Marlie AI: Best overall for service businesses. Answers 24/7, books jobs straight into your calendar, and connects to 130+ CRMs, from $49/month.
Upfirst: Best for low call volume. Per-call pricing from $24.95/month, with a 14-day free trial and no card required.
Smith.ai: Best AI plus human hybrid. AI receptionist plans with optional live-agent escalation, popular with law firms.
Goodcall: Best for predictable billing. Charges per unique caller instead of per minute, from $79/month.
Dialzara: Lowest entry price. Starts at $29/month for 60 minutes.
Rosie: Best for basic message-taking. Answers calls and texts booking links on its entry plan, in English and Spanish.
My AI Front Desk: Best for property management. Native Yardi, AppFolio, Entrata and Buildium integrations.
Synthflow: Best for enterprise contact centers. Annual contracts built for very high call volumes.
| Service | Best For | Starting Price | Included Usage | Overage | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlie AI | Service businesses that book jobs by phone | $49/mo | 250 minutes | $0.35/min | 14 days |
| Upfirst | Low call volume | $24.95/mo | 30 calls | $1.50/call | 14 days or 100 calls |
| Smith.ai (AI Receptionist) | Law firms, AI plus human hybrid | $0/mo (Free) or $150/mo (Pro) | 25 or 75 calls | $3.00 or $2.00/call | Free plan |
| Goodcall | Predictable monthly billing | $79/mo | 100 unique callers | $0.79/caller | Demo agent |
| Dialzara | Lowest entry price | $29/mo | 60 minutes | $0.48/min | 7 days |
| Rosie | Basic message-taking | $49/mo | 250 minutes | Not published | 7 days |
| My AI Front Desk | Property management | 99/mo(79 annual) | 200 minutes | about $0.25/min | 7 days |
| Synthflow | Enterprise contact centers | Custom (annual) | Custom | Custom | None |
Pricing taken from each vendor's public pricing page in November 2026. Check the vendor's site before you buy, since plans change often.
We reviewed the public website and pricing page of each service and scored them on five criteria: entry price and overage cost, appointment booking (real calendar booking versus sending a link), call transfer options, the number and depth of integrations, and how fast a non-technical owner can go live. We weighted booking and integrations most heavily, because an AI answering service that only takes messages saves far less time than one that puts the job on your calendar.
An AI answering service is software that picks up your business calls with a conversational AI voice agent instead of a human receptionist. It can answer common questions, take messages, book appointments, transfer urgent calls to your team, and send you a summary after each call. Most run 24/7, cost a fraction of a human answering service, and can handle several calls at the same time.
Marlie AI is an AI answering service and AI receptionist built for service businesses such as plumbers, HVAC companies, locksmiths, towing companies, law offices and salons. It answers every call 24/7, with an average pickup time of about 2 seconds, and Marlie reports more than 1 million calls handled to date.
What sets Marlie apart is that it is built to book the work, not just take a message. It checks your real availability and books appointments directly into Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly, and it can reschedule or cancel bookings. After each call it texts you the caller's name, issue, location and urgency within seconds. Field-service teams can also dispatch crews by SMS, and Pro plans can text callers a Shopify or Square checkout link to take payment during the call.
Setup takes roughly 10 to 15 minutes: you paste your website URL or Google Business listing, and Marlie builds your receptionist from it. You then forward your existing number or use the number Marlie provides. Its integrations page lists 130+ CRM integrations, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Jobber, Housecall Pro, FieldPulse and AccuLynx for field service, Clio for law firms and Follow Up Boss for real estate, plus 8,000+ more apps through Zapier.
Best For: Home service, field service and local businesses that win revenue by booking jobs over the phone.
Pros:
Books directly into Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly, with reschedule and cancel support
Deep CRM coverage: 130+ native CRM integrations across field service, legal, real estate and fitness
Flexible call transfer, from a single number (Standard) up to ring-in-sequence routing where staff press 1 to accept (Premium)
14-day free trial, month-to-month plans and no long-term contract
Cons:
Call transfer isn't included on the $49 Basic plan
In-call payments beyond texted checkout links are still in beta
Enterprise pricing isn't published
Pricing: Basic $49/mo (250 min), Standard $99/mo (500 min), Pro $199/mo (1,000 min), Premium $399/mo (2,000 min). Overage is $0.25 to $0.35 per minute, depending on plan.
