Blog / Costs
AI receptionist vs ISA for real estate agents
A Florida ISA earns $50,386 a year on average, and live answering starts at $250 a month. What each option costs an agent, with sources, and where each fits.
By AetherFL Team. . 5 min read.
The short version
- A real estate ISA in Florida earns $50,386 a year on average, before benefits, taxes and any bonus.
- Live answering services start at $250 a month for 50 minutes or $300 for 30 calls.
- Sarah costs $99, $199 or $399 a month, and extra minutes are $0.25 each.
- An ISA brings judgment software doesn't. Many teams use both.
When calls start slipping, agents usually look at three fixes. Hire an inside sales agent, pay an answering service or use an AI receptionist.
The three differ a lot in cost, and even more in what happens on the call. We make one of the options, so we've linked every price and labeled our own math.
What an ISA costs
An inside sales agent, or ISA, is a team member who calls leads, qualifies them and sets appointments. Pay plans vary, and some include a bonus per appointment or closing.
- $50,386 average yearly salary of a real estate inside sales representative in Florida (source: Salary.com)
- $44,394 to $56,814 the middle half of Florida ISA salaries, 25th to 75th percentile (source: Salary.com)
Salary is not the whole cost. In June 2026, wages were 68.5% of employer costs for full-time private industry workers. Benefits and payroll taxes made up the other 31.5%.
Recruiting, training, software and a phone line come on top. One ISA also covers about 40 of the 168 hours in a week, unless you hire more than one.
What an answering service costs
An answering service puts a live receptionist on your line. Two well-known services publish their prices.
| Plan | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|
| Ruby, 50 minutes | $250 | 50 receptionist minutes |
| Ruby, 100 minutes | $395 | 100 receptionist minutes |
| Ruby, 200 minutes | $720 | 200 receptionist minutes |
| Smith.ai Starter | $300 | 30 calls, then $11.50 a call |
| Smith.ai Basic | $810 | 90 calls, then $10.50 a call |
Published prices, checked September 2026. Sources: Ruby and Smith.ai.
Smith.ai adds $1.50 a call to book appointments and $0.25 a call for recordings and transcripts. Ruby lists no setup or onboarding fees and answers around the clock.
A general answering service isn't built around real estate. Before you sign, ask which questions they'll ask your callers and how the answers reach your CRM.
What an AI receptionist costs
AI receptionists answer with a computer voice and cost less per call. Smith.ai's AI receptionist, for example, has a free tier for 25 calls a month. Its Pro plan is $150 a month for 75 calls, or $2.00 a call.
Sarah is our virtual assistant for Florida agents. Here is what she costs.
| Plan | Monthly price | Call minutes | Campaign numbers |
|---|
| Starter | $99 | 150 | 1 |
| Pro | $199 | 500 | Up to 5 |
| Team | $399 | 1,500 | Up to 15 |
Sarah's plans. Call minutes are per month, and Team covers up to 5 agents. The 30-day free pilot runs on Pro. Details on the pricing page.
Extra minutes are $0.25 each. Every call is recorded and transcribed, and you get a text summary within 1 minute. On Pro and Team, Sarah also books into your calendar and logs each call in Follow Up Boss.
We set up your numbers, and on Pro and Team your calendar and Follow Up Boss. You're live in 48 hours.
The same month, three ways
Prices only make sense next to a real call volume. Here is one made-up month for a solo agent.
The gap is large, but cost is only one column. What each option does on the call matters more.
What you get besides the price
| ISA | Answering service | Sarah |
|---|
| Who answers | A person on your team | A live receptionist | A virtual assistant that says so |
| Hours | Their shift | Around the clock | Around the clock |
| Hard calls | Their own judgment | Takes a message or books | Books an appointment with you (Pro and Team) |
| Notes | What they type | A message or summary | Recording, transcript and summary |
| Monthly cost | About $6,100, rough total | $250 to $810 for the plans above | $99 to $399 |
How the three options compare on the call itself.
An ISA brings judgment Sarah doesn't. A good ISA can read a hesitant seller, push for the listing appointment and stay in touch for months in a personal way.
Sarah is built for the first call. She won't value a home, negotiate or promise anything, and those questions become an appointment with you.
She also tells every caller that she is your virtual assistant and that the call is recorded. Callers always know who they are talking to.
Questions to ask before you sign
Whichever way you lean, the same questions sort out the good fits from the bad ones. Ask them of a candidate ISA, an answering service or an AI vendor.
- Which hours are covered? Ask about nights, weekends and holidays, not only office hours.
- What will they ask my callers? Get the exact questions, and check that they cover location, price, timing and financing.
- How do they introduce themselves? Callers should hear your name, and hear that the call is recorded.
- Where do the notes go? A message in an inbox is not the same as a lead in Follow Up Boss with the recording attached.
- Can they book into my calendar? A caller with a time on the calendar is worth more than a callback request.
- What happens in a busy month? Look at overage rates, and at what a month with twice your usual calls would cost.
- How do I leave? Check the contract length, any cancellation fee and who keeps the phone numbers.
Which one fits
- You get a few calls a week and answer most of them. Measure what you miss first. You may not need anything yet.
- You miss calls during showings and after hours. An answering service or an AI receptionist covers those hours for far less than a salary.
- You have more leads than you can call back. An ISA makes sense. Sarah can take the first call and the notes, so your ISA works the callers who are ready.
For the cost of the calls you miss, see what a missed call costs. To hear how Sarah handles a real call, have her call you. To start your 30-day free pilot on Pro, set up Sarah.
Set up Sarah, hear a live call or see pricing.
Sources
- Salary.com. Real Estate Inside Sales Representative Salary in Florida. as of September 1, 2026.
- Ruby. Plans and pricing. checked September 2026.
- Smith.ai. Virtual receptionist plans and pricing. checked September 2026.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026. September 9, 2026.
- Smith.ai. AI receptionist plans and pricing. checked September 2026.