AI Receptionist Cost for Salons: $200 One-Time, Then Usage
“AI receptionist cost” and “virtual receptionist cost” are not one number. AIVA, the phone layer, is $200 one-time — no monthly plan fee, no free trial. Calendar is free for up to 3 staff. $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. This page quotes our live pricing. It does not invent anyone else’s.
Contents · 6 sections
Three bills people mix up
- A hired receptionist. You pay wages and taxes for every hour you staff the desk, including nights if you want those calls answered. We do not quote a national wage here.
- A virtual receptionist or answering service. This is usually a monthly plan priced by calls, minutes, or a booking add-on. If the service only takes a message, nothing gets added to your calendar.
- An AI receptionist that books. Software answers the call and books the chair, though the pricing model still varies by vendor. Bukkii charges one-time plus usage, not a monthly plan fee.
Earlier posts on this site quote vendor pricing pages as of a specific fetch date: virtual receptionist cost, answering service cost, and Smith AI pricing. If you need those figures, note the date on each page and then confirm with the vendor. This article does not repeat or update any numbers we have not re-checked today.
AIVA, quoted from the live pricing page
The figures below are copied from bukkii.ai/pricing as of September 22, 2026, in USD.
| Line | What the page says |
|---|---|
| AI Receptionist | $200 one-time. No contract. No monthly fee. Pay once. Unlimited staff. 24/7 answering, booking changes, staff routing, spam filtering. |
| What the $200 payment covers | Dedicated phone number, AIVA training on your menu and policies, calendar setup, number forwarding. Included usage on the compare table: 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. |
| After included usage | Voice $0.35/min pay-as-you-go. SMS $0.035 per credit. Packs are a one-time purchase, never expire, and stay in the balance. |
| Voice packs on that page | 100 minutes $35, 250 minutes $80, 500 minutes $140, 1,000 minutes $249. |
| SMS packs on that page | 500 credits $17.50, 2,000 credits $64, 5,000 credits $140, 10,000 credits $250. |
| Calendar — booking + Google Reserve | Calendar is free for up to 3 staff. $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Free includes the booking website. It does not answer phone calls. |
| Free trial | There is a Free Calendar plan for up to 3 staff. $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. AIVA is $200 one-time. No free trial. |
Source: bukkii.ai/pricing, reviewed September 22, 2026. If the live page changes, the live page is the one to trust.
What to compare, if you compare at all
When comparing, ask three questions. Is the bill a monthly plan fee, a one-time payment, or a meter that starts after a bucket of included minutes? Is “booking” actually included, or is it an add-on you have not turned on yet? And does the product answer the shop number, or does it only host a link the caller has to tap?
For AIVA, the answers are simple: $200 one-time, answering the phone is the product, and there is no monthly plan fee and no free trial. Calendar is priced separately: it is free for up to 3 staff, and $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Calendar does not pick up the line. Choose AIVA when missed calls are the problem, and Calendar when your public booking page and Google presence are the gap. Either way, you keep your POS.
The POS is not in this price
Checkout can stay on Vagaro, Booksy, Square, Mangomint, Setmore, or whichever nail POS you already trust. We do not quote those subscriptions here, and we do not claim a native two-way sync with them. The AI receptionist for a nail salon is purely the phone layer. For the math on hiring someone, without made-up wage figures, see hire a receptionist vs AI.
Get AIVA — $200 or hear the voice at (215) 791-6766.
Two offers: AIVA on the phone, Calendar on Google
You can keep the POS you already run, whether that is Vagaro, Booksy, Square, Mangomint, Setmore, or a nail register. Bukkii sells two layers that sit alongside it, and each is a complete offer on its own.
AIVA — the phone layer — $200 one-time
AIVA is the AI receptionist for inbound calls. She answers the shop number, books the service, and texts the appointment details. She costs $200 one-time, with no monthly plan fee and no free trial. Get AIVA — $200, or hear her at (215) 791-6766.
Calendar — the booking layer
Calendar is free for up to 3 staff, and $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. It does not answer the phone. Start Calendar free, and compare both plans on pricing.
FAQ
How much does an AI receptionist cost for a salon?
Bukkii’s AI receptionist, AIVA, is $200 one-time, with no monthly plan fee, no contract, and no free trial. The payment includes a dedicated number, training, calendar setup, forwarding, 100 voice minutes, and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 per minute and SMS is $0.035. Other vendors price usage differently, and we do not guess at their prices on this page.
Is there a monthly plan fee for AIVA?
No. The AI Receptionist is a one-time payment of $200, with no monthly plan fee and no free trial. Once the included minutes and texts are used up, usage is pay-as-you-go, and optional packs never expire. Calendar is priced separately: it is free for up to 3 staff, and $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Calendar does not answer the phone.
Is there a free trial?
No. AIVA is $200 one-time and there is no free trial. You can call (215) 791-6766 to hear AIVA before you forward your shop number, then sign up for the $200 one-time plan when you are ready.
Do I have to replace my POS to get this price?
No. You can keep Vagaro, Booksy, Square, Mangomint, Setmore, or whichever register you already close tickets on, because AIVA is only the phone layer. We do not claim native two-way sync with those systems, and we do not quote their subscription prices here.
What does the Calendar plan cost?
Calendar is free for up to 3 staff, and $20/month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. It does not answer the phone; AIVA, the phone layer, is a separate $200 one-time payment with no free trial.
