About ReceptionistScout

ReceptionistScout is an independent, editor-written guide to AI receptionist and phone answering services for small businesses: trades, home services, law firms and dental offices.

Why this site exists

Small business owners lose work when the phone rings and nobody can answer: on a ladder, under a sink, in a consultation, after hours. There are now dozens of AI receptionist services that promise to fix that, and their pricing is hard to compare. Some bill per minute, some per call, some per unique caller, some at a flat rate. We put it in one place, in plain English, with sources.

How we research

• Prices come from official pages only. Every price links to the vendor's own pricing page and shows the date we checked it. We don't use third-party price lists.
• Unknowns are marked. If a vendor doesn't publish something (an overage rate, a trial length, a price), we say "not published" rather than guess.
• We say what we haven't done. In this first version, our recommendations are based on each vendor's documented plans and features. We have not yet run hands-on test calls, and we don't publish star ratings or reviews we haven't earned. When we add hands-on testing, each page will say so.
• No fake reviews or testimonials. We don't publish customer quotes, invented statistics, or "studies" we can't link to.
• Re-checks. We re-check the pricing tracker regularly and update the "checked" date on every row we verify.

How we make money

Some links to vendors may become affiliate links in the future, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up. That doesn't change what we recommend or the order we list things in, and it never changes a price you pay. We'll mark it on the affiliate disclosure page. We may also add a newsletter and clearly labeled sponsorships later.

Corrections

Prices change. If a vendor has updated its pricing and we haven't caught it yet, the vendor's page is always the authority. Each row links to it so you can check.