no long-term contract.
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 plans run monthly with no long-term contract, so you can cancel anytime. Confirm your final billing date with your account manager or dashboard.
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 needed. Cancel in one click.
First 7 days free, then pricing from $49/month
