On this page
- Quick picks
- The 10 AI receptionists compared
- How we picked
- What it costs at 50, 150 and 500 calls a month
- How an AI receptionist works
- What to look for before you buy
- How the pricing models differ
- Which AI receptionist fits your business
- Are AI receptionists worth it?
- Pricing by company
- Frequently asked questions
Quick picks
Upfirst at $24.95 a month for 30 calls, with a 14-day trial and no credit card.
DetailsMy AI Front Desk claims signed BAAs; Goodcall offers one on Scale ($299) and up.
DetailsRingCentral AIR as a RingEX add-on, from $39 a month.
DetailsThe 10 AI receptionists compared
| Software | Starting price | Billed by | Free trial | Languages | HIPAA / BAA | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai | $0 (Free plan, 25 calls/mo) | Per call | Free plan, not a trial | English, Spanish | No HIPAA or BAA claim found | Free plan with optional human backup |
| Upfirst | $24.95/mo (30 calls) | Per call | 14 days, no credit card | English, Spanish and 35+ others | BAA on Custom plan only | Lowest paid entry price, with a 14-day no-card trial |
| Dialzara | $29/mo (60 minutes) | Per minute | 7 days | English and Spanish listed on Business Lite; 10+ per its features page | No HIPAA or BAA claim found | Cheapest per-minute starter plan |
| Rosie | $49/mo (250 minutes) | Per minute | 7 days, all features | English, Spanish | No HIPAA or BAA claim found | Most included minutes per dollar |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) | from $49/mo standalone (100 minutes) | Per minute | 14 days | English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese | "Designed to support HIPAA compliance"; no BAA stated | Teams already on RingCentral |
| Goodcall | $79/mo (100 unique customers) | Per unique customer | Free demo agent, pay when you connect a number | English | BAA on Scale plan or Enterprise | Unmetered minutes (billed per unique caller) |
| My AI Front Desk | $99/mo ($79/mo billed annually), 200 minutes | Per minute + credits | 7 days | 20+ | Claims HIPAA compliance with signed BAAs | Lowest per-minute overage on a no-code plan |
| NextPhone | $199/mo (unlimited calls) | Flat monthly | 7 days (Pro) | 14 languages | No HIPAA or BAA claim found | Unlimited calls at a flat price |
| Bland | $0 platform fee, $0.14/min | Per minute + platform fee | Free Start tier, no card | 40+ | HIPAA with BAA, not on Start or Build | Developers who want pay-per-minute with no platform fee |
| Synthflow | Enterprise contracts from $30,000 a year | Annual contract | Free to start building | Multiple (no count stated) | Claims HIPAA certification; BAA not confirmed | Enterprises building custom voice agents |
Listed in order of starting price for small-business tools, followed by developer and enterprise platforms. No company paid for placement.
How we picked
We compared ten AI receptionist products, each of which publishes its pricing or plan details on its own website. For each one we read the company's own pricing page, feature pages, integration pages and help center on October 22, 2026, and recorded only what those pages state. Where a company's pages contradict each other, we say so. We did not run test calls, so this page does not rate call quality or how natural each voice sounds. Full method.
What it costs at 50, 150 and 500 calls a month
Each cell is the cheapest published plan for that volume, assuming a 3-minute average call. For Goodcall, which bills per unique caller, we assume every call comes from a different person, so repeat callers make it cheaper than shown. Change the assumptions in the cost calculator.
