January 21, 2026
24 Min
Moneypenny charges for people. Central charges for outcomes.
Stop paying more every time your phone gets busy. Start with a front desk that costs the same either way.
Never miss another call.
The goal isn't a staffed service. It's a front desk that costs what you expect.
Moneypenny is the world's largest telephone answering company, with 25 years of history and over 1,000 receptionists handling calls for law firms, healthcare practices, real estate agencies, and more. Its human receptionists are professional, warm, and genuinely skilled at handling complex conversations. For businesses whose calls require judgment, empathy, or nuanced handling, that service has real value.
Central is an AI receptionist that handles the full front desk job, from first ring through booked appointment, without a per-minute clock running in the background. You pay a flat monthly rate for a defined call volume. The cost is the same in your busiest month as in your quietest. No setup fee. No sales call required to get started. No overage charges when things get busy.
No commitment
No migration required.
The bill goes up every time your phone gets busy.
Moneypenny's service is structured for a staffed operation, and the pricing reflects it. Live answering plans start at $145 per month for 50 minutes of receptionist time. That covers roughly 25 calls at a two-minute average. Past that, overages apply at rates reported by independent reviewers at up to $2.99 per minute. A genuinely busy month can cost several hundred dollars more than the base plan.
24/7 coverage is not included in standard plans. It is available, at additional cost. The AI voice agent offering is newer and not priced on the website. Getting a quote requires a sales conversation. Going live requires working with a Moneypenny Solutions Architect to define call flows, build a knowledge base, and configure the system before the first call is answered.
For a service business that needs its calls covered today at a cost it can plan around, the structure gets in the way.
What this means in practice:
Live answering plans start at $145/month for 50 minutes, roughly 25 calls at a two-minute average
Overages on live plans run up to $2.99/minute; a busy month can cost significantly more than the base plan
24/7 coverage costs extra on standard live answering plans
Independent reviewers report setup fees up to $1,000
The AI voice agent has no published pricing; a sales call is required before you can see what it costs
Going live with Moneypenny's AI product requires a Solutions Architect onboarding process before calls are answered
Central reads your business. Then it answers your calls.
Central connects to your website and calendar and starts handling calls the same day you sign up. No setup fee. No sales conversation. No onboarding process before the first call is answered.
Every call that comes in becomes an outcome delivered.
Your front desk stops costing more every time things get busy and starts being something you budget once.
What this means in practice:
A new inquiry arrives and Central answers it, qualifies the caller, and logs the lead automatically
A booking request comes in and Central checks your calendar and confirms the appointment during the call
A caller needs a real person and Central transfers them automatically, with context, no configuration required
Post-call summaries are waiting for you after every conversation
Your monthly cost is fixed at $79, $149, or $299, regardless of call length or volume within your plan
What each product actually does
Feature
Pricing model
Starting price
24/7 coverage
Setup fee
AI pricing published online
Self-serve signup
Time to go live
Human fallback
Appointment booking
Post-call summaries
CRM integration
Fixed monthly cost
HIPAA-capable
Multilingual
Moneypenny
Tiered by minutes; overages billed per minute
$145/month (live, 50 min)
Extra cost on standard live plans
Up to $1,000 reported by independent reviewers
— (requires sales call)
— (requires sales conversation)
Days (Solutions Architect onboarding required for AI)
✓ Moneypenny receptionists available 24/7
✓ Available
✓ Transcripts by email or SMS
✓ Available
— (variable by usage and overages)
✓ Healthcare-certified
Bilingual (English and Spanish)
Central
Flat monthly tiers ($79/$149/$299)
$79/month (100 calls)
✓ Included on all plans
— None
✓ Published
✓ No sales call needed
Same day
✓ Built in, triggers automatically
✓ Native (Calendly, Cal.com, Google Calendar)
✓ Included on all plans
✓ Native
✓
✓ (Enterprise)
✓ 30+ languages
Five minutes to connect. No setup fee, no sales call, no onboarding process.
Starting Central does not require a conversation with a sales team. It does not require a Solutions Architect. It does not require a setup fee or a minimum contract.
You paste your website URL, connect your calendar, and set your call preferences. Central reads your site, trains on your content, and starts answering calls. Most businesses are live the same day they sign up. The cost is published on the pricing page before you commit to anything.
There's no contract. There's no overage surprise. There's just the moment when your front desk starts costing what you expected, every month.
SOCIAL PROOF
SOCIAL PROOF
Don't take our word for it
"I got a Moneypenny quote and the base plan was reasonable, but once I added 24/7 coverage and looked at what overages would cost during our busy season, the real number was three times what I expected. I signed up for Central the same afternoon. Flat rate, no setup fee, live the next morning. I've never looked back."
Amy G.
Co-founder, Rooted Skincare