Starter
$50/month + $5 per recovered call
For busy shops that miss a handful of calls a week. First 30 days: $0 base fee. Recovered-call fees still apply.
Start with no monthly feeMissed call pricing, compared
Flat monthly vs pay-per-reply.
TextApprentice is a Canadian missed-call textback service for trades businesses. Most missed-call services charge a flat monthly fee and you pay it whether or not any caller replies. TextApprentice charges $50 per month plus $5 per recovered call, so a quiet month costs you less, and the first 30 days carry no base fee.
No reply, no charge.
Two ways to pay for a missed-call textback service. One charges you for access. The other charges you for results. Here is the honest math on both.
No monthly fee for 30 days
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The two pricing models, side by side.
Flat monthly plans in this space typically run $49 to $399 per month. You pay the full amount every month, including the slow ones. Pay-per-reply splits the cost: a $50 monthly base plus $5 for each missed caller who replies.
What you want to know
Flat monthly plans
TextApprentice pay-per-reply
What you pay for
Access for the month
Results: each caller who replies
A month with zero replies
Full price, typically $49 to $399
$50 base. First 30 days: $0
A month with 5 replies
Full price, typically $49 to $399
$75 ($50 base + 5 x $5)
A month with 10 replies
Full price, typically $49 to $399
$100 ($50 base + 10 x $5)
A month with 50+ replies
Full price, typically $49 to $399
$299 Unlimited, everything included
The real question
Was the month busy enough to justify it?
Every dollar above the base bought a conversation
Do the math on one recovered job.
A single recovered trade job is often worth $300 to $500 or more. Against that, the pricing debate gets simple: one job covers months of either plan. The difference is what happens in the months with no jobs. Flat monthly charges you anyway. TextApprentice charges you $50, and nothing per reply, because there were no replies. No reply, no charge.
Past about 50 replies a month, Unlimited at $299 per month beats Starter on price, and the annual plan at $3,000 per year saves $588 a year.
Pricing
No reply, no charge.
You pay a small monthly base plus $5 for each missed caller who replies. If nobody replies, you pay no per-reply fees at all.
Unlimited
$299/month
For high-volume shops. Every recovered call included, no per-reply fees, no counting.
Start with no monthly feeAnnual plan: $3,000 per year. Save $588 a year. Prices in Canadian dollars. A recovered call is a missed caller who replies to the automatic text.
Questions
Asked all the time.
Is pay-per-reply actually cheaper than a flat monthly fee?
It depends on volume. Below about six replies a month, TextApprentice costs less than a typical $79 flat plan. Above that, you pay more in dollars but every dollar is tied to a real conversation with a real caller. One recovered job, often worth hundreds, covers months of the service either way.
What counts as a recovered call?
A recovered call is a missed caller who replies to the automatic text. If they never reply, it costs you nothing.
What do I pay in a month with no replies?
The $50 base only. In your first 30 days there is no base fee at all, so a quiet first month costs you nothing.
Why not just charge a flat fee like everyone else?
Because then you would pay full price in a dead month. Pay-per-reply keeps the cost tied to results: no reply, no charge.
What if my volume gets high?
Unlimited is $299 per month with every recovered call included. Past about 50 replies a month, it beats Starter on price.
Pay for results, not for access.
TextApprentice is the apprentice who replies to the calls you miss. Start with no base fee for 30 days.
Start with no monthly fee
The apprentice who replies to the calls you miss.