The short answer
An AI receptionist for a restaurant is usually a monthly subscription, sometimes with a set-up fee. What changes from one provider to the next is how the monthly price is built.
Tableline plans start at $249 a month for 200 calls, plus a one-off $250 set-up fee. All three plans are listed below, so you can see the cost before you talk to anyone.
How AI receptionist pricing is usually built
You will see three common models: a flat monthly price, a pack of calls or minutes each month, or a charge per call or per minute. Some add a set-up fee, and some charge extra once you pass a limit.
When you compare providers, put the same questions to each: what is in the monthly price, what the set-up costs, what counts as a call, and what happens when you go over.
What Tableline charges
Plans are monthly, in US dollars: $249 for 200 calls, $399 for 300 calls and $499 for 500 calls. There is a one-off $250 set-up fee, paid when we put Novi on your phone line. Taxes are added at checkout where they apply.
The pricing page has the full list of what every plan includes: the Novi phone assistant, bookings into your diary, handover to your team, and the booking desk.
What happens at the call limit
When you have used your month of calls, Novi hands every new call to a person on your team, and we ask whether you would like a bigger plan. There is no charge per extra call, so a busy month does not produce a surprise bill.
Picking a pack
Count the booking calls you take in a normal month. Your phone or call log will show it. A month has about 30 days, so 200 calls is roughly 6 a day and 500 is roughly 16 a day.
If you are unsure, start by counting for two weeks. If you would like help working it out, get in touch and we will go through it with you.
Questions to ask any provider
Is the price published? What does set-up cost? What counts as a call? What happens at the limit? Can a person on my team take over a call, and who decides when?
Hear Novi first: use Talk to Novi on any page for a live conversation. Then see the plans on the pricing page, or compare the options in our guide to AI or human answering services.
Keep reading
- Tableline pricing
- Phone answering for restaurants
- Reducing restaurant no-shows: what you can ask on the booking call
- Holiday rush and your phone: preparing for the calls before a busy holiday
- Who answers the phone during service? Five ways restaurants cover it
- Missed calls at a clinic: why patients call elsewhere and how to cover the phones
- Phone or online booking for a salon: why you still need someone to answer
- Garage phone calls: booking service slots when the whole team is under a car
- Choosing a restaurant phone system: landline, VoIP, answering service or AI
- AI phone answering or voicemail: what happens to the caller who wants a table
- Taking reservations by phone: a simple process that does not lose bookings
- Handling allergen questions on the phone: what staff should say and when to hand over
- Slang, Loman, Hostie, Bite Buddy or Tableline: how to compare restaurant phone agents
- AI receptionist for dental and physio clinics: handling booking calls
- AI receptionist for salons: stop losing bookings while your hands are busy
- AI phone answering for auto repair shops: booking slots and quote calls
- What a good restaurant booking call sounds like
- Voice AI for restaurants: what it does and what it does not
- What happens to a booking call you miss during a Friday rush: a checklist
- How to set up call handover to a human: a checklist
- AI phone answering or a human answering service? A plain comparison for restaurants
- What happens when a restaurant misses a call
- What a good phone handover looks like
