Smith.ai Review 2026: Pricing, Features and Verdict
The AI receptionist with a free plan, Clio and Salesforce integrations and live receptionists behind it, and the per call price that comes with that.
By , research by the BestBots team · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
Smith.ai is the strongest all round AI receptionist for small businesses that cannot afford a botched call. It has a free 25 call plan, English and Spanish, native Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce, and a live receptionist network for escalation. The tradeoff is price: $1.60 to $3.00 per call, roughly double what Upfirst charges at the same volume.
The safest pick for a business where a botched call costs real money: English and Spanish, native Clio, HubSpot and Salesforce links, and a human escalation path that most pure AI tools lack. The tradeoff is price per call, which runs $1.60 to $3.00 where Upfirst charges $0.70 to $1.50.
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- Starting price
- $0 per month
- Pricing model
- per call
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Free plan with 25 calls per month
- Minutes or calls included
- 25 calls free; 75 to 500 calls on paid tiers
- Overage
- $2.10 to $3.00 per extra call depending on tier
- 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
- Languages
- English and Spanish
- Setup time
- About 15 minutes, per Smith.ai
- Call recording
- Recording, transcripts and summaries on all plans
- CRM integrations
- Clio Grow, Clio Manage, HubSpot, Salesforce, plus Zapier and Make
What it is
Smith.ai started as a live virtual receptionist company and now sells a separate AI Receptionist product. The AI answers your calls 24/7, qualifies leads, books appointments, takes messages and sends you a recording, transcript and summary of every call. The difference from most AI tools is what sits behind it: Smith.ai's own live, North America based receptionists, which you can add as a per call backup when a caller needs a person.
It lists industry focus pages for law firms, home services, software and SaaS, marketing agencies, general contractors, finance, medical and wellness, staffing and insurance. Law firms are the clearest fit, given the native Clio Grow and Clio Manage integrations.
Pricing explained
Smith.ai bills per answered call, not per minute. A 7 minute intake call costs the same as a 1 minute one. Every price below is as listed on its AI Receptionist pricing page in October 2026, monthly billing.
| Plan | Price per month | Calls included | Effective rate | Extra calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 | Free | $3.00 |
| Pro 75 | $150 | 75 | $2.00 | $2.50 |
| Pro 150 | $270 | 150 | $1.80 | $2.30 |
| Pro 300 | $500 | 300 | $1.67 | $2.17 |
| Enterprise 300 | $500 | 300 | $1.67 | $2.17 |
| Enterprise 500 | $800 | 500 | $1.60 | $2.10 |
| Enterprise 1,000+ | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
What that means in practice:
- 200 calls a month: Pro 150 ($270) plus 50 extra calls at $2.30 is $385. Pro 300 at $500 only makes sense if you expect growth.
- 500 calls a month: Enterprise 500 at $800.
- 1,000 calls a month: about $1,850 at the Enterprise 500 rate, so ask for the custom quote.
Pro and Enterprise at 300 calls cost the same $500. Enterprise adds full service setup, custom AI prompting, unlimited custom integrations, multi location support and a dedicated success manager, so if you are at 300 calls, Enterprise is the better buy at that price. Smith.ai also mentions a 6 month Enterprise plan at a lower rate it does not list.
Two charges to plan for. Live receptionist escalation is a per call add on that is not priced on the AI page. And spam is free: calls from 20 million+ known spam numbers are filtered and not billed.
Compare these numbers against every other tool in how much an AI receptionist costs, or plug your volume into the calculator.
Features
Every plan, including Free, lists the same core set:
- 24/7 AI call answering, with spam filtering
- AI scheduling through Calendly and other calendars
- Lead qualification with your own questions
- Recording, transcription and summaries for every call
- Analytics and call history
- Quality Studio to test the AI with simulated calls before going live (50 simulated calls a month on Free, 150 on Pro 75, up to 2,000+ on Enterprise)
- English and Spanish call handling
Integrations are the deepest in our AI receptionist comparison for professional services: Clio Grow, Clio Manage, HubSpot, Salesforce and Calendly natively, plus 5,000+ apps via Zapier and Make. Enterprise adds unlimited custom integrations and workflows.
Where it falls short: languages stop at English and Spanish, where Upfirst lists 35+ and RingCentral six. And Smith.ai does not publish HIPAA details on the pages we opened, so medical practices should ask before signing.