| Software | 50 calls (150 min) | 150 calls (450 min) | 500 calls (1,500 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodcall | $79 Starter: $79, which includes 100 unique callers (you use 50). | $118.50 Starter: $79 + 50 extra unique callers x $0.79. | $129 Growth: $129, which includes 500 unique callers (you use 500). |
| Upfirst | $54.95 Starter: $24.95 + 20 extra calls x $1.50. | $119.95 Premium: $59.95 + 60 extra calls x $1.00. | $299 Scale: $299, which includes 600 calls (you use 500). |
| Rosie | $49 Professional: $49, which includes 250 minutes (you use 150). | $149 Scale: $149, which includes 1,000 minutes (you use 450). | $299 Growth: $299, which includes 2,000 minutes (you use 1,500). |
| My AI Front Desk | $99 Business-in-a-Box: $99, which includes 200 minutes (you use 150). | $161.50 Business-in-a-Box: $99 + 250 extra minutes x $0.25. | $424 Business-in-a-Box: $99 + 1,300 extra minutes x $0.25. |
| Dialzara | $72.20 Business Lite: $29 + 90 extra minutes x $0.48. | $199 Business Plus: $199, which includes 500 minutes (you use 450). | $524 Business Elite: $349 + 500 extra minutes x $0.35. |
| NextPhone | $199 Pro: $199 flat, unlimited calls. | $199 Pro: $199 flat, unlimited calls. | $199 Pro: $199 flat, unlimited calls. |
| RingCentral AIR | from $74 Standalone (from): $49 + 50 extra minutes x $0.50. | from $224 Standalone (from): $49 + 350 extra minutes x $0.50. | from $749 Standalone (from): $49 + 1,400 extra minutes x $0.50. |
| Smith.ai | $75 Free: $0 + 25 extra calls x $3.00. | $270 Pro, 150 calls ($1.80 a call): $270, which includes 150 calls (you use 150). | $800 Enterprise, 500 calls ($1.60 a call): $800, which includes 500 calls (you use 500). |
| Bland | $21 + telephony Start (plus telephony): 150 minutes x $0.14. | $63 + telephony Start (plus telephony): 450 minutes x $0.14. | $210 + telephony Start (plus telephony): 1,500 minutes x $0.14. |
| Synthflow | Annual contract from $30,000 | Annual contract from $30,000 | Annual contract from $30,000 |
Show the math at 150 calls a month
| Software | Monthly cost | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Goodcall | $79 to $118.50 | Starter $79 covers 100 unique callers. If all 150 calls are different people: $79 + 50 x $0.79. |
| Upfirst | $119.95 | Premium $59.95 + 60 extra calls x $1.00 |
| Rosie | $149 | Scale $149 (1,000 minutes included) |
| My AI Front Desk | $161.50 | $99 + 250 extra minutes x $0.25 |
| Dialzara | $199 | Business Plus $199 (500 minutes included) |
| NextPhone | $199 | Pro $199 (unlimited calls) |
| RingCentral AIR | $224 | From $49 + 350 extra minutes x $0.50 |
| Smith.ai | $270 | 150-call Pro tier at the published $1.80 per call |
| Bland | $63 plus telephony | 450 minutes x $0.14; phone service billed separately |
Excludes taxes, add-ons and annual-billing discounts. Rosie does not publish an overage rate, so its total uses the first plan that includes 450 minutes.
Three patterns stand out. At low volume, per-call plans are cheapest (Upfirst at $54.95 for 50 calls). In the middle, unique-caller and big minute bundles win (Goodcall and Rosie). At 500 calls, flat and bundle plans pull far ahead: NextPhone stays at $199 and Rosie at $299, while per-minute overage pushes RingCentral AIR to about $749.
1. Smith.ai: best for free plan with optional human backup
Starting price: $0 (Free plan, 25 calls/mo)Free trial: Free plan, not a trialLanguages: English, SpanishHIPAA: No HIPAA or BAA claim found
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 calls | $3.00 per extra call |
| Pro | $150 | 75 calls | $2.50 per extra call |
| Pro | $270 ($1.80/call) | 150 calls | $2.30 per extra call |
| Pro | $1.67 per call | 300 calls | $2.17 per extra call |
| Enterprise | $500 | 300 calls | $2.17 per extra call |
| Enterprise | $800 ($1.60/call) | 500 calls | $2.10 per extra call |
What you get
- Free plan includes 25 real calls a month and is described as "free forever", not a trial.
- Pro and Enterprise come in higher call tiers (Pro: 75, 150 or 300 calls) with lower per-call rates at each step.
