AI receptionist for HVAC: 8 options and what a heat wave costs
HVAC phones don't ring at a steady rate. A mild week brings tune-up requests. The first heat wave or hard freeze brings a wall of "no cooling" and "no heat" calls, many of them after hours. Dialzara's HVAC page puts it in one line: "call volume can change with the weather."
That swing is what makes picking an AI receptionist for an HVAC company different. This guide covers eight tools whose own sites name HVAC, with prices quoted from each vendor's pages on October 18, 2026, and the cost of a quiet month next to a heat-wave month. For all receptionists, see AI receptionists for trades and the HVAC tools page.
What an HVAC shop needs from an AI receptionist
- No-heat and no-cooling triage. The AI should ask about the system and the symptom and follow your rules: send the on-call tech, or book the first slot in the morning. Ask whether it can flag homes with infants or older people.
- Booking into your field service software. If you run ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber, ask whether the AI writes the job into it or texts you a summary to enter by hand.
- Maintenance agreement calls. Spring and fall tune-ups fill the board. A good setup knows who holds a plan and books them into the right job type.
- Service area and safety rules. Decide what the AI says about a gas smell or a burning odor, and when it hands the call to a person. Write your exact script.
- A way to scale for peak season. Check how the plan bills when calls triple, and whether you can switch plans month to month.
The eight options at a glance
| Tool | Entry price | Billed by | HVAC detail on its site | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upfirst | $24.95/mo monthly, $20/mo annual | Calls (30 on Starter) | HVAC answering page; after-hours and overflow modes | upfirst.ai/pricing |
| Dialzara | $29/mo | Minutes (60 on Lite) | Separate paths for no-heat, no-cooling, and routine calls | dialzara.com/pricing |
| Jobber Receptionist | $29/mo add-on | Conversations (30 included) | Books jobs in the Jobber calendar | getjobber.com/pricing |
| Rosie | $49/mo | Minutes (250 on Professional) | HVAC page; sorts urgent and non-urgent calls | heyrosie.com/pricing |
| Sameday AI | from $449/mo | Minutes (500 on Launch) | No-heat triage, tune-up members, ServiceTitan booking | sameday.ai/pricing |
| Avoca | Not public | Demo and quote | ServiceTitan Certified App; human CSR backup | avoca.ai |
| ServiceTitan AI Virtual Agent | Not public | Quote | Native to ServiceTitan; books by job type and skill | servicetitan.com |
| Housecall Pro CSR AI | Not public | Quote | Part of Housecall Pro's AI team | housecallpro.com/pricing |
Upfirst: per-call plans with an HVAC page
Upfirst has an HVAC answering service page and lets you choose what it handles: every call, overflow calls, or after-hours calls. Starter is $24.95 a month on monthly billing ($20 on annual) for 30 calls, plus $1.50 per extra call. Premium is $59.95 for 90 calls and $1 per extra. Pro is $159.95 for 300 calls and $.75 per extra. Scale is $299 for 600 calls. Its FAQ says it does not count spam or bill for calls under 15 seconds. It books into Google, Outlook, and other calendars and connects to other apps through Zapier. See the Upfirst listing.
Fit: owner-operators and small shops that want a per-call bill and an after-hours mode.
Dialzara: minute plans with HVAC call paths
Dialzara's HVAC page says no-heat, no-cooling, and routine requests "can follow different configured paths," and that it collects address, equipment type, symptoms, and access notes. It says your team keeps control of diagnosis, safety advice, pricing, and arrival times. Plans: Business Lite $29 a month for 60 minutes ($0.48 per extra minute), Business Pro $99 for 220 minutes ($0.45), Business Plus $199 for 500 minutes ($0.40), and Business Elite $349 for 1,000 minutes ($0.35). After-hours rules, warm transfer, bilingual calls, and calendar sync start on Business Pro. The pricing page says you can switch plans anytime. See the Dialzara listing.
Fit: shops that want to set their own triage questions and move between plans as the season changes.
Jobber Receptionist: built into Jobber
Jobber lists Receptionist as a $29 a month add-on. Its help center says that includes 30 conversations, with $0.79 for each extra one, and that Receptionist comes with the Plus plan with unlimited usage. A second Jobber help page says the add-on includes 100 conversations a month, so confirm the allowance at checkout. Our Jobber AI receptionist cost guide covers that conflict.
Fit: HVAC shops on Jobber that want calls booked into the same calendar.
Rosie: flat minute plans with transfers
Rosie has an HVAC page and says it sorts urgent and non-urgent calls and sends you a notification. Professional is $49 a month for 250 minutes. Scale is $149 for 1,000 minutes and adds booking on your calendar plus warm and live transfers. Growth is $299 for 2,000 minutes and adds waterfall transfers, where Rosie tries several numbers until someone answers. Every plan answers in English and Spanish. See the Rosie listing.
Fit: shops with an on-call rotation. Waterfall transfers on Growth match a list of techs who take turns.
Sameday AI: built for ServiceTitan HVAC shops
Sameday's HVAC page describes no-heat triage during a cold snap (furnace or heat pump, and whether infants or older adults live in the home), recognizing maintenance agreement members, and writing jobs into ServiceTitan. Launch starts at $449 a month with 500 minutes, unlimited users, and 3 locations. Scale starts at $789 with 1,000 minutes and unlimited locations. A minutes slider on the page sets the price for higher volume. See the Sameday AI listing and AI receptionists that work with ServiceTitan.