Setup
Smith.ai says you can launch the AI Receptionist in about 15 minutes on the self serve plans. Free is fully self serve. Pro adds dedicated onboarding and live phone, email and chat support. Enterprise is done for you: Smith.ai builds and runs a custom setup and keeps tuning it. Use Quality Studio's simulated calls to check the AI's answers before you forward real calls.
Ratings
Smith.ai holds 4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 375 reviews as of October 2026. Positive reviews focus on solo practitioners and small law firms that stopped missing calls. The negative ones cluster around AI answers that needed tuning, slow support replies, and disputes over refunds on longer term plans. Read the term of any plan before paying.
How it compares
| Smith.ai | Upfirst | Abby Connect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Free for 25 calls | $24.95 for 30 calls | $164 for 100 AI minutes |
| Cost at 200 calls or minutes | $385 (calls) | $159.95 (calls) | $329 (AI minutes) |
| Human backup | Per call add on | No | Same plan, human minutes count double |
| Languages | English, Spanish | 35+ | English, Spanish |
| Native CRM | Clio, HubSpot, Salesforce | Clio | Salesforce, HubSpot |
| Trustpilot | 4.3 from 375 reviews | No reviews | No reviews |
If you want AI plus people, Smith.ai and Abby Connect are the two real options. Smith.ai is cheaper for mostly AI traffic with the occasional handoff; Abby Connect suits offices that expect people to take a large share of calls.
Who it is for
- Law firms, especially on Clio
- Professional services where one lost lead is worth hundreds or thousands
- Offices with a meaningful share of Spanish speaking callers
- Teams on HubSpot or Salesforce that want calls logged automatically
- Anyone who wants to test an AI receptionist on live calls for free first
Who should skip it
- Businesses taking hundreds of routine calls a month on a small budget. Upfirst costs $159.95 for 300 calls where Smith.ai costs $500.
- Businesses with short calls that suit per minute billing, such as Rosie at $49 for 250 minutes.
- Callers in languages beyond English and Spanish.
- Medical practices that need confirmed HIPAA terms up front.
Verdict
Smith.ai earns our top spot in best AI receptionists because it is the most complete and most proven product for small businesses: free to start, bilingual, deeply integrated, and backed by real receptionists when the AI should step aside. You pay for that safety net at $1.60 to $3.00 per call. Start on the free plan, run 25 real calls through it, and move to Pro only once the transcripts look right.
How Smith.ai scores
- Value
- 3.9
- Features
- 4.7
- Ease of setup
- 4.5
- Integrations
- 4.7
- Trust
- 4.5
Pros and cons
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
Smith.ai plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 per month | 25 calls, then $3.00 per call |
| Pro 75 | $150 per month | 75 calls, then $2.50 per call, dedicated onboarding |
| Pro 150 | $270 per month | 150 calls, then $2.30 per call |
| Pro 300 | $500 per month | 300 calls, then $2.17 per call |
| Enterprise 500 | $800 per month | 500 calls, then $2.10 per call, full service setup, custom prompting, multi location |
| Enterprise 1,000+ | Custom | Custom volume and integrations |
What users say
Smith.ai reviews from users
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How much does Smith.ai AI Receptionist cost?
As listed in October 2026, the Free plan covers 25 calls a month, then $3.00 per call. Pro costs $150 for 75 calls, $270 for 150 or $500 for 300. Enterprise costs $500 for 300 calls or $800 for 500, and 1,000+ calls is quoted.
Does Smith.ai use real people or AI?
Both, as separate products. The AI Receptionist answers with AI, and you can add escalation to Smith.ai's live North America based receptionists, billed per call. If the AI starts the escalation itself, Smith.ai says there is no fee.
Does Smith.ai charge for spam calls?
No. Smith.ai says calls from a list of 20 million+ known spammers are filtered out automatically and do not count toward your plan.
Does Smith.ai integrate with Clio?
Yes. It lists native integrations with Clio Grow and Clio Manage, plus HubSpot, Salesforce and Calendly, and 5,000+ more apps through Zapier and Make.
Does Smith.ai speak Spanish?
Yes. Smith.ai lists bilingual call handling with conversational fluency in English and Spanish.
Is Smith.ai worth it?
It is worth it if a mishandled call is expensive, for example at a law firm, because of the human fallback and native legal software links. If you mostly field routine calls on a tight budget, Upfirst costs less than half as much per call.