Best AI Receptionists of 2026
Ten AI receptionists and AI answering services ranked on published prices, booking, languages, human backup and verified reviews.
By , research by the BestBots team ยท Updated Oct 18, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
Smith.ai is the best AI receptionist for most small businesses: it has a free 25 call plan, answers in English and Spanish, books appointments, connects to Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce, and can hand a call to a live receptionist. If cost per call matters more than a human backup, Upfirst is the best value at $24.95 for 30 calls.
Our top picks
We compared 10 AI receptionists and AI answering services on what their pricing pages, product pages and review listings say as of October 2026. Every price below links to its source, and the scores come from our published rubric.
How to choose
Start with the billing unit, because it decides your bill more than the headline price does. Per call tools (Smith.ai, Upfirst, Quo Sona) suit businesses with longer conversations, since a 7 minute intake call costs the same as a 1 minute one. Per minute tools (Rosie, Dialzara, RingCentral, My AI Front Desk, Sameday) suit businesses with short calls like hours, directions and quick bookings. Goodcall bills per unique caller per month, which suits businesses where the same customers call back often.
Then check four things against your calls:
- Booking. If the main job is putting appointments on a calendar, confirm the tool writes into the calendar you use, on the plan you plan to buy. Rosie sends booking links on its $49 plan and books directly only from $149.
- Human backup. Only Smith.ai and Abby Connect have staffed receptionists behind the AI. Everyone else transfers to your own phones, which is fine if someone picks up.
- Languages. If a real share of callers speak Spanish, every pick lists Spanish except Goodcall (no languages published) and Sameday (multilingual voices only on Enterprise). For three or more languages, look at Upfirst, My AI Front Desk or RingCentral.
- Your software. Law firms should look for Clio (Smith.ai, Upfirst). Trades should look for ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro (Sameday). Property managers should look for Yardi or AppFolio (My AI Front Desk).
Our picks, in detail
- 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
- Free trial
- Free plan with 25 calls per month
Smith.ai is the only pick that pairs a free 25 call plan with escalation to live North America based receptionists, so a call the AI should not handle still reaches a person. It answers in English and Spanish, books through Calendly and other calendars, and connects natively to Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce. Trustpilot shows 4.3 from 375 reviews, the strongest public record in this group.
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 price per call matters most; at 200 calls a month it costs about $385 where Upfirst costs $159.95.
- Starting price
- $24.95 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 30 to 600 calls depending on plan
- Appointment booking
- Yes, Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio
- Free trial
- 14 days
Upfirst starts at $24.95 for 30 calls and drops to $0.70 per extra call on Scale, and it does not bill spam, calls under 15 seconds or silent calls. Booking works on every plan with Google, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio, and it speaks 35+ languages with automatic switching.
Pros
- Lowest entry price among per call receptionists at $24.95 for 30 calls
- Spam, sub 15 second and silent calls are not billed
- Calendar booking on every plan, including Clio, Calendly, Acuity and Square
- 35+ languages with automatic switching when the caller changes language
- 14 day free trial and 20% off for annual billing
Cons
- No review listing with 10 or more reviews that we could find, so less public proof than Smith.ai
- No staffed human backup; transfers go to your own phones
- HIPAA BAAs only on custom plans above 600 calls
- Native CRM list is short beyond Clio; most CRMs go through Zapier
Skip it if you want a vendor with a long public review record or a staffed human backup.
- 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
- Free trial
- 7 days, no credit card
Rosie's $49 plan includes 250 minutes and the $149 Scale plan includes 1,000, the lowest cost per included minute on a published plan here. English and Spanish come on every plan, and it trains itself from your website and Google Business Profile.
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 calendar booking under $149 a month, or a published overage rate.
- 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
- Free trial
- Free demo agent; pay when you connect a number
Goodcall bills per unique caller per month and never meters minutes, so a customer who calls five times in March counts once. The $129 Growth plan covers 500 unique callers, the lowest cost at that volume in our comparison.
