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Smith.ai alternatives
Smith.ai's AI Receptionist answers every call with AI and can hand complex calls to a live receptionist. That human backup is the main reason to pick it. If you don't need it, several AI receptionists cost less per call at the same volume. Here's how they compare.
Prices checked October 27, 2026 on each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors change pricing without notice, and taxes and add-ons aren't included. Confirm on the vendor's page before you sign up.
What Smith.ai's AI Receptionist costs
| Plan | Price | Included | Extra calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 25 calls | $3.00/call |
| Pro (75 calls) | $150/mo | 75 calls | $2.50/call |
| Pro (150 calls) | $270/mo* | 150 calls | $2.30/call |
| Enterprise (300 calls) | $500/mo | 300 calls | $2.17/call |
*Derived from the $1.80/call rate Smith.ai shows. Source: Smith.ai pricing.
Spread over included calls, Pro works out to $2.00 a call at 75 calls and $1.80 at 150. Smith.ai filters known spammers before answering and lets you remove up to 10% of calls per billing cycle as spam (Smith.ai pricing). It's month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel. The page doesn't say whether live escalations are billed separately.
The short answer
- Cheapest per call: Upfirst. Premium is $59.95 for 90 calls (about $0.67 a call), with warm transfers and booking on every plan.
- Long calls or repeat callers: Goodcall, billed per unique caller.
- Fixed bill at high volume: NextPhone, $199/month for unlimited inbound calls.
- Big minute bucket with Spanish: Rosie Scale, $149 for 1,000 minutes.
- People on every call: Ruby, a fully live service, from $250/month for 50 receptionist minutes.
These picks are based on each vendor's published plans and features. We haven't run hands-on test calls yet.
Monthly cost at the same volume
Our math at list price, assuming a 4-minute average call and that every caller is a different person, using each service's cheapest plan with published overage:
| Service | 75 calls | 150 calls | 300 calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | $150.00 | $270.00 | $500.00 |
| Upfirst | $59.95 | $119.95 | $159.95 |
| Goodcall | $79.00 | $118.50 | $129.00 |
| Rosie | $149.00 | $149.00 | $299.00 |
| NextPhone | $199.00 | $199.00 | $199.00 |
| Ruby (live receptionists) | $1,725.00 | Over 500 min: talk to sales | |
| My AI Front Desk | $114.00 | $189.00 | $339.00 |
| Dialzara | $135.00 | $239.00 | $419.00 |
Per-call billing (Smith.ai, Upfirst) and per-caller billing (Goodcall) don't change with call length. Per-minute plans (Rosie, My AI Front Desk, Dialzara) get more expensive as calls run longer. Ruby's figure assumes its receptionist minutes match your call minutes. Ruby doesn't publish a rate for minutes beyond the plan. Run your own numbers in the cost estimator, or see our Upfirst vs Smith.ai comparison.
Alternatives worth a look
Upfirst AI
From $24.95/mo · $20/mo billed annually
Entry plan includes: 30 calls/mo · Trial: 14-day free trial with full plan features
The closest like-for-like swap: also billed per call, at a lower rate. Same core features on every plan, including calendar booking (Google, Outlook, Clio, Calendly and others), warm transfers and in-call texting. No live receptionist backup.
Source: https://www.upfirst.ai/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Upfirst ↗Goodcall AI
From $79/mo
Entry plan includes: 100 unique customers/mo · Trial: Free demo agent; you pay when you connect a number
Counts unique callers, not calls or minutes. Repeat calls from the same number in a month count once, and spam or wrong numbers aren't counted. Overage drops to $0.26 per caller on Growth.
Source: https://www.goodcall.com/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Goodcall ↗NextPhone AI
From $199/mo · About $166/mo billed annually
Entry plan includes: Unlimited inbound calls · Trial: 7-day free trial
Flat price with unlimited inbound calls. Warm and announced transfers, and integrations including Clio, MyCase and HubSpot. Callers who ask for a human are transferred to your team.
Source: https://www.getnextphone.com/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit NextPhone ↗Rosie AI
From $49/mo · Annual billing: 2 months free
Entry plan includes: 250 minutes/mo · Trial: 7-day free trial; page says no credit card required to start
English and Spanish on every call, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Booking and live transfers start on Scale ($149, 1,000 minutes), which covers a lot of calls if they're short.
Source: https://heyrosie.com/pricing, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Rosie ↗Ruby (live receptionists) Live human
From $250/mo · Live receptionist minute plans from $250/mo (50 minutes)
Entry plan includes: 50 receptionist minutes/mo · Trial: Not stated
If you'd rather have more human time than less: 100% live receptionists, 24/7, with intake, scheduling and payment collection.
Source: https://www.ruby.com/pricing/, checked October 27, 2026
Visit Ruby ↗What you give up by leaving Smith.ai
- Live receptionist backup. None of the AI-only services here can hand a call to an outside human receptionist. Their transfers go to your own phone or team.
- A free plan. Smith.ai's 25-call free plan is the only permanently free plan we track. The others offer trials or a free demo agent.
- Quality Studio. Smith.ai lets you test the receptionist before going live. Others have their own test tools; Upfirst says you can test responses with no commitment during its trial (Upfirst pricing).
Smith.ai also sells fully live receptionist plans as a separate product (Smith.ai receptionists pricing). We don't track those prices.
How to choose
- Check how often callers really need a human. Look at your recent call transcripts. If live escalations are rare, AI-only is probably fine.
- Find your average call length. Long calls favor Upfirst, Goodcall or NextPhone. Short calls make Rosie's minute bucket go further.
- Count repeat callers. If many people call more than once a month, Goodcall's per-caller billing helps.
- Match integrations. If you rely on Clio, Upfirst books into it and NextPhone lists it.
- Price your busiest month. At 300 calls, our math has Goodcall at $129 and NextPhone at $199, against $500 on Smith.ai Enterprise.
- Give notice correctly. Smith.ai asks for 30 days' notice, so start a trial elsewhere before you cancel.
FAQ
What's cheaper than Smith.ai? At 75 calls a month, Upfirst ($59.95) and Goodcall ($79) cost about half of Smith.ai Pro ($150) in our list-price math.
Is there a Smith.ai alternative with live receptionists? Ruby uses live receptionists on every call. Among AI-first services we track, only Smith.ai lists built-in live backup.
Does Upfirst work like Smith.ai? Both bill per call. Upfirst's per-call rate is lower and it includes warm transfers to your team, but it has no live receptionist backup.
Can I keep my number when I switch? Usually. Upfirst offers free call forwarding and porting help, and NextPhone says you can keep your own number (NextPhone pricing).
See all comparisons or our guide to AI answering service cost.