- Calls can be escalated to Smith.ai's human Live Agent Network as a per-call add-on.
- Integrations named on its site include Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio Grow, Clio Manage, Calendly and Zapier.
- Smith.ai says setup takes about 15 minutes. Month-to-month, with 30 days' notice to cancel.
Watch out for
- Per-call pricing gets expensive at higher volume compared with per-minute plans (see the cost example below).
- Its site does not say whether you can keep or port your existing number; it lists a dedicated number on every plan.
Visit Smith.ai Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
2. Upfirst: best for lowest paid entry price, with a 14-day no-card trial
Starting price: $24.95/mo (30 calls)Free trial: 14 days, no credit cardLanguages: English, Spanish and 35+ othersHIPAA: BAA on Custom plan only
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $24.95 | 30 calls | $1.50 per extra call |
| Premium | $59.95 | 90 calls | $1.00 per extra call |
| Pro | $159.95 | 300 calls | $0.75 per extra call |
| Scale | $299 | 600 calls | $0.70 per extra call |
What you get
- Annual billing lowers the monthly price (Starter $20, Premium $48, Pro $128, Scale $240 per month).
- Spam, robocalls, calls under 15 seconds and calls where the caller never speaks are not billed.
- Books into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Square and Clio.
- Forward calls from a cell, landline or VoIP number with no porting required; porting is offered at no extra charge.
- Warm handoff to you or your team; can text callers mid-call.
Watch out for
- Business Associate Agreements (for HIPAA) are only listed on the Custom plan.
Visit Upfirst Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
3. Dialzara: best for cheapest per-minute starter plan
Starting price: $29/mo (60 minutes)Free trial: 7 daysLanguages: English and Spanish listed on Business Lite; 10+ per its features pageHIPAA: No HIPAA or BAA claim found
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Lite | $29 | 60 min | $0.48 per extra min |
| Business Pro | $99 | 220 min | $0.45 per extra min |
| Business Plus | $199 | 500 min | $0.40 per extra min |
| Business Elite | $349 | 1,000 min | $0.35 per extra min |
What you get
- No setup fees; billed monthly.
- Free porting of a US or Canada number; you can forward your existing number while the port runs.
- Google Calendar and Outlook supported; other tools through Zapier, Make or webhooks.
- Pre-built prompts for 88+ industries.
- Two-way SMS agent is sold as a separate product.
Watch out for
- Dialzara's site gives different setup times on different pages (15 minutes, under 30 minutes, live in under 3 days).
- Blind and warm transfer to your team is listed on the Business Elite plan; Outlook and Apple Calendar booking are listed from Business Plus.
Visit Dialzara Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
4. Rosie: best for most included minutes per dollar
Starting price: $49/mo (250 minutes)Free trial: 7 days, all featuresLanguages: English, SpanishHIPAA: No HIPAA or BAA claim found
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | $49 | 250 min | Not published |
| Scale | $149 | 1,000 min | Not published |
| Growth | $299 | 2,000 min | Not published |
What you get
- Annual billing advertised as "2 months free".
- Books through Calendly, Google Calendar, Appointlet and Acuity Scheduling.
- Help center lists CRM integrations including Jobber, Housecall Pro, HubSpot, GoHighLevel and Workiz, plus Zapier.
- Keeps your existing number through call forwarding.
- Warm or cold transfers to you or your team.
Watch out for
- Rosie's pricing page does not publish what happens when you go over your minutes.
- Texting callers during the call is listed on the Scale plan.
Visit Rosie Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
5. RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR): best for teams already on RingCentral
Starting price: from $49/mo standalone (100 minutes)Free trial: 14 daysLanguages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, PortugueseHIPAA: "Designed to support HIPAA compliance"; no BAA stated
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone | from $49 | 100 min | $0.50 per extra min |
| Add-on to RingEX | from $39 | 100 min | $0.50 per extra min |
What you get
- Syncs with Google and Outlook calendars; connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho.
- Keeps your current numbers.
