cyberstaff

The best AllDayPA alternatives for UK businesses in 2026.

AllDayPA has been picking up UK calls since 1999, and we will say plainly: that experience counts for something. What we are less comfortable with is that the price hides behind a quote form and the contract carries a minimum term plus a notice period before you can walk. So we laid the leading alternatives out in the open — on price you can read, freedom to leave, and reviews that are not cherry-picked — and let the facts decide which one suits how you really take calls.

John Oberlin-Harris

Written by John Oberlin-Harris

CRO, Cyberstaff

Last updated 16 July 2026

The quick verdict

Let us be straight with you. If a seasoned UK human team is what you are after and a quote-based contract does not bother you, AllDayPA is a warm, well-rated pick and we will happily say so. But if you would rather see the number before you commit, keep the freedom to leave, and get round-the-clock cover at one flat price, that is exactly what an AI receptionist is built to do. For most UK trades and SMBs that means Cyberstaff, from £30 a month with 24/7 and setup included, a price we publish openly, and no contract holding you in place.

Why businesses look beyond AllDayPA

A name you can trust, but the price and the contract stay frustratingly out of sight.

Pricing hidden behind a quote

No price is posted anywhere, so you sit through a sales call before anyone will tell you what a full year really costs.

Minimum term and notice period

A three-month minimum plus a notice period reported as long as 90 days, which ties you in longer than you might expect.

Undisclosed setup fees

Activation fees show up in the small print but never on the page, so the opening bill can catch you out.

Per-minute overage adds up

Once you pass your bundle, calls run around £1.34 a minute — meaning your busiest, best months quietly cost you the most.

No free trial

There is no try-before-you-buy, so you sign the contract before you have ever heard it handle one of your own calls.

Lower away from Trustpilot

It shines on Trustpilot, and credit where it is due — but Google (3.7) and Indeed (2.5) paint a more uneven picture worth knowing about.

What to look for in an alternative

What is worth checking before you switch.

  1. 1

    Pricing you can see up front. The real monthly figure, on a page, with no sales call to unlock it.

  2. 2

    No lock-in or long notice period. The freedom to leave on your terms, not whenever the contract finally lets you.

  3. 3

    No hidden setup or activation fees. The price you are shown is honestly the price you pay.

  4. 4

    A real free trial. Proof on your own calls before a penny or a signature changes hands.

At a glance

AllDayPA and six alternatives, side by side.

Provider From Overage 24/7 Setup Min term Rating Notes
Cyberstaff Customisable AI £30/mo £0.30/min ✓ Included Included Rolling monthly 4.6 Trustpilot
AllDayPA Virtual Receptionist £123 £1.34/min ✓ Included Included 3 months 4.8 Trustpilot
Moneypenny Customisable AI £99/mo £2.20/call ✓ Included £250 4 months 4.8 Trustpilot Some changes chargeable @ £70/hour
Moneypenny Virtual Receptionist £282/mo £2.25/min +£150/mo Included 4 months 4.8 Trustpilot
Reception HQ Virtual Receptionist (My Assistant) £99/mo £1.10/min ✓ Included From £20 Rolling monthly 3.2 Trustpilot
AnswerConnect Virtual Receptionist £168.75 £1.75/min ✓ Included £49.99 Rolling monthly 4.9 Trustpilot Transcripts @ +£30/mo, Transfer @ +£30/mo
JAM Virtual Receptionist £109.60 £1.15/min ✓ Included Included 4 months 4.6 Trustpilot + post call transcription costs
Face for Business Inclusive Minutes Plan · Virtual Receptionist From £189/mo Not stated Not available Included 4 months 5.0 Verified Trusted No charge for sales/nuisance calls

Based on 100 minutes/50 calls minimum using cheapest published/quoted plan. As of June 2026. Trustpilot ratings used where found, otherwise first ranking independent review site from Google search with ≥5 reviews.

The alternatives, ranked

Six AllDayPA alternatives, with the honest case for each.

1

Cyberstaff AI

Best for: Small businesses looking for instant set up, great support and market leading pricing

From £30/mo

100 mins then £0.30/min

A UK based AI receptionist that configures a bespoke AI receptionist based on a 1 minute website scan. Rated Excellent on Trustpilot with great reviews and a growing list of integrations, but newer on the block.

