What GoHighLevel costs a 5-truck contractor: the real monthly bill
The $97 headline is the plan, not the bill. The bill is the plan plus AI minutes, texts, call minutes, registration and whoever runs it. Here it is, line by line, for a company with five trucks and a real call volume.
What does GoHighLevel really cost a 5-truck contractor each month?
About $230 to $260 a month in software and usage for a 5-truck company handling 500 calls, 80 quotes and 400 jobs: $97 Starter plan, $97 AI Employee unlimited, roughly $30 in LC Phone call minutes and texts, $2 A2P campaign fee and $20 to $30 Zapier. Add an agency fee of $200 to $500 if someone builds and runs it. It replaces a $250 to $350 answering service and the office time spent chasing quotes and reviews; one extra booked job a month covers the software.
What you need before you start
- Your real numbers: inbound calls a month, average call length, quotes sent, jobs completed, past-customer list size.
- Whether you will run it yourself or pay an agency (most 5-truck shops pay an agency).
- Whether you bill in HighLevel (invoices included) or in field software (Zapier needed).
- Whether you want unlimited AI ($97) or metered ($50 for 100 voice minutes, then pay-per-use).
The bill, line by line, at 5 trucks
Plan: $97
Starter covers one company with unlimited users and contacts. Unlimited ($297) is for agencies running several sub-accounts; you do not need it. Agencies usually include the sub-account in their fee.
AI Employee: $97 (or $50)
Unlimited Voice AI minutes, Conversation AI, Reviews AI and Content AI for $97. The $50 Growth tier includes 100 voice minutes and 1,000 conversation responses, then pay-per-use at about $0.045 a minute plus voice; a 5-truck shop at 500 calls exceeds 100 minutes in week one, so take unlimited.
Call minutes: about $25
500 inbound calls × 4 minutes = 2,000 minutes × $0.01165 = $23.30, plus 5% markup. Outbound callbacks at $0.0166 a minute add a few dollars.
Texts: about $8
Missed-call text-back (135 texts), quote follow-up (80 × 4), confirmations and reminders (400 × 2), review requests (400 × 1.5): roughly 1,900 segments × $0.00747 plus carrier fees ≈ $8. A 500-contact reactivation adds about $5 in the month you send it.
Numbers and registration: about $5
One or two local numbers at $1.15, A2P sole-proprietor campaign fee $2 a month ($24.50 one-off to register). Standard brand registration for an LLC is a one-off of about $4 brand plus $15 campaign vetting and then $1.50–$10 a month depending on campaign type.
Zapier or Make: $20–$30
Five events to and from ServiceTitan, Jobber or Housecall Pro at a few hundred tasks a month fits Zapier Professional or Make Core.
Agency fee: $200–$500
Build, scripts, prompt tuning, transcript review, monthly reporting. Some agencies bundle the HighLevel plan and AI inside this; ask what is included.
Total
Software and usage about $235–$260; with an agency $435–$760 all in.
The exact settings we use for home services
| Setting | What we set | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Line item | 5-truck monthly estimate | Notes |
| HighLevel Starter | $97 | Often inside the agency fee |
| AI Employee unlimited | $97 | Metered $50 tier runs out in a week at this volume |
| LC Phone minutes (2,000) | About $25 | Inbound $0.01165/min + 5% |
| SMS segments (~1,900) | About $8 | $0.00747 + carrier fee per segment |
| Numbers + A2P | About $5 | $1.15/number, $2 campaign fee |
| Zapier / Make | $20–$30 | Five-event sync to field software |
| Agency (optional) | $200–$500 | Build, tuning, reporting |
| Total | $235–$260 software; $435–$760 with agency |
Where this goes wrong
- Comparing the $97 plan to a $300 answering service. Compare the whole bill (about $250) to the whole bill, and remember the answering service does not chase quotes or ask for reviews.
- Taking the metered AI tier at 500 calls. You will pay more in overage than the unlimited bundle costs.
- Paying for Unlimited ($297). One company needs Starter. Unlimited is an agency plan.