Upfirst prices by call, starting at $24.95/month for 30 calls, and it doesn't bill spam calls or calls under 15 seconds. That makes it a good fit for businesses that get a handful of important calls a day.
It books into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio, supports 35+ languages, offers warm and waterfall transfers, and includes two-way texting. Its trial is generous: 14 days or 100 calls with no credit card.
Best For: Low-volume businesses such as solo attorneys, consultants and contractors.
Pros:
Lowest entry price on a per-call basis ($24.95/month)
Short calls and spam aren't billed
35+ languages
Free trial with no credit card required
Cons:
Per-call overage ($0.70 to $1.50) gets expensive as volume grows
CRM connections rely on Zapier or a custom API
Human support only on weekdays, 9am to 6pm ET
Pricing: Starter $24.95/mo (30 calls), Premium $59.95/mo (90 calls), Pro $159.95/mo (300 calls), Scale $299/mo (600 calls). Annual billing is about 20% cheaper.
Smith.ai is one of the longest-established names in virtual receptionists, and it now offers two separate products: an AI Receptionist and a human-staffed Virtual Receptionist. The AI Receptionist handles answering, booking (through Calendly, Acuity and others), warm transfers and CRM logging, and you can escalate a call to a live human agent for an extra $3 per call.
Smith.ai prices per call rather than per minute, which suits businesses with long calls but gets expensive at high volume. It is especially popular with law firms because of integrations with Clio, Filevine and Lawmatics. If you want a fully human team, the Virtual Receptionist plans start at $300/month for 30 calls.
Best For: Law firms and professional services that want AI with an option to hand off to a live person.
Pros:
Free AI plan with 25 calls per month
Optional human escalation on AI plans
Strong legal integrations (Clio, Filevine, Lawmatics)
English and Spanish support
Cons:
Per-call pricing ($1.67 to $3.00 per call) adds up fast for busy phone lines
Several features, such as custom calendaring and SMS notifications, are paid add-ons
Human Virtual Receptionist plans cost far more ($300 to $2,100/month)
Pricing: AI Receptionist Free $0 (25 calls), Pro $150/mo (75 calls), Enterprise $500/mo (300 calls).
Goodcall takes a different approach to pricing. Instead of charging per minute or per call, it charges per unique customer each month, so a caller who rings five times only counts once and spam calls aren't billed. That makes your bill easier to predict if you have a lot of repeat callers.
Goodcall answers 24/7, captures leads, books into Google Calendar, connects to HighLevel and other systems through Zapier, and transfers calls with a fallback if nobody picks up. It also states SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance, which matters for healthcare-adjacent businesses.
Best For: Businesses with many repeat callers that want a predictable monthly bill.
Pros:
Billed per unique caller, and spam isn't billed
SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance stated
Call transfer with backup if staff don't answer
Scales from solo shops to contact centers
Cons:
Higher entry price ($79/month) than Marlie, Rosie or Dialzara
No defined free trial, only a demo agent
Supported languages aren't stated
Pricing: Starter $79/mo (100 customers), Growth $129/mo (500 customers), Scale $299/mo (2,000 customers).
Dialzara has the cheapest published entry plan on this list at $29/month, which makes it an easy way to test an AI receptionist. The trade-off is a small allowance of 60 minutes and the highest overage rate on this list, $0.48 per minute.
Dialzara answers 24/7, books appointments, transfers calls (warm transfer on the top plan), and supports 10 languages and 50+ voices. It also sells an AI SMS agent and a website chatbot, both bundled free with a voice plan.
Best For: Very small businesses that want to try an AI receptionist for the lowest possible cost.
Pros:
$29/month entry price
10 languages on the entry plan
SMS agent and website chatbot bundled with voice plans
7-day free trial, no contract
Cons:
Only 60 minutes on the entry plan
Highest overage rate on this list ($0.48/min on Lite)
Warm transfer only on the $349 Elite plan
Pricing: Business Lite $29/mo (60 min), Pro $99/mo (220 min), Plus $199/mo (500 min), Elite $349/mo (1,000 min).
Rosie is an AI phone answering service aimed at small businesses and solo operators, including home services, law firms and property managers. It trains itself on your business information so you can be live quickly. Its $49/month entry plan (250 minutes) only texts callers a booking link, though. Booking directly into your calendar starts at $149/month on Rosie, compared with $99/month on Marlie AI.