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 published language support or a deep CRM list beyond HighLevel and Zapier.
- Starting price
- $49 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 100 minutes
- Appointment booking
- Yes, book and reschedule in Google and Outlook calendars
- Free trial
- 14 days
RingCentral's AI Receptionist handles English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese and switches mid conversation. It books and reschedules in Google and Outlook calendars and connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho.
Pros
- Six languages with switching mid conversation
- Books and reschedules in Google and Outlook calendars
- Native Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho integrations
- States customer data is not used to train its AI models; HITRUST certified
- 14 day free trial, and $10 cheaper per month for RingEX customers
Cons
- Only 100 minutes included, then $0.50 per minute, so 500 minutes costs $249
- Extra minute bundle prices are not published
- RingCentral scores 1.7 on Trustpilot from 2,013 reviews, with complaints about cancellation and billing
- No staffed human backup
Skip it if you take more than about 200 minutes of calls a month; at $0.50 per extra minute, 500 minutes costs $249.
- Starting price
- $19 per user per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 10 calls with any plan; 40 to 600 on paid Sona tiers
- Appointment booking
- Sends scheduling links by text during the call
- Free trial
- 7 days
Quo's Sona agent comes with every Quo phone plan from $19 per user, including 10 AI calls a month, and paid tiers fall to $0.45 per call. One bill covers the phone line, texting and the AI receptionist, and Quo carries 4.2 on Trustpilot from 1,091 reviews.
Pros
- Business phone line and AI receptionist on one bill from $19 per user
- 10 AI calls included every month
- Paid tiers fall to $0.45 per call at 600 calls, with a usage cap
- SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA with a BAA
- Trustpilot 4.2 from 1,091 reviews and App Store 4.4 from 10,814 ratings
Cons
- Only works on Quo numbers; you cannot add it to another phone system
- Sends booking links instead of booking directly into a calendar
- Three languages, no switching mid call
- Seat price and Sona tier are two separate charges
Skip it if you want to keep your current phone system or need bookings written straight into a calendar.
- Starting price
- $29 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 60 to 1,000 minutes
- Appointment booking
- Yes, books into your calendar
- Free trial
- 7 days
Dialzara's Business Lite plan costs $29 for 60 minutes, and every voice plan adds an AI SMS agent and website chat at no extra charge. It books appointments, routes to multiple transfer numbers and speaks English and Spanish.
Pros
- $29 entry plan is the lowest monthly price in this group
- AI SMS agent and website chat included free with any voice plan
- English and Spanish, booking and lead qualification on every plan
- Trustpilot 4.2 from 20 reviews, mostly praising support
- No setup fees or contracts
Cons
- 60 minutes on Lite runs out fast; 200 minutes costs about $96
- No annual discount: yearly billing is 12 times the monthly price
- Native CRM integrations are not named; most CRMs go through Zapier, Make or webhooks
- No HIPAA statement; regulated setups are on request
Skip it if you take more than 60 minutes a month on Lite; 200 minutes runs about $96.
- Starting price
- $164 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 100 to 1,000 AI minutes (50 to 500 human minutes)
- Appointment booking
- Yes, schedules across hundreds of platforms
- Free trial
- Free trial on every plan
Abby Connect puts human receptionists and AI on one plan, and AI minutes count as half an Abby Minute, so the $164 Starter plan covers up to 100 AI minutes. English and Spanish are on every plan, and it connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Calendly and 1,000+ other tools.
Pros
- Human and AI answering mixed per call on one subscription
- AI minutes count half, doubling plan coverage
- English and Spanish on all plans, plus HIPAA options and encrypted recordings
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Calendly and 1,000+ other integrations
- No setup fee, month to month, free trial
Cons
- Starter covers only 100 AI minutes for $164
- Most expensive per AI minute in this group
- Overage rate is described, not listed as a dollar figure
Skip it if you want pure AI pricing; per AI minute it costs about three to six times the pure AI tools.