- Forgetting A2P. It is small money but without it texts do not deliver, and the whole follow-up side is dead.
- Not asking the agency what is included. Some bundle plan and AI; some bill them on top. Get it in writing.
Texas notes
The Texas comparison that matters is wages: a full-time dispatcher in Texas had a 2025 median of $47,320 (BLS), about $3,940 a month before benefits. The GoHighLevel stack does not replace a dispatcher, but it does the after-hours and overflow answering, the quote chasing and the review asks that would otherwise need a second office hire. Under Texas SB 140 (effective 1 September 2025) texts to prospects are telephone solicitation, so send windows stay 9am to 9pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 9pm Sunday; follow-up to people who contacted you first is exempt from registration under the November 2025 settlement, and Texas is one-party consent for recording.
What this costs in HighLevel
HighLevel plans are $97 (Starter) or $297 (Unlimited) a month per agency; most contractors pay an agency a flat fee that includes the sub-account. Usage below is at LC Phone rates with HighLevel’s 5% markup.
| Line item | Monthly |
|---|---|
| What it replaces: live answering service (Smith.ai 30 calls, Ruby 50 min, AnswerConnect 200 min) | $250–$350 |
| What it replaces: office time chasing 80 quotes and 400 review asks (about 25 hours at $22) | About $550 |
| What it costs: software and usage | $235–$260 |
| What it costs with an agency | $435–$760 |
| Break-even in booked jobs at a $500 average ticket | About 1 job (software) or 1–2 jobs (with agency) |
Questions owners ask
Is GoHighLevel really $97 a month?
The plan is. The realistic bill for a 5-truck contractor is about $235–$260 with unlimited AI, call minutes, texts and Zapier, or $435–$760 with an agency running it.
Do I need the $297 Unlimited plan?
No. Starter covers one company with unlimited users. Unlimited is for agencies with multiple sub-accounts.
How much do Voice AI minutes cost?
Unlimited inside the $97 AI Employee bundle. Pay-per-use is about $0.045 a minute for the engine plus $0.015–$0.17 for the voice, plus call minutes.
How much do texts cost in GoHighLevel?
About $0.00747 per segment plus a small carrier fee, so roughly 0.8¢. Two thousand segments is about $16.
What is the A2P fee?
A one-off registration ($24.50 for sole proprietors; about $19 for standard brands) and a monthly campaign fee from $2 to $10 depending on type.
How much does an agency charge to run it?
Typically $200–$500 a month for a 5-truck contractor, sometimes including the HighLevel plan and AI. Ask what is bundled.
What does it replace?
A $250–$350 answering service and roughly 25 office hours a month of quote chasing and review requests, plus the jobs lost when nobody did either.
When does it pay for itself?
At a $500 average ticket, one extra booked job a month covers the software; one or two covers an agency as well.
Does the cost go up in summer?
Call minutes and texts scale with volume: a July with 900 calls adds about $20. The AI stays flat on unlimited.
Are there hidden fees?
Phone usage has a 5% HighLevel markup, premium voices cost more per minute, and Zapier tiers step up with task volume. Nothing else we have found.
Next pages
Sources
- Apexure, GoHighLevel Pricing (4 Sep 2026): Starter $97, Unlimited $297, AI Employee $50/$97, Voice AI $0.045/min engine plus voice, LC Phone $0.00747 per SMS segment, $0.01165 per inbound minute, $1.15 per local number, A2P $24.50.
- HighLevel Help Center, Workflows, Voice AI Agents and LC Phone documentation (accessed 20 Oct 2026).
- Nextiva, answering service cost comparison 2026 (Smith.ai, Ruby, AnswerConnect).
- BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages, Dispatchers (except police, fire, ambulance), Texas, May 2025: median $47,320.
- Texas SB 140 (1 Sep 2025); Texas AG settlement Nov 2025.
Want a quote for your actual call and quote volume?
Send us last month’s call count and quotes sent and we will price the whole stack, including what we charge to run it, in one email.