Every business that has ever thought about a front desk has done this sum badly — because the number people compare against is the advertised salary, and the salary is the floor, not the total. This page lays out both columns properly, including the parts where a human still wins.
The sum people get wrong
A front-desk person advertised at R8,000 a month does not cost you R8,000 a month. Before anyone answers a single call, you are also paying for the things that never appear in the job ad.
Side by side
| Part-time receptionist | Full-time receptionist | Remi · Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | R4,500 | R8,000 | R2,900 |
| Hours actually covered | ~20–25 of 168 | ~40 of 168 | All 168 |
| After hours, weekends, public holidays | No | No | Yes, same price |
| Calls at the same time | One | One | No practical limit |
| Leave, sick days, notice period | You cover it | You cover it | Not applicable |
| Languages | Whoever you hired | Whoever you hired | English & Afrikaans |
| Missed call gets followed up | If they remember | If they remember | Instant WhatsApp text-back |
| If it is a medical front desk | R6,000 | R10,838 | R2,900 — same price |
| Ramp-up time | Weeks | Weeks | Days |
| Walk-ins & the waiting room | Yes | Yes | No — this is a real gap |
| Judgement on the unusual | Yes | Yes | Escalates to you instead |
Where these salary figures come from. The full-time figure is the reported South African market average for a receptionist: Indeed South Africa puts it at R7,886/month across 644 reported salaries (updated 23 July 2026), and PayScale at R109,145/year — about R9,095/month — across 472 profiles, with a range of R55,000 to R195,000 a year. WageIndicator reports R8,787–R14,682/month after five years' service. The part-time figure is that average pro-rated to roughly half a week. The role matters: Indeed puts a medical receptionist at R10,838/month (103 salaries, 24 July 2026) and an office manager at R16,764/month (74 salaries, 22 June 2026), so a clinic or a practice is comparing against a higher number than a general front desk. All three exclude UIF, leave cover, recruitment and equipment, so the real cost of employment sits above the salary in every case. Use your own numbers — the shape of the comparison does not change.
Where each one wins
If a page comparing a product to the alternative finds the product wins on every single line, it is marketing, not a comparison. Here is the split as we actually see it.
The recommendation
Three honest answers, depending on where you are.
Pricing
R2,900/mo
against R8,000/mo for a full-time hire who still goes home at five
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Questions
On the direct numbers, yes. Remi · Standard is R2,900/month. The average full-time receptionist in South Africa earns about R7,900 a month according to Indeed and about R9,100 according to PayScale — and that is salary alone, before UIF, leave cover, recruitment and training. The comparison people get wrong is forgetting that the salary is the floor, not the total.
Plenty, and it is worth being straight about it. A person reads a distressed patient in the waiting room, makes judgement calls nobody wrote down, handles the walk-in who is upset, chases the things you forgot to ask for, and builds real relationships with regulars. Remi answers phones and books appointments extremely well. It does not run your front of house.
No — and if that is the plan, we are probably the wrong fit. Remi works best either alongside a front-desk person, taking the call volume that swamps them so they can do the in-person work, or in a business that was never going to hire one and is currently letting calls ring out. Replacing a good receptionist is not the pitch.
This is the part no salary can buy. Remi answers at 21:00, on a Sunday, and on 16 December, at the same price. A receptionist works roughly 40 hours of the 168 in a week, which means the majority of the week your phone is either unanswered or going to voicemail nobody returns.
R2,900/month on Remi · Standard, including 1,000 talk-minutes — about 38 minutes of live calls a day — with further minutes at R1.85/min. No recruitment fee, no UIF, no leave, no notice period. There is a free 1-week trial, so you can hear it on your own line before deciding anything.
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