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 what you pay per call 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 | 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 | US-based human receptionist |
| 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. AnswerConnect's larger plans are gated behind a quote and may differ. Hey Jodie pricing is published in full on the pricing page.
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
$49/mo
Flat. Unlimited.
Competitor: Growth
£245/mo
roughly $310/mo
£245 base
You'd save
$261/month ($3,134/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 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 earns its price for regulated firms needing bilingual humans and CRM-deep integrations. Hey Jodie is built for the other end - plumbers under sinks, accountants in tax season, electricians on jobs.
Forbes 2026 Best Answering Service for a reason - just not the right tool for a solo plumber paying $350/month for 200 minutes.
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 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 targets multi-location firms needing bilingual reception and CRM integrations. 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.
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 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's site states there is no long-term contract. Some third-party comparisons allege a 90-day minimum at signup, so ask for written confirmation of cancellation terms 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 any notice period 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 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 needed. Cancel in one click.
First 7 days free, then pricing from $49/month