- Hands complex calls to your team with a call summary; sends SMS follow-ups.
Watch out for
- Prices are "starting at" and the page does not say whether they are monthly or annual billing.
- RingCentral's wording is "designed to support HIPAA compliance", which is not the same as offering a signed BAA.
Visit RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
6. Goodcall: best for unmetered minutes (billed per unique caller)
Starting price: $79/mo (100 unique customers)Free trial: Free demo agent, pay when you connect a numberLanguages: EnglishHIPAA: BAA on Scale plan or Enterprise
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $79 | 100 unique customers | $0.79 per extra customer |
| Growth | $129 | 500 unique customers | $0.26 per extra customer |
| Scale | $299 | 2,000 unique customers | $0.15 per extra customer |
What you get
- Minutes are never metered, so call length does not change the bill.
- Goodcall estimates about 150 calls a month on Starter, 750 on Growth and 3,000 on Scale.
- Bookings go to Google Calendar; also connects to Google Sheets and HighLevel.
- Every plan includes a local number, or you can forward your existing one. Porting is not available yet.
- Transfers to up to three escalation contacts.
Watch out for
- English only.
- Can send texts but cannot receive replies yet.
Visit Goodcall Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
7. My AI Front Desk: best for lowest per-minute overage on a no-code plan
Starting price: $99/mo ($79/mo billed annually), 200 minutesFree trial: 7 daysLanguages: 20+HIPAA: Claims HIPAA compliance with signed BAAs
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business-in-a-Box | $99 ($79 annual) | 200 min | $0.25 per extra min |
| Partner / Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
What you get
- The plan also includes 100 chatbot conversations, 400 SMS, 300 form submissions and 500 email drafts a month.
- Overage draws on a credit pool: voice is 25 credits ($0.25) a minute; 1,000 credits reload for $10.
- Books into Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly; integration pages for Yardi, AppFolio, Buildium, SimplePractice and others.
- Keep your number by forwarding (*72) or full port-in.
- Says you can go live in under 5 minutes.
Watch out for
- Its homepage FAQ mentions a free plan, but the pricing page lists none. We go by the pricing page.
Visit My AI Front Desk Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
8. NextPhone: best for unlimited calls at a flat price
Starting price: $199/mo (unlimited calls)Free trial: 7 days (Pro)Languages: 14 languagesHIPAA: No HIPAA or BAA claim found
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $199 ($166/mo annual) | Unlimited calls | None |
| Growth | $299 ($249/mo annual) | Unlimited calls | None |
| Scale | $599 ($499/mo annual) | Unlimited calls | None |
What you get
- No per-minute charges, no setup fee, month-to-month.
- 60 named integrations, including Clio, MyCase, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro and Jobber.
- Calendars: Google Calendar, Calendly, Acuity, Cal.com and Outlook.
- Forward your existing business, cell or landline number.
- Warm transfer, or takes a message when nobody is available.
Watch out for
- Only the Pro card shows the 7-day free trial; Growth and Scale show "Book a demo".
- Two-way SMS is on the Scale plan.
Visit NextPhone Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
9. Bland: best for developers who want pay-per-minute with no platform fee
Starting price: $0 platform fee, $0.14/minFree trial: Free Start tier, no cardLanguages: 40+HIPAA: HIPAA with BAA, not on Start or Build
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $0 | Pay per use | $0.14/min; transfers $0.05/min |
| Build | $299 | Pay per use | $0.12/min; transfers $0.04/min |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
What you get
- Telephony is billed separately from the per-minute rate.
- Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Cal.com, Calendly and many phone systems (Twilio, SIP, RingCentral, Vonage and others).
- Bland says most production agents go live in 2 to 6 weeks.
Watch out for
- Warm and live transfers, SMS and the BAA are not available on Start or Build.
- This is a developer platform, not a set-and-forget receptionist.
