Best AI Receptionists for HVAC Companies of 2026
Eight AI receptionists and AI dispatchers ranked for heating and cooling contractors on field service booking, after hours emergency handling and real cost at 300 and 600 calls a month.
By , research by the BestBots team ยท Updated Oct 19, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
Sameday AI is the best AI receptionist for most HVAC companies. It books jobs straight into ServiceTitan as a certified app, plus Housecall Pro and FieldRoutes, and $789 a month covers 1,000 minutes. The best alternative is Avoca, which routes emergency keywords to on call techs and backs the AI with human CSRs, priced by quote.
Our top picks
We compared eight AI receptionists in October 2026 on what an HVAC owner needs: jobs on the dispatch board, emergencies sorted from routine calls, and a bill that holds up in July. Every price and integration below comes from each vendor's own pages. Scoring is explained on how we score.
How to choose
- Start with your software. If you run ServiceTitan, the shortlist is Sameday AI and Avoca. On Housecall Pro, add Nextiva XBert and CSR AI. On Jobber, Jobber's own add on is the only record here that lists Jobber booking.
- Decide what counts as an emergency. No heat in January, no cool with an elderly homeowner, water from the air handler, a gas smell. Write the list before you set up any tool.
- Price your peak month, not your average. A shop at 300 calls in April can hit 600 in a heat wave.
- Know who picks up when the AI cannot. Avoca and Smith.ai have staffed humans. The rest transfer to you.
- Check the membership pitch. If you sell maintenance agreements, load your plan names, prices and what each covers so the AI answers the same way your best CSR does.
Our picks, in detail
- Starting price
- $449 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 500 or 1,000 minutes
- Appointment booking
- Yes, into ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, FieldRoutes, Service Fusion and others
- Live agent backup
- Your own team can take or hand calls back to the AI
Sameday is a certified ServiceTitan app and also books into Housecall Pro, FieldRoutes and Service Fusion, so a no cool call becomes a real job on the dispatch board, not a message. The $789 Scale plan covers 1,000 minutes, which fits a 300 call month at 3 minutes each, and every plan includes unlimited users.
Pros
- Certified ServiceTitan app and official FieldRoutes partner
- Books directly into the field service software trades already run
- Also answers leads from Thumbtack, Google Local Services, Angi and Facebook
- Unlimited users and 3 locations on the entry plan
- Nearly 2,000 service businesses and 4M+ AI answered calls, per Sameday
Cons
- $449 entry price is among the highest in this group
- No published overage, trial or contract terms
- Multilingual voices only on Enterprise
- No public review listing with 10+ reviews found; no SOC 2 or HIPAA claim found
Skip it if you take under about 150 calls a month; the entry plan is $449 for 500 minutes and no overage rate, trial or contract terms are published.
- Starting price
- Quote only
- Minutes or calls included
- Not published, quote only
- Appointment booking
- Yes, books jobs into ServiceTitan (certified app), Housecall Pro and FieldRoutes
- Live agent backup
- Yes, Human in the Loop team of Avoca trained CSRs in North America
Avoca flags emergency keywords and routes those calls to your on call technician, and a team of North America based CSRs picks up the 15 to 20 percent of calls the AI hands off, per Avoca. It is a certified ServiceTitan app, books into Housecall Pro and FieldRoutes, and pulls a caller's service history before they finish saying hello.
Pros
- Certified ServiceTitan app, plus Housecall Pro and FieldRoutes booking
- Flags emergency keywords and routes urgent calls to on call technicians
- Human in the Loop CSRs in North America take the 15 to 20 percent of calls the AI escalates, per Avoca
- Pulls caller history (past jobs, equipment, membership) before the caller speaks
- SOC 2 Type 2, 1,000+ service business customers and a $1B valuation after its April 2026 Series B
Cons
- No published pricing, demo required
- No public review listing with 10+ reviews found
- Built for established trade shops, not solo operators
- Jobber is not listed as a booking integration
Skip it if you want a price before a sales call; Avoca publishes no pricing and sells by demo and quote.
- Starting price
- $29 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 30 conversations per billing cycle (unlimited on Plus)
- Appointment booking
- Yes, books, reschedules and cancels visits in Jobber using Online Booking settings
- Live agent backup
- No staffed agents; trigger words transfer the call or text you
For a shop already on Jobber, the AI Receptionist is a $29 a month add on that books visits into your Jobber schedule using your real availability. You set custom emergency keywords such as no heat or gas smell, and those calls transfer or text you instead of getting a Tuesday slot.