Fit: multi-truck shops on ServiceTitan where one booked system replacement covers months of fees.
Avoca: AI plus a human CSR team
Avoca lists itself as a ServiceTitan Certified App. Its HVAC page says its AI CSR answers calls, books jobs into your CRM, and routes emergencies, and that calls the AI can't handle transfer to Avoca's human CSR team. The same page lists follow-ups on lapsed maintenance agreements. Avoca shows no public price; it books demos. See the Avoca listing.
Fit: larger shops that want an AI front line with a human backup.
ServiceTitan AI Virtual Agent
ServiceTitan sells AI Virtual Agent as a Pro product. Its page says it books jobs by job type, location, and required skills through Adaptive Capacity, works with any phone system, and "only takes 20 minutes to implement." ServiceTitan's pricing page asks you to request pricing for its packages. See the ServiceTitan listing.
Fit: shops on ServiceTitan that want the AI inside the same system as their CSRs.
Housecall Pro CSR AI
Housecall Pro lists CSR AI on its pricing page and says it "answers every call and chat, day or night." The pricing page shows no price for it. Ask sales for a written quote with any call limits. For a feature comparison, see Jobber vs Housecall Pro for HVAC.
What a quiet month and a heat wave cost
Take one example. Say a shop gets 120 calls in a mild month and 450 calls in a heat-wave month, at 3 minutes per call. That is 360 minutes and 1,350 minutes. These are example numbers, so redo the math with your own call log. Each row uses monthly billing and the cheapest plan for that volume.
| Tool | 120 calls (360 min) | 450 calls (1,350 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Upfirst | $89.95 (Premium: $59.95 plus 30 calls at $1) | $272.45 (Pro: $159.95 plus 150 calls at $.75) |
| Dialzara | $162 (Business Pro: $99 plus 140 minutes at $0.45) | $471.50 (Business Elite: $349 plus 350 minutes at $0.35) |
| Rosie | $149 (Scale, 1,000 minutes) | $299 (Growth, 2,000 minutes) |
| Jobber Receptionist | $100.10 ($29 plus 90 conversations at $0.79) | $360.80 ($29 plus 420 conversations at $0.79) |
| Sameday AI | from $449 (Launch, 500 minutes) | Above Scale's 1,000 starting minutes; price set by the slider |
The Jobber rows treat each call as one conversation and use the 30-conversation allowance. Rosie's pricing page lists no per-minute overage rate, so the table moves up a plan. Rates checked October 18, 2026.
Two things stand out. The cheapest tool in a quiet month is not the cheapest in a busy one, so price both months before you pick. And per-call billing (Upfirst, Jobber) rewards long calls, which matters when a caller spends minutes describing a noise or a smell. Per-minute billing (Dialzara, Rosie, Sameday) rewards short calls.
More math by tool: AI receptionist cost per month and AI receptionist pricing compared.
How to test one before summer
- Pull last July's and last October's call logs. Count calls, after-hours calls, and average call length.
- Price both months on two tools with the table above.
- Start a trial and call it at 10 p.m. as a homeowner with no cooling and a baby in the house. Check what reached your phone and how fast.
- Call again about a gas smell and check that the AI follows your safety script and transfers.
- Read the cancel terms before you forward your main number.
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI receptionist for an HVAC company? Of the tools above, Upfirst Starter has the lowest list price: $24.95 a month on monthly billing for 30 calls (October 18, 2026). At 120 calls a month, Upfirst Premium came out lowest in our example at $89.95.
Can an AI receptionist book jobs into ServiceTitan? Sameday AI lists ServiceTitan scheduling, Avoca lists itself as a ServiceTitan Certified App, and ServiceTitan sells its own AI Virtual Agent. Confirm the exact booking flow in a demo.
Will an AI receptionist handle no-heat and no-cooling emergencies? Dialzara, Sameday, Rosie, and Avoca all describe urgent-call handling on their HVAC pages. You set the rules for when to transfer, text the on-call tech, or book the next slot. Test it with your own after-hours call.
Do AI receptionists for HVAC charge per call or per minute? Both exist. Upfirst charges per call, Jobber per conversation, and Dialzara, Rosie, and Sameday by minutes. Avoca, ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro quote prices on request.
Related: AI tools for HVAC · Submit a tool · All guides
Checked 2026-10-18. Prices and policies change. Confirm on the source before you buy.
Sources
- https://upfirst.ai/pricing
- https://upfirst.ai/industries/hvac
- https://heyrosie.com/pricing
- https://heyrosie.com/industries/hvac
- https://dialzara.com/pricing
- https://dialzara.com/industries/hvac
- https://sameday.ai/pricing
- https://sameday.ai/industries/hvac
- https://www.avoca.ai/
- https://www.avoca.ai/industries/hvac
- https://www.servicetitan.com/features/pro/virtual-agent
- https://www.servicetitan.com/pricing
- https://www.getjobber.com/pricing/
- https://help.getjobber.com/en/articles/receptionistpowered-by-jobber-ai/
- https://help.getjobber.com/en/articles/add-on-features-to-your-jobber-plan-subscription/
- https://www.housecallpro.com/pricing/
- https://tradeswithai.com/api/v1/trade-tools