Warm and live transfers and texting callers during a call also start on the $149 Scale plan. Rosie supports English and Spanish, filters spam, and connects to other apps through Zapier. Website chat is included free on every plan.
Best For: Solo owners who mainly need calls answered and messages taken.
Pros:
250 minutes for $49/month on the entry plan
English and Spanish support
Free website chat widget on all plans
7-day free trial with all features
Cons:
Direct calendar booking and live transfers require the $149/month plan
Native integrations beyond Zapier aren't listed on the pricing page
Overage rates aren't clearly published
Pricing: Professional $49/mo (250 min), Scale $149/mo (1,000 min), Growth $299/mo (2,000 min). Annual billing gives 2 months free.
My AI Front Desk bundles a voice receptionist with a chatbot, two-way SMS, a built-in AI CRM and form handling in one plan. Its stand-out feature is native integration with property management systems such as Yardi, RealPage, AppFolio, Entrata and Buildium, which makes it a strong pick for multifamily operators.
It supports 20+ languages, works 24/7, and uses a credit system for overage that works out to about $0.25 per voice minute.
Best For: Property managers and multifamily operators.
Pros:
Native Yardi, RealPage, AppFolio, Entrata and Buildium integrations
Voice, chat, SMS and CRM in one plan
20+ languages
7-day free trial
Cons:
Fewer minutes (200) at a higher entry price ($99/month) than Marlie
Credit-based billing is harder to forecast
Its homepage and pricing page disagree on whether a free plan exists
Pricing: Business-in-a-Box $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually (200 minutes, 400 SMS, 100 chat conversations).
Synthflow is an AI voice agent platform for contact centers, BPOs and multi-location brands rather than small businesses. It integrates with enterprise phone systems (Five9, RingCentral, 8x8, Twilio, Vonage) and CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk), and says it handles more than 1 million calls a day across its customers.
Pricing is an annual enterprise agreement scoped to your call volume, with no free plan, trial or published per-minute rate.
Best For: Large contact centers and enterprises replacing or extending a human call center.
Pros:
Built for very high call volume
Deep enterprise telephony and CRM integrations
SMS and WhatsApp agents in addition to voice
Cons:
No published pricing, free plan or trial
Annual contracts only
More than a small business needs
Pricing: Custom annual agreement. Contact sales.
If you book jobs by phone, prioritize direct calendar booking and CRM sync. Marlie AI includes real-time calendar booking from its $99 Standard plan and lists 130+ CRM integrations.
If you only need messages taken, an entry plan from Marlie AI, Rosie or Dialzara is enough.
If your calls are long but infrequent, per-call pricing (Upfirst, Smith.ai) can work out cheaper than per-minute pricing.
If you have many repeat callers, Goodcall's per-caller billing keeps costs predictable.
If you want a human backup, Smith.ai offers live-agent escalation on its AI plans.
If you run a contact center, look at enterprise platforms like Synthflow.
Marlie AI is the best AI answering service for most small service businesses because it answers 24/7, books directly into Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly, and connects to 130+ CRMs, starting at $49/month with a 14-day free trial. Dialzara and Upfirst are lower-cost alternatives if you only need basic call answering.
Most AI answering services for small businesses cost $25 to $150 per month for entry plans. Per-minute plans typically include 60 to 250 minutes at that price, with overage between $0.25 and $0.48 per minute. Human-staffed answering services usually start around $300 per month.
Yes. Services such as Marlie AI, Smith.ai, Upfirst and Goodcall can check availability and book appointments directly into calendars like Google Calendar, Outlook or Calendly. Some entry-level plans only text the caller a booking link, so check which plan includes direct booking.
An AI answering service is cheaper, answers instantly, runs 24/7 and can take several calls at once. A human answering service handles unusual or emotionally sensitive calls better but typically costs $7 to $11 per call. Many businesses use an AI service and transfer complex calls to their own team.
Yes. Most AI answering services, including Marlie AI, work by forwarding calls from your existing number, which usually takes less than a minute in your phone provider's settings. Marlie AI also provides its own number if you want a new one.
Most AI receptionists can be set up in under 30 minutes. Marlie AI builds your receptionist from your website URL or Google Business listing in about 10 to 15 minutes.