Pros
- Lowest add on price for native field service booking: $29 per month for 30 conversations
- Writes visits, requests, tasks and client notes straight into Jobber
- Custom emergency keywords trigger a transfer or text alert
- Spam and no conversation calls are not billed
- Unlimited usage included on the Plus plan
Cons
- Only works if you run Jobber and use a Jobber phone number (US, Canada, UK)
- Caller languages not published
- At 30 conversations you pay $0.79 each or it pauses to message taking
- Jobber headline prices are first year promos; list prices are higher
Skip it if you run ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, since it only works inside Jobber, or if you need a published call limit.
- Starting price
- $99 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 100 interactions (calls, texts, chats)
- Appointment booking
- Yes, Google Calendar, Calendly, Cal.com and Zoho
- Live agent backup
- No staffed agents; smart handoff to your team
Nextiva's XBert costs $99 for 100 interactions with a 30 day money back guarantee, and Housecall Pro is a live integration. Calls under 30 seconds are not billed, and ServiceTitan can be connected on request in 2 to 4 days.
Pros
- $99 for 100 interactions covers calls, texts and web chat in one bucket
- Calls under 30 seconds do not count as interactions
- 30 day money back guarantee and no long term contract
- Says it is SOC 2 certified and HIPAA compliant
- Nextiva carries 4.5 on Trustpilot from 8,704 reviews
Cons
- Supported languages are not published
- ServiceTitan, Salesforce and HubSpot are request based integrations (2 to 4 days)
- No staffed human backup
- Trustpilot reviewers describe confusing onboarding and long hold times
Skip it if peak season pushes you past 600 calls a month; at $0.99 per extra interaction, 600 calls runs about $594.
- Starting price
- $0 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 25 calls free; 75 to 500 calls on paid tiers
- Appointment booking
- Yes, AI scheduling with Calendly and other calendars on all plans
- Live agent backup
- Yes, North America based receptionists as a per call add on
Smith.ai can escalate any call to live North America based receptionists, which helps when a homeowner with a dead furnace and a newborn needs a person, not a script. It answers in English and Spanish and filters known spam numbers so you do not pay for them.
Pros
- Free plan with 25 real calls a month, so you can run it on live traffic before paying
- Escalation to live North America based receptionists when the AI should not handle a call
- Native Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, plus Zapier and Make
- Spam calls from a list of 20 million+ known numbers are filtered and not billed
- Recording, transcription, summaries and lead qualification on every plan
Cons
- Per call rates of $1.60 to $3.00 are two to four times what Upfirst charges at similar volume
- Live agent calls cost extra per call, and that rate is not on the AI pricing page
- Volumes above 500 calls are quote only
- Six month term plans are non refundable, and Trustpilot reviewers describe disputes over exactly that
Skip it if you want booking inside ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber; its native links are HubSpot, Salesforce and Clio.
- Starting price
- Quote only
- Minutes or calls included
- Not published
- Appointment booking
- Yes, books jobs and estimates, reschedules and cancels in Housecall Pro
- Live agent backup
- Transfers to your number, or to an HCP Assist rep (separate subscription for booking)
CSR AI books jobs straight into your Housecall Pro schedule with custom hours, scripts and escalation rules, so there is no second vendor to wire up. The 14 day Housecall Pro trial on MAX needs no credit card.
Pros
- Books jobs and estimates directly in Housecall Pro using real technician availability
- Emergency handling always on, with separate after hours on call number
- Dashboard tracks bookings, conversion rate and revenue from AI booked jobs
- CSR AI website chat included on all plans
Cons
- Call answering price is not published
- Only works inside Housecall Pro
- English only; Spanish and text answering listed as coming soon
- Housecall Pro scores 2.8 on Trustpilot from 695 reviews, citing support and billing
Skip it if you want to know the price first; 24/7 call answering is sold separately at a price Housecall Pro does not publish, and Housecall Pro scores 2.9 on Trustpilot from 694 reviews.
- Starting price
- $79 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 100 to 2,000 unique callers, unlimited minutes
- Appointment booking
- Yes, checks your calendar and texts confirmations
- Live agent backup
- No staffed agents; transfers to your team, up to three attempts, then takes a message
Goodcall bills per unique caller, so a homeowner who calls three times about a delayed part counts once, and minutes are never metered. The $129 Growth plan covers 500 unique callers, enough for a 300 call month with room to spare.