Visit Bland Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
10. Synthflow: best for enterprises building custom voice agents
Starting price: Enterprise contracts from $30,000 a yearFree trial: Free to start buildingLanguages: Multiple (no count stated)HIPAA: Claims HIPAA certification; BAA not confirmed
Pricing
| Plan | Price / month | Included | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | from $30,000/yr | Custom | Custom |
What you get
- Integrations include GoHighLevel, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan and Dentrix.
- Cold or warm transfers; SMS follow-ups.
- Synthflow says agents launch "in weeks, not months".
Watch out for
- No self-serve monthly price is published; the pricing page shows Enterprise only.
Visit Synthflow Source: official pricing page, checked October 22, 2026.
How an AI receptionist works
An AI receptionist is a voice agent on a phone number. You forward your business line to it (all the time, after hours, or only when you do not pick up), it answers in a natural voice, follows the instructions and business details you give it, and sends you a summary of every call.
Answering and questions
It is trained on your website, FAQs or documents. Upfirst builds from your website; Rosie from your Google profile and website; RingCentral AIR from your website, FAQs or uploaded documents.
Booking
It checks a connected calendar and books the slot, or texts a booking link. Some plans only send links: Rosie's $49 plan texts links, and direct calendar booking starts on its $149 plan.
Transfers
It passes callers to a person by rules you set. A warm transfer briefs your staff first. Several vendors keep transfers for higher plans (Dialzara Business Elite, Rosie Scale, Bland Enterprise).
Intake and messages
It asks your intake questions, qualifies leads, and sends the answers by text, email or app. NextPhone lists custom intake questions on every plan; Rosie limits message scenarios by plan (2, 5 or unlimited).
CRM and records
It logs the caller and outcome in your CRM or practice software, directly or through Zapier, Make or webhooks.
Recordings and summaries
Calls are recorded, transcribed and summarized. Retention varies: Goodcall keeps call history 30 days on Starter, 90 on Growth and unlimited on Scale.
What each one connects to
| Software | Calendars | CRM and business software | Transfers to a person | Texting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai | Calendly and others | Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio Grow, Clio Manage; legal systems such as Filevine, MyCase, Smokeball | To your team, or to Smith.ai's human agents | Custom SMS branding on Pro |
| Upfirst | Google, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square, Clio Manage | Zapier, Make, custom actions to any CRM with an API | Warm handoff on every plan | Texts callers mid-call, every plan |
| Dialzara | Google, Outlook | Zapier, Make, webhooks | Blind and warm transfer listed on Business Elite | Separate AI SMS Agent product |
| Rosie | Calendly, Google, Appointlet, Acuity | Jobber, Housecall Pro, Workiz, ServiceM8, HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Zapier | Warm and live transfer from Scale; waterfall on Growth | Mid-call texts from Scale |
| RingCentral AIR | Google, Outlook | Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho | Hands off with a call summary | SMS follow-ups |
| Goodcall | Google Calendar | Google Sheets, HighLevel, any API or MCP server | Up to three escalation contacts | Sends texts, cannot receive replies yet |
| My AI Front Desk | Google, Outlook, Calendly | Yardi, AppFolio, Buildium, SimplePractice, Zapier and others | Live transfer with a spoken summary | 400 SMS a month included |
| NextPhone | Google, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Cal.com | 60 named, including Clio, ServiceTitan, Jobber, HubSpot (CRM updates from Growth) | Warm transfer; up to 10 destinations on Growth | Confirmations on every plan; two-way on Scale |
| Bland | Cal.com, Calendly | Salesforce, HubSpot, Twilio, SIP and many phone systems | Warm and live transfer not on Start or Build | SMS not on Start or Build |
| Synthflow | Cal.com, Google, Microsoft | GoHighLevel, Salesforce, HubSpot, ServiceTitan, Jobber, Dentrix, AthenaOne | Cold or warm transfer | SMS follow-ups |
From each company's pricing, integration and help pages. "Not on Start or Build" means the vendor's own feature table marks it unavailable on those plans.
What to look for before you buy
- The billing unit, matched to your calls. Count last month's inbound calls and their average length from your phone bill. Short calls favor big minute bundles; long calls favor per-call or unique-caller billing; high volume favors flat pricing.