- 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
- Free trial
- None listed
Sameday books jobs straight into ServiceTitan (certified app), Housecall Pro, FieldRoutes, Service Fusion and other trade software, and also answers Thumbtack, Angi and Google Local Services leads. Plans include unlimited users and 3 locations from the start.
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 are a small shop; the entry plan is $449 for 500 minutes with no published overage.
- Starting price
- $99 per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 200 minutes plus about 40 from the credit pool
- Appointment booking
- Yes, into your live calendar
- Free trial
- 7 days, no credit card
My AI Front Desk bundles 200 voice minutes, web chat, two way SMS, a CRM and 20+ languages in one $99 plan, with $0.25 per extra minute. It connects to property management tools like Yardi, AppFolio and Buildium and to therapy software like SimplePractice and Jane.
Pros
- Voice, web chat, two way SMS and a CRM in one $99 plan
- 20+ languages
- Lowest overage in this group at $0.25 per minute
- Vertical integrations for property management and therapy software
Cons
- Trustpilot 3.4 from 19 reviews; 21% are 1 star, several over refused refunds and billing after cancellation
- Its terms say refunds are generally not provided, which matters most on the $948 annual plan
- Reviewers report slow support replies during trials, and the company had not replied to negative reviews
- One public plan, so light users pay for chat, SMS and email features they may not use
Skip it if vendor reliability is your first filter; its Trustpilot score is 3.4 from 19 reviews with repeated refund complaints.
What it costs
Published plans start at $24.95 a month and the median small office spends far less than a human. Here is what each tool costs at two common volumes, using the cheapest published plan that covers the volume on monthly billing.
| Tool | Billing unit | 200 calls or minutes | 500 calls or minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfirst | Per call | $159.95 (Pro, 300 calls) | $299 (Scale, 600 calls) |
| Smith.ai | Per call | $385 (Pro 150 plus 50 at $2.30) | $800 (Enterprise, 500 calls) |
| Quo Sona | Per call plus seat | $118 ($19 seat plus $99 for 250 calls) | $218 ($19 seat plus $199 for 600 calls) |
| Goodcall | Per unique caller | $129 (Growth) | $129 (Growth) |
| Rosie | Per minute | $49 (Professional, 250 min) | $149 (Scale, 1,000 min) |
| Dialzara | Per minute | $96.20 (Lite plus 140 min at $0.48) | $199 (Plus, 500 min) |
| My AI Front Desk | Per minute | $99 (200 min) | $164 (200 min plus pool, then $0.25) |
| RingCentral AI Receptionist | Per minute | $99 (100 min plus 100 at $0.50) | $249 |
| Abby Connect | AI minutes | $329 (Essential, 200 AI min) | about $749 (Professional plus 100 AI min at plan rate) |
| Sameday AI | Per minute | $449 (Launch, 500 min) | $449 (Launch, 500 min) |
Two reading notes. A call and a minute are not the same unit: if your average call runs 3 minutes, 200 calls is 600 minutes, and a per minute plan costs three times what the table row suggests. And Goodcall's row counts unique callers, so 200 calls from 120 customers bills as 120.
For your own numbers, use the AI receptionist cost calculator, which runs every published plan against a human receptionist at the BLS median wage. The AI Price Index tracks these rates monthly. Our full breakdown by volume is in how much an AI receptionist costs.
AI receptionist vs answering service
An AI receptionist answers every call at once, at any hour, for roughly $0.25 to $2.50 per call or minute. A live answering service uses trained people, which costs more: Ruby lists $250 a month for 50 minutes, and Abby Connect's human minutes work out to $3.28 each on its Starter plan. Voicemail costs nothing extra but leaves the follow up to you.
