SpeedToLead Blog
SpeedToLead vs 800.com: two ways to pay for answered calls
800.com built its name on business phone numbers and just added AI agents at a flat $49/month. SpeedToLead charges only when a call becomes a qualified lead. For a contractor, the difference is what happens to the calls that go nowhere.
October 11, 2026 · 6 min read
800.com has sold business phone numbers for years. In October 2026 it launched 800 AI Agents — AI answering bolted onto its phone platform, priced flat: AI Starter at $49/month billed annually ($59 monthly), AI Grow at $124/$149. It's the cheapest flat-rate entry we've seen, and if you're comparing it against SpeedToLead, you're really comparing two pricing philosophies.
The trial tells the story
800.com's free trial gives you 250 minutes (roughly 80 calls) — but it requires a credit card up front, and the card auto-charges on day 8 if you don't cancel. SpeedToLead's trial is your first 20 qualified leads, free, no card at all. Minutes measure how long the phone was busy. Leads measure whether you got work. We'd rather be judged on the second one.
Head to head
| 800.com AI Agents | SpeedToLead | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Flat $49–$149/mo by plan | $9–$45 per qualified lead, by trade |
| Trial | 250 minutes, credit card required, auto-charges day 8 | 20 qualified leads free, no card |
| Junk calls | Count against your plan minutes | Free — spam and wrong numbers are never leads |
| Built for | Any small business with a phone number | Contractors: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, garage doors, restoration |
| On the call | AI answering on their phone platform | Trade-specific triage, real booking windows, warm transfer to you |
Where 800.com wins
If you want one predictable bill and your calls are simple — hours, directions, basic messages — $49 flat is genuinely cheap, and 800.com is an established phone company. For a low-stakes main line, that's a rational buy. It's also the simpler choice if you already run your numbers through them.
Where SpeedToLead wins
- You never pay for calls that go nowhere. A flat plan meters every minute, including spam and tire-kickers. Per-lead pricing means a slow month costs you little and a junk-call month costs you nothing.
- No card, no day-8 surprise. Twenty real leads land before you spend a dollar — judge it on booked work, not on a trial clock.
- It triages like your trade talks. A no-cool call in a heat wave and a burst pipe at 2am get emergency handling, not a generic script — and the lead, recording, and transcript hit your phone in about 60 seconds.
The bottom line
Run your own numbers first on our missed-call cost calculator. If your call volume is light and simple, 800.com's flat $49 is hard to beat on price alone. If your calls are worth $800–$3,500 each when they're real — and worth $0 when they're not — paying per qualified lead is the model that matches your business. More on how the models compare in our guide to answering services vs AI receptionists.