- What counts as a billable call. Upfirst does not bill spam, robocalls, calls under 15 seconds or calls where nobody speaks. Smith.ai counts every answered call by default but lets you remove up to 10% of calls each billing cycle as spam. Goodcall does not count spam or wrong numbers.
- Which plan has the feature you need. Transfers, calendar booking, two-way texting and CRM updates are often on the second or third plan. Check the plan, not the feature page.
- Keeping your number. Most let you forward your existing line. Porting is free at Dialzara (US and Canada) and Upfirst, offered by My AI Front Desk, and not yet available at Goodcall.
- Languages your callers speak. Goodcall is English only; Smith.ai and Rosie handle English and Spanish; NextPhone lists 14 languages; Upfirst English, Spanish and 35+ others.
- Compliance. If callers share health information, you need a signed BAA, and only four of the ten publish that option. See limits and risks.
- A real trial. Forward live calls during the trial: Upfirst gives 14 days without a card, RingCentral AIR 14 days, Dialzara, Rosie, My AI Front Desk and NextPhone 7 days, and Smith.ai a permanent free plan.
How the pricing models differ
AI receptionists bill in five different ways, so the same month of calls can cost very different amounts. Here is how each model behaves at 50, 150 and 500 calls (3-minute average):
| Model | Who uses it | Cost at 50 / 150 / 500 calls | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per call | Upfirst, Smith.ai | $54.95 / $119.95 / $299 (Upfirst) | Call length does not matter, so long calls cost no more. Cheapest at low volume. |
| Per minute | Dialzara, Rosie, My AI Front Desk, RingCentral AIR | $72.20 / $199 / $524 (Dialzara) | Long calls cost more. Large bundles (Rosie) are cheap per minute; pay-as-you-go overage is not. |
| Per unique caller | Goodcall | $79 / $118.50 / $129 | A caller who rings five times in a month counts once. Minutes are never metered. |
| Flat | NextPhone | $199 / $199 / $199 | Unlimited calls. Expensive at low volume, cheapest at high volume. |
| Developer, per minute | Bland (Synthflow on annual contract) | $21 / $63 / $210 plus telephony | Lowest raw rate, but you build the agent and pay for phone service separately. |
The crossover points are easy to find with your own numbers in the calculator. With 3-minute calls, NextPhone's flat $199 beats every per-minute plan we compared from about 334 calls a month, and Goodcall's Growth plan ($129 for 500 unique callers, then $0.26 each) stays under $199 until about 770 different callers.
Which AI receptionist fits your business
| Your business | AI receptionists that fit, based on their published integrations and plans | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Law firm | Upfirst (books into Clio Manage), NextPhone (12 legal integrations including Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther and Lawmatics), Smith.ai (Clio Grow, Clio Manage, Filevine, MyCase, Smokeball and others) | Law firm guide |
| Medical, dental, therapy | Needs a signed BAA: My AI Front Desk (claims signed BAAs), Goodcall (Scale or Enterprise), Upfirst (Custom plan), Bland (not on its Start or Build plans) | Medical guide, dental guide |
| Home services, HVAC, plumbing | Rosie (Jobber, Housecall Pro, Workiz, ServiceM8), NextPhone (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber), Goodcall (minutes never metered) | Home services guide |
| Property management | My AI Front Desk (Yardi, AppFolio, Buildium, RealPage, Entrata integration pages) | |
| Very high call volume | NextPhone (unlimited calls) or Goodcall (minutes not metered) | Cost calculator |
| Tight budget, low volume | Smith.ai Free (25 calls) or Upfirst Starter ($24.95, 30 calls) |
Guides by business type
Answering services compared
Live and AI answering services side by side, with every published price.
Medical offices
Which AI receptionists publish a BAA option, and what that costs.
Dental offices
Dental-specific pages, booking and HIPAA for practices.