Pros
- Never meters minutes, so a nine minute booking costs the same as a 30 second call
- Repeat callers in the same month count once; spam and wrong numbers do not count
- Growth plan covers 500 unique callers for $129, the lowest cost at that volume in this group
- Every call recorded and transcribed, and Gabi runs practice calls before you go live
- Began inside Google in 2017 (CallJoy, Area 120) and says it is SOC 2 and HIPAA compliant
Cons
- Answers in English only, per its own How it works page
- Short native integration list: HighLevel, Google Calendar, Google Sheets and Zapier
- Its Trustpilot page has only 5 reviews, all 1 star, citing billing after cancellation and unannounced price increases
- Unique caller billing makes side by side comparison with per call tools harder
Skip it if you need booking into field service software; its native links are HighLevel, Google Calendar and Zapier.
- Starting price
- $49 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 250, 1,000 or 2,000 minutes
- Appointment booking
- Google Calendar and Calendly on Scale and up; text booking links on Professional
- Live agent backup
- No staffed agents; warm and live transfers to your team on Scale and up
Rosie's $149 Scale plan covers 1,000 minutes with Google Calendar and Calendly booking and live transfers, and you can run it only after hours or on overflow through conditional call forwarding. English and Spanish come on every plan.
Pros
- $49 for 250 minutes is the lowest cost per included minute on a published plan in this group
- English and Spanish on every plan
- Trains itself from your website and Google Business Profile
- Can run for after hours or overflow only through conditional call forwarding
- Native iOS and Android apps
Cons
- Calendar booking and live transfers need the $149 Scale plan
- No published overage rate, so you cannot model a busy month
- Only Google Calendar and Calendly natively; CRMs go through Zapier
- Thin review record: 3.5 on the App Store from 11 ratings and no Trustpilot reviews
Skip it if you need jobs written into ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, or a published overage rate for a heat wave month.
After hours emergency calls
A homeowner calling at 11pm with no heat does not want a Thursday appointment. Your setup has to split three kinds of calls:
- Life safety. Gas smell, carbon monoxide alarm, burning smell from the furnace. The AI should not book these. The script tells the caller to get out and call the gas utility or 911, then pages your on call tech.
- Urgent comfort. No heat, no cool, water leaking from the unit. These go to the on call tech by transfer or text, with the address and system details captured first.
- Routine. Tune ups, filter questions, quotes for a new system. These get booked into the next open slot.
Avoca is the most complete record here for this split: it flags emergency keywords, routes them to on call technicians, and has human CSRs as a backstop. Jobber's add on lets you set custom keywords that trigger a transfer or a text alert. Sameday, Nextiva, Goodcall and Rosie transfer calls to your team, but their pages do not list emergency keyword routing, so ask each vendor to show you exactly what happens on a no heat call at 2am before you sign.
If you charge an after hours fee, put it in the script. A caller who hears it and still books is a real job.
Dispatch and job booking
The tools that book jobs directly:
- ServiceTitan: Sameday AI (certified app), Avoca (certified app), Nextiva XBert (on request, 2 to 4 days).
- Housecall Pro: Sameday AI, Avoca, Nextiva XBert (live integration), Housecall Pro CSR AI.
- Jobber: Jobber AI Receptionist only. No other record in this comparison lists Jobber.
- FieldRoutes and Service Fusion: Sameday AI; Avoca also lists FieldRoutes.
Smith.ai, Goodcall and Rosie book into calendars such as Google Calendar and Calendly, fine for a one or two truck shop but double entry for anyone on a field service platform.
Ask every vendor whether it books against real technician availability or just open time blocks, and whether it creates the customer record with address and equipment notes. Avoca says it pulls caller service history, which helps on repeat customers.
Peak season surges and maintenance agreement calls
The first 95 degree week and the first cold snap can double your calls, mostly at once. An AI answers every line at the same time, so nobody hits voicemail, but the bill follows the volume.
Sameday and Rosie do not publish overage, so a heat wave month past your bundle is an unknown. Nextiva ($0.99 per extra interaction) and Smith.ai ($2.10 to $3.00 per extra call) publish theirs. Goodcall counts a repeat caller once.
Shoulder seasons are when maintenance agreements get sold and renewed. Load your agreement tiers, prices and visit schedule so the AI can answer what is included and book the tune up. No record lists a feature that sells memberships on its own; Avoca sells outbound campaigns as an add on, useful for tune up reminders.