AI wins on routine, repeatable calls: hours, pricing, booking, qualifying a lead, taking a message. A human wins when the caller is upset, the call is legally sensitive, or one call is worth thousands. The middle path is a hybrid. Smith.ai escalates to live receptionists per call, and Abby Connect mixes both on one plan. Full comparison with prices: AI receptionist vs answering service.
Red flags
- No published overage rate. Rosie and Sameday do not list what happens past your plan. Ask in writing before a busy season.
- Annual contracts sold as monthly. Trustpilot reviewers of Smith.ai and My AI Front Desk describe refund disputes tied to longer term plans. Confirm the term before you pay.
- Booking only on higher tiers. Check that the plan you buy, not just the product, writes to your calendar.
- Phone system lock in. Quo Sona only runs on Quo numbers, and RingCentral's best price assumes RingEX.
- Recording without consent. Every tool here records or transcribes calls. Some states require all party consent, so add a line to your greeting.
- Thin review records. Upfirst, Rosie, Abby Connect and Sameday had no listing with 10 or more reviews that we could open. That is not proof of a problem, but run the free trial on real calls before you commit.
How we picked
We started from the AI receptionist products small businesses search for and compare, then kept the ones that publish a price and sell a receptionist product to small businesses. Developer voice platforms such as Retell, Vapi, Bland and Synthflow are covered in best AI voice agents instead, because they require you to build the agent yourself.
For each product we opened the pricing page, the product page and any review listing we could reach, and recorded only what those pages say. We graded five factors (value 25%, features 25%, trust 20%, ease 15%, integrations 15%) as described on how we score. Order is editorial: best fit for most small business readers on those facts. We did not place test calls, so we do not grade voice quality; use each vendor's free trial for that.
Johnni AI was left out because its plans are listed with GST and not in USD. Ruby was left out because it lists AI as an enhancement to its human plans, not as a separate AI receptionist product.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI receptionist for a small business?
Smith.ai is the best overall pick for most small businesses because it combines a free 25 call plan, English and Spanish, native CRM links and a live receptionist fallback. If cost per call matters more than a human backup, Upfirst is the best value, starting at $24.95 for 30 calls.
How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?
Published plans start at $24.95 a month for 30 calls (Upfirst) and $29 for 60 minutes (Dialzara). A typical small office taking 200 calls or minutes a month pays about $49 to $160 on a pure AI plan. See our full breakdown at /ai-receptionist-cost.
Is an AI receptionist better than an answering service?
For routine calls, booking and after hours coverage, an AI receptionist costs far less: about $0.25 to $0.50 per minute against roughly $3.28 to $5.00 per minute for live answering plans from Abby Connect and Ruby. A live service still wins for emotional, legal or high value calls where judgment matters.
Can an AI receptionist book appointments?
Yes. Every pick here can book or send booking links. Upfirst, Smith.ai, RingCentral, Dialzara and My AI Front Desk write directly into calendars on their entry plans, while Rosie needs the $149 Scale plan for direct booking and Quo Sona sends a scheduling link by text.
Do AI receptionists speak Spanish?
Most do. Smith.ai, Rosie, Dialzara and Abby Connect list English and Spanish on all plans. Upfirst lists 35+ languages, My AI Front Desk 20+, and RingCentral six with switching mid call. Goodcall does not publish language support.
Can I keep my business phone number?
Yes, with most tools. You forward your existing number to the AI receptionist, either for every call or only for after hours and overflow. The exception is Quo Sona, which only works on numbers inside Quo's phone system.
Is there a free AI receptionist?
Smith.ai has a free plan with 25 real calls a month, then $3.00 per call. Quo includes 10 Sona calls a month with any paid phone seat. Everyone else offers a free trial of 7 or 14 days, or a free demo agent in Goodcall's case.
Will callers know they are talking to AI?
Usually, yes, at least on longer calls. Treat that as a design choice: a short disclosure in the greeting is good practice, and some states require consent before recording a call. Check your state's recording law before you turn on call recording.