Law firms
Legal integrations, intake, and the ABA's guidance on AI tools.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical
Field service software, emergency routing and seasonal volume.
How to set one up
From choosing a plan to forwarding your number and testing.
Limits and risks
Accuracy: it answers from what you give it
The agent only knows what is in its instructions, your website and any documents you upload. Wrong hours or old prices on your site become wrong answers on the phone. Read the first two weeks of transcripts and correct the knowledge base; Smith.ai's free plan includes a "Quality Studio" for testing before going live, and Goodcall lets you build and test a demo agent before you pay.
Caller experience: some people want a person
Set a rule that any caller who asks for a human is transferred or gets a callback promise. Check that the plan you buy includes transfers: Dialzara lists blind and warm transfer on Business Elite ($349), and Rosie's transfers start on Scale ($149). If you want people on certain calls by default, Smith.ai's human Live Agent Network and its hybrid plans hand calls to North America-based receptionists.
Call recording consent
Most of the products we compared record calls by default: Goodcall, Smith.ai and Dialzara each say every call is recorded and transcribed, and My AI Front Desk says every call is "recorded, transcribed, and summarized". Recording a phone call is governed by federal and state law, and the rules differ by state.
One-party consent (federal rule)
Federal law allows a recording when the person recording is a party to the call or "one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent" (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)).
All-party consent (some states)
Some states require everyone on the call to agree. Florida allows interception only "when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent" (Fla. Stat. 934.03(2)(d)), and Washington requires "the consent of all the participants" (RCW 9.73.030).
The practical step is the same everywhere: have the greeting say the call is answered by an AI assistant and may be recorded. Products such as Rosie and Dialzara list a custom greeting or custom AI voice; ask your vendor how to add the notice. This is general information, not legal advice; check your own state's statute if your callers are in an all-party state.
Health information and HIPAA
Under HIPAA, a vendor that handles protected health information for a covered entity is a business associate, and the covered entity needs "satisfactory assurances, in the form of a contract or other written arrangement" before disclosing it (HHS guidance on business associates). In practice: no signed BAA, no patient calls. My AI Front Desk claims signed BAAs, Goodcall offers one on Scale ($299) and Enterprise, Upfirst on its Custom plan, and Bland not on its Start or Build plans. RingCentral says AIR is "designed to support HIPAA compliance", which is not a signed BAA. Medical office guide.
Data and lock-in
Check how long recordings and transcripts are kept and whether you can export them. Goodcall's call history runs 30 days on Starter and 90 on Growth; My AI Front Desk's Business plan lists retention of the last 200 logs. Forwarding your number (rather than porting it) keeps you free to switch.
Price changes and unpublished terms
Several plans leave things unstated: Rosie publishes no overage rate, RingCentral AIR prices are "starting at", and Dialzara shows "No contract, cancel anytime" only on its top plans. Ask for these in writing before you sign up, and re-check pricing pages before renewing.
Are AI receptionists worth it?
On published prices, the gap with human answering is large. At 150 calls a month (450 minutes), the cheapest AI plan we found costs $118.50, while PATLive's cheapest live plan for that volume is $759 and Smith.ai's human receptionists cost $1,440. If missed calls are costing you jobs or appointments, one booked job a month usually covers an AI plan.
It is not worth it if most of your calls need judgment (upset customers, emergencies, complex quotes), if you cannot spend an hour setting it up and a few minutes a week reading transcripts, or if you need HIPAA coverage and the plan with a BAA is out of budget. A common middle path is to send only after-hours and overflow calls to the AI; Upfirst, for example, lets you choose all calls, overflow only, or after hours. AI vs human receptionist costs.
Pricing by company
- Smith.ai pricing
- Upfirst pricing
- Dialzara pricing
- Rosie pricing
- RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) pricing
- Goodcall pricing
- My AI Front Desk pricing
- NextPhone pricing
- Bland pricing
- Synthflow pricing
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI receptionist for a small business?