Flat pricing, 24/7 included on every plan

Answers unlimited calls at once, no queue

No setup fee, cancel anytime

Reads your website and is live in under 60 seconds

Newer brand than the incumbents

Built for inbound, not large outbound campaigns

4.6 Trustpilot

The recent reviews for Cyberstaff are overwhelmingly positive, with users giving the company a 5-star rating for its AI receptionist service. Reviewers consistently praise the tool for sounding natural, saving them hours of admin work, and efficiently handling customer bookings and calls while they are busy.

2

AllDayPA Human

Best for: UK firms wanting a human team and willing to commit for long term

From £123/mo

100 mins then £1.34/min

A Manchester outfit that has been at it since 1999 and claim to cover a number of sectors including Business Support and Finance. Provides 24/7 service as standard.

UK-based human receptionists

Can handle web chat and email management as additional services

Strong 4.8 Trustpilot for staff friendliness

Pricing not published and sits behind a quote form

90-day notice period to terminate in the Terms and Conditions

Weaker review score on Google Reviews (3.7)

4.8 Trustpilot

Recent reviews for AllDayPA are overwhelmingly positive, with clients consistently praising the team's professional, reliable, and friendly call handling that seamlessly extends their own business operations. Reviewers frequently highlight their prompt communication, quick turnaround times, and exceptional long-term support spanning over many years.

3

AnswerConnect Human

Best for: Businesses wanting human receptionists with 24/7 included

From £168.75/mo

100 mins then £1.75/min

A long-standing human answering service that bundles round-the-clock and bilingual cover as standard, and carries the highest Trustpilot score in this field. The catch is per-minute pricing that mounts as volume grows and most plans have a £49.99 set up fee.

24/7 human cover included as standard

App to manage and integrations with many popular CRMs

Excellent 4.9 Trustpilot from over 200 reviews

Over 5 times the price of leading AI agent options and £49.99 set up fees

Per-minute rates are towards the higher end at £1.75/min

Transcripts and Transfers each come with a £30/month add on price

4.9 Trustpilot

Recent reviews for AnswerConnect UK are overwhelmingly positive, with customers highly praising the supportive customer service team, smooth onboarding processes, and quick, professional call handling. While the service is widely described as reliable and highly effective at filtering calls, a minor critique notes that it can be quite expensive.

4

Moneypenny Human or AI

Best for: Businesses wanting a hybrid human/AI service and willing to pay a premium for it

From £282/mo (human), £99/mo (AI)

100 mins then £2.25/min (human) or £2.20/call (AI)

One of the best-known UK answering services, with a strong name, a decent app and a hybrid human/AI service. But 24/7 costs extra, the included minutes are lower than others, overages are among the highest in the market and there's a minimum 4 month term.

Well-known UK brand with a polished app

High 4.8 Trustpilot score

Use of a dedicated group of agents

Overages high at £2.25 per minute

24/7 costs around £150/mo extra

Four month or longer contracts

4.8 Trustpilot

Recent reviews overwhelmingly praise Moneypenny for its exceptionally friendly, professional, and reliable staff, with many customers noting that the team acts as a seamless extension of their own business. While the feedback is highly positive, a rare minor complaint noted an issue with incorrect account settings that resulted in zero work being carried out.

5

Reception HQ Human

Best for: Businesses looking for a great value human agent option and 24/7 coverage included as standard

From £99/mo

100 mins then £1.10/min

UK receptionists handle the weekday calls, with offshore teams taking the after-hours shift so 24/7 comes built in, all billed by the second and free of any contract. A neat fit for overflow and seasonal spikes, though reviews do flag the odd billing and cancellation snag.

24/7 included, no after-hours surcharge

No lock-in, 7-day free trial

Per-second billing, no minute rounding and some of the lowest rates for human agents

Out of hours and surge calls are answered off shore

Small number of mainly negative reviews on Trustpilot

A human handles one call at a time

3.2 Trustpilot

The page currently has only one review, which gives the company a 1-star rating. The reviewer strongly advises against using the service, warning that receptionists mispronounced or incorrectly used their company name during a trial and offered no apology for the mistake.

6

JAM Human

Best for: Businesses wanting the longest-running UK human service at a reasonable price

From £109.60/mo

100 mins then £1.15/min

The longest-established answering service in the UK, running since 1977, with dedicated PA teams, 24/7 cover at no extra charge and a 4-month minimum (a 3-month minimum plus 30 days' notice).

Long UK track record, bespoke PA teams

24/7 included at no extra charge

Transparent pricing published online

Charges for type up time on top of calls

One team, not unlimited parallel calls

Premium versus AI on cost

4.6 Trustpilot

Recent reviews for JAM are largely positive, with customers frequently praising the professional call handling, efficient support team, and the service's role as a helpful extension of their business. While most users are satisfied, a few noted minor issues regarding setup, spam call filtering, and occasional delays in administrative processes like refunds.

