An AI receptionist for a law firm usually costs a monthly platform fee plus per-minute usage, with telephony and integrations on top. LuMay's published Voice Agent plans run from $249 to $999 per month, and enterprise deployments are quoted.
In the worked example below, a firm taking 400 calls a month lands near $726 per month, or about $1.81 per call. That is an estimate, not a quote. Custom builds, private hosting, and managed tuning cost more.
This guide covers the pricing models, the full cost stack, a break-even formula, and the questions to ask every vendor.
AI receptionist pricing models for law firms
Four billing structures cover most offers. The right one depends on whether your call volume is steady or spiky.
| Model | How it bills | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription with included minutes | Monthly fee, then per-minute overage | Overage rate and connector fees |
| Per-call | Fee per answered call | What counts as a billable call |
| Per-minute usage | Pay for talk time | Long intake calls raise the bill |
| Enterprise or custom | Quoted by scope | Setup, hosting, and support terms |
LuMay Voice Agent publishes four plans:
| Plan | Monthly price | Included minutes | Overage | Voice agents | Connectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $249 | 500 | $0.23/min | 1 | None |
| Starter | $499 | 1,000 | $0.22/min | 1 | 1 |
| Growth | $999 | 2,000 | $0.21/min | 3 | 3 |
| Enterprise | Custom | 5,000+ | Custom | 10 | Unlimited |
Annual billing saves 10% on base plan fees, and every plan includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Smith.ai shows how per-call pricing works. Its AI Receptionist page lists a Pro plan at $150 per month with calls at $2.00 each, and an Enterprise plan at $500 per month with calls at $1.67 each. Per-call billing can suit longer calls, but confirm what the vendor counts as a billable call.
The full cost stack: beyond the monthly fee
The platform fee is one layer. Budget for these as well.
- Telephony. Twilio's published US pricing, current as of August 2026, lists local inbound calls at $0.0085 per minute, local outbound at $0.014, toll-free inbound at $0.022, a local number at $1.15 per month, and a toll-free number at $2.15. LuMay's pricing page lists inbound and outbound calling but does not say whether telephony is included in the plan price, so ask.
- Integrations. LuMay bills each connector at $0.10 per active minute, only while it is live on a call. Several connectors active at once bill separately. SMS carrier fees can add to this.
- Implementation. LuMay's pricing page lists a Discovery Sprint at $10K to $15K and a Production Pilot at $25K to $75K. Template-based setups may need less.
- Private deployment. Your-cloud deployment starts from $36K per year, and on-premises from $90K per year plus $75K setup.
- Managed optimization. Ongoing tuning is listed at $5K to $25K per month.
Those service prices are published starting points, and final pricing is confirmed with LuMay.
Worked example (estimate, not a quote)
Assume 400 inbound calls a month at 4 minutes each, or 1,600 minutes. Assume the Starter plan, one connector active on half the minutes, and Twilio billed separately.
| Line item | Calculation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Starter plan | Flat fee | $499.00 |
| Overage | 600 min × $0.22 | $132.00 |
| Connector | 800 min × $0.10 | $80.00 |
| Twilio number and inbound | $1.15 + 1,600 × $0.0085 | $14.75 |
| Total | About $0.45 per minute | $725.75 |
Divide by 400 calls and you get about $1.81 per call. Setup, private hosting, tuning, and staff review time are excluded.
Law-firm requirements that change the price
Legal intake is not generic call answering. These requirements add scope, and scope adds cost.
- Intake depth. LuMay's legal AI receptionist template lists a mandatory non-attorney disclaimer, case screening, an existing-attorney check, and consultation booking. Longer calls mean more billed minutes.
- Practice systems. The same page names Clio, PracticePanther, and Filevine. Each connection can add connector minutes or setup work.
- Security review. Check LuMay's security and governance page against your confidentiality policy, and confirm certifications and data terms with any vendor before client data is involved.
- Ethics review. ABA Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers using generative AI must consider competence, confidentiality, client communication, and fees.
- Governed workflows. For work beyond calls, LuMay's Legal Agents page describes an intake flow with an attorney approval step.
Human handoff and scale
A handoff is a cost control as well as a safeguard. LuMay's guide to transferring law-firm calls to a person says a caller should never have to finish intake before reaching someone, and it reserves legal advice, conflict clearance, and accepting representation for qualified people.
For scale, minutes grow with call volume, but fixed layers such as implementation do not. Price your busiest month, not your average one.
ROI and break-even for a law firm
Start with what a recovered call is worth, then compare it with the monthly cost.
Break-even recovered calls = Monthly cost / (Qualified rate × Retention rate × Average fee)
Illustrative inputs, not LuMay data: $726 monthly cost, 30% of recovered calls qualify, 20% of qualified calls are retained, and a $5,000 average fee.
Each recovered call is then worth 0.30 × 0.20 × $5,000 = $300. Break-even is $726 / $300 = 2.4, so about three recovered calls a month. Use contribution margin per matter rather than gross fee if you can, and replace every input with your own intake data.
Cost comparison at the same volume
| Option | Monthly estimate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| AI receptionist | $726 | Worked example above |
| Human virtual receptionist | $2,950 | Smith.ai Pro: $2,100 for 300 calls plus 100 calls at $8.50 |
| In-house receptionist | $3,168 or more | BLS median pay of $38,010 a year, divided by 12, before benefits |
Ruby prices human answering by minutes instead: $250 for 50, $395 for 100, $720 for 200, and $1,725 for 500 minutes. Receptionist minutes and AI call minutes are counted differently, so compare on completed calls.
Coverage differs. An in-house hire covers business hours, while the other two options can answer after hours. Only you can value that gap, and prices change, so recheck each vendor before you decide.
Vendor selection questions
Ask every vendor these eight questions, and get the answers in writing.
- Are voice telephony and carrier fees included in the per-minute rate?
- What counts as a billable minute: ringing, hold, transfers, or only talk time?
- What are the overage and connector fees at my volume?
- Which practice-management and calendar systems connect, and at what cost?
- What do setup, customization, and ongoing support cost?
- How does a caller reach a human, and what happens if nobody answers?
- Where is call data stored, who can access it, and how long is it kept?
- Can I run a trial on real call scenarios before committing?
Conclusion
AI receptionist cost for law firms is a stack, not a single number. Model minutes, connectors, telephony, setup, and review time, then test the break-even against your own intake data.
To price your own call volume, explore the LuMay Voice Agent and start the 14-day free trial or book a demo.