It depends on how you are billed and what you need to connect. On published pricing, Upfirst is the cheapest paid starting point ($24.95 a month for 30 calls), Smith.ai has a free plan for 25 calls, NextPhone charges a flat $199 for unlimited calls, and Rosie includes the most minutes per dollar. If you handle patient information, pick one that will sign a BAA.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
Published plans start at $0 (Smith.ai Free, 25 calls) and $24.95 a month (Upfirst Starter). For a business taking 150 calls a month at about 3 minutes each, the cheapest published plan from each company we compared ranges from $118.50 to $270 a month, plus telephony on developer platforms like Bland. Prices checked October 22, 2026.
How much should an AI receptionist cost?
At list prices, about $50 to $80 a month covers 50 calls (Upfirst $54.95, Rosie $49, Goodcall $79), about $120 to $200 covers 150 calls, and $129 to $300 covers 500 calls on the bundle and flat plans (Goodcall Growth, NextPhone, Upfirst Scale, Rosie Growth). Paying much more than that for a small business usually means you are on the wrong billing model for your call pattern.
How much do AI assistants cost?
For phone answering, AI assistant plans we found run from free (Smith.ai, 25 calls a month) to $599 a month (NextPhone Scale) for self-serve products, with enterprise voice-agent contracts from $30,000 a year (Synthflow). Developer platforms bill by the minute: Bland charges $0.14 a minute on its free Start tier, plus telephony.
Are AI receptionists worth it?
Usually, if you miss calls today. At 150 calls a month the cheapest AI plan we found costs $118.50, against $759 for the cheapest live answering plan that covers the same minutes (PATLive). They are a poor fit when most calls need human judgment or when you need a BAA the budget plan does not include.
Which AI medical receptionist is the best?
There is no single best: start with the ones that publish a BAA option, because you cannot use one with patient information without it. My AI Front Desk claims signed BAAs (its self-serve plan is $99 a month and its site states no plan restriction), Goodcall offers a BAA on its $299 Scale plan, Upfirst on its Custom plan, and Bland outside its Start and Build plans. Then compare integrations and cost at your call volume.
How do I set up an AI receptionist?
Pick a plan that fits your monthly calls, give it your website and FAQs, connect your calendar, set transfer rules and a greeting that says the call is answered by AI and may be recorded, then forward your number (most do not need porting). Test with real calls during the trial and read the transcripts. Vendors claim setup times from 5 minutes (NextPhone Pro, My AI Front Desk) to 2 to 6 weeks (Bland production agents). Step-by-step guide.
What is the average cost for an answering service?
Among the live answering services that publish prices, the 100-minute plans cost $189 (PATLive), $329 (Abby Connect) and $395 (Ruby), an average of about $304 a month. Entry plans start at $99 for 50 minutes (PATLive). AI receptionists cost far less: 150 calls a month runs $118.50 to $270. Answering services compared.
Can I keep my existing business phone number?
Yes with most of them. Upfirst, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk, NextPhone, Rosie, Goodcall and RingCentral AIR all say you can forward or keep your current number. Goodcall says porting is not available yet. Smith.ai's site does not say.
Is an AI receptionist HIPAA compliant?
Only if the vendor will sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with you. On their own sites, My AI Front Desk claims signed BAAs, Goodcall offers one on Scale and Enterprise, Upfirst on its Custom plan, and Bland offers one but not on its Start or Build plans. We found no HIPAA or BAA claim on Dialzara, Rosie, Smith.ai or NextPhone.
Can an AI receptionist transfer calls to a person?
All ten tools we compared offer some form of transfer. Some limit it by plan: Dialzara lists warm transfer on Business Elite, Rosie on Scale and up, and Bland's warm transfer requires an enterprise account. Smith.ai can also hand calls to its own human receptionists for an extra per-call fee.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human answering service?
Usually, at the published list prices. Ruby lists 100 minutes of live receptionist time for $395 a month and PATLive 100 minutes for $189, while several AI receptionists include 200 to 1,000 minutes for $99 to $149. See our AI vs human receptionist comparison for the full numbers.