7

Face for Business Human

Best for: SMEs wanting UK PAs with per-second billing

From £189/mo

100 mins, overage not stated

UK-based virtual PAs, running since 2011, billed by the second with no setup fee. Evenings and weekends for an extra fee but not 24/7. A dedicated team rather than a call-centre queue, on a 4-month term.

Per-second billing, no rounding

No setup fee and no charges for sales/nuisance calls

Dedicated UK PA team, ISO 9001 accredited

Still per-time human pricing at volume and expensive minimum package of £115

No Trustpilot reviews found

24/7 coverage not available

5.0 Verified Trusted

Recent reviews overwhelmingly praise Face For Business for their professional, efficient, and friendly telephone answering service, noting that they act as a seamless extension of clients' teams. Many small business owners highlighted how the service prevents missed calls, saves time, and smoothly integrates with their existing setups.

Head to head

Cyberstaff vs AllDayPA, feature by feature.

Feature Cyberstaff AllDayPA
24/7 cover ✓ Included free Included
Pricing model Generous bundled minutes + lowest overage rates Bundled minutes + overage
Starting price From £30/mo From £49.20/mo
Included minutes/calls 100 to 600 mins/mo From 40 mins
Per-minute overage 20p to 30p/min, same as contract rate £1.34/min
Setup fee £0 £0
Minimum contract Rolling monthly 3 months
Calls at once ✓ Unlimited parallel Limited by staffing
Calendar and CRM booking ✓ Built in Integrations with Google Calendar and Zapier
Call transcripts ✓ Included Included
Time to go live Under 60 seconds 5 working days

Pricing in the real world

What you actually pay as call volume grows.

Flat AI pricing stays low while per-minute human services climb with volume. Below is each provider on its cheapest published or quoted plan, at three usage tiers.

Monthly mins/callsCyberstaff (AI)AllDayPA
100 mins (c. 50 calls) £30/mo +£0.30/min£123/mo +£1.34/min
300 mins (c. 150 calls) £75/mo +£0.25/min£369/mo +£1.34/min
600 mins (c. 300 calls) £120/mo +£0.20/min£738/mo +£1.34/min
Additional fees/notes Simple pricing inc. full transcripts and transfers

Data from published plans or quotes provided by email as at June 2026.

The honest take

When AllDayPA is genuinely the better choice.

A comparison that crowns the same winner every time is not worth your time — so here, in plain terms, is when AllDayPA is the right call:

You want an established UK human team. Over 25 years of Manchester-based receptionists and a brand that has earned its standing at scale.

You prefer a tailored, scripted service. Call handling shaped to order and a quote drawn up around your exact requirements.

You want humans across channels. Real people staffing phone, email, live chat and social messaging, all in one place.

A contract is not a dealbreaker. If committing to a term for a dedicated setup sits fine with you, the lock-in stops being a sticking point.

Switching from AllDayPA

Move across without missing a single call.

  1. 1

    Start free, no card needed

    Open your account and a fresh Cyberstaff AI number is yours immediately — keep your existing one too. It reads your website to pick up your services and your patch.

  2. 2

    Keep your number

    Point conditional forwarding from your current business number at Cyberstaff. Your customers carry on dialling the number they already know, none the wiser.

  3. 3

    Run both in parallel

    Leave AllDayPA running for 7 to 14 days while you listen back to calls and tidy up the script and call flows. No leap of faith required.

  4. 4

    Give notice and cut over

    AllDayPA holds you to a minimum term and notice period, so give notice per your contract, then switch over fully when it lapses. You leave when you are ready, not a day sooner.

How to choose

Pick by how your business actually takes calls.

Choose Cyberstaff

You want a price you can read, no lock-in, and 24/7 cover at one flat cost, with jobs landing straight in your diary.

Choose a human service

AllDayPA, Moneypenny or AnswerConnect fit when every caller has to reach a real person and a contract does not put you off.

Choose Smith.ai

You want trained humans on the tricky calls and deep US CRM workflows, and US hours are no obstacle for you.

Choose Synthflow

You are technical, on a tight budget, and content to build and maintain your own AI voice agent.

FAQ

AllDayPA vs Cyberstaff, answered.

Make the switch in under 60 seconds.

Start free and keep your number. Your AI receptionist is answering as your business in about 60 seconds.