What it costs
Assumption: a 4 truck HVAC shop taking about 300 calls a month at 3 minutes each, 900 minutes, and a peak month of 600 calls, 1,800 minutes. Each cell is the cheapest published plan that covers the volume on monthly billing, with overage at the listed rate. Goodcall assumes every caller is unique, which is the worst case.
| Tool | Billing unit | 300 calls (900 min) | 600 calls (1,800 min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sameday AI | Per minute | $789 (Scale, 1,000 min) | Quote (Enterprise; Scale stops at 1,000 min) |
| Avoca | Quote only | Quote only | Quote only |
| Jobber AI Receptionist | Add on | $29 plus your Jobber plan | $29 plus your Jobber plan |
| Nextiva XBert | Per interaction | $297 ($99 plus 200 at $0.99) | $594 ($99 plus 500 at $0.99) |
| Smith.ai | Per call | $500 (Pro 300) | $1,010 ($800 for 500 plus 100 at $2.10) |
| Housecall Pro CSR AI | Quote only add on | Quote only, plus a plan from $79 | Quote only |
| Goodcall | Per unique caller | $129 (Growth, 500) | $155 ($129 plus 100 at $0.26) |
| Rosie | Per minute | $149 (Scale, 1,000 min) | $299 (Growth, 2,000 min) |
Jobber does not publish how many calls the $29 add on covers, so treat that row as a floor. One full time CSR at the BLS median of $18.27 an hour costs about $3,167 a month before payroll taxes, and covers 40 hours a week and none of the nights.
Run your numbers in the cost calculator, track rates in the AI Price Index, or read AI receptionist cost.
Red flags
- Booking that is really a message. If the demo ends with an email instead of a job on the board, you still need a 7am dispatcher.
- No published overage before cooling season. Get the per minute rate past your bundle in writing from Sameday or Rosie before June.
- Gas smell calls that get booked. Make the vendor show you the life safety path in the demo. If it offers a time slot, walk.
- Membership answers that drift. A wrong agreement price creates a refund argument. Review transcripts weekly at first.
- Thin review records. Avoca, Sameday and Rosie had no review listing with 10 or more reviews we could open. Housecall Pro sits at 2.9 on Trustpilot from 694 reviews.
How we picked
Published facts only: pricing, product, integration and review pages. We did not place test calls, so voice quality is not graded. Factor weights are value 25%, features 25%, trust 20%, ease 15% and integrations 15%, as set out on how we score.
The order is editorial on fit for HVAC: field service booking, emergency handling, published pricing at 300 to 600 calls and human backup. Upfirst and Dialzara list no field service integrations, so they are covered in best AI receptionists instead. For sister trades, see plumbers, electricians and all home services.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI receptionist for HVAC companies?
For most HVAC shops on ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or FieldRoutes, Sameday AI is the best fit because it books jobs into that software and lists $789 for 1,000 minutes. Avoca is the pick if you want emergency keyword routing and a human CSR backup team and can accept quote only pricing. Jobber shops should start with Jobber's own $29 add on.
Can an AI receptionist book jobs in ServiceTitan?
Yes, but only a few can. Sameday AI and Avoca are certified ServiceTitan apps, and Nextiva XBert lists ServiceTitan as an on request integration that takes 2 to 4 days. General AI receptionists such as Smith.ai, Rosie and Goodcall book into calendars, not ServiceTitan.
How much does an HVAC answering service cost?
As listed in October 2026, an AI answering service for a 300 call HVAC month costs about $129 to $789, depending on whether it bills per caller, per interaction or per minute. A live answering service costs more: Ruby lists $1,725 for 500 minutes. A full time in house CSR at the BLS median wage costs about $3,167 a month.
Can AI handle HVAC emergency calls after hours?
It can sort them, and it should not try to fix them. Avoca flags emergency keywords and routes to on call techs, and Jobber's add on lets you set keywords such as no heat that trigger a transfer or text. For any gas smell or carbon monoxide call, the script should tell the caller to leave the house and call the gas utility or 911 first, then page your on call tech.
What is an AI dispatcher for HVAC?
It is an AI receptionist that does more than take messages: it checks your real availability, picks a slot and writes the job into your field service software. Sameday AI, Avoca, Jobber AI Receptionist and Housecall Pro CSR AI all book into a trade schedule. None of the records here claim to assign a specific technician by skill or truck stock, so confirm that in a demo.
Do I need ServiceTitan to use an AI receptionist?
No. Jobber shops can use Jobber's $29 add on, Housecall Pro shops can use CSR AI or Nextiva, and calendar based shops can use Rosie, Goodcall or Smith.ai.