Best AI Receptionist for Small Businesses

Find the best AI receptionist for small businesses. We compare 7 services on real prices, features and setup, so you never miss a customer call again.

10/21/202635 min read

The phone rings while you're under a sink, halfway through a haircut, or driving to the next job.

You can't pick up, so the call goes to voicemail.

Some callers leave a message. Others simply hang up and call the next business on the list.

That's the problem an AI receptionist is built to solve.

An AI receptionist for small business is a service that answers your phone for you, day or night. It greets callers, answers common questions, takes messages, books appointments, and puts urgent calls through to you. Then it sends you a short summary of every call, so nothing slips through the cracks.

The hard part isn't finding an AI receptionist. There are dozens of them, and most of the top search results are written by the companies selling them.

It's finding the best AI receptionist for small business owners like you: one that fits your calls, your budget, and the way you actually work.

In this buyer's guide, we explain how an AI receptionist works in plain English. We cover what it can and can't do, the eight things to check before you buy, and a side-by-side comparison of seven AI receptionist services: Upfirst, Rosie, Smith.ai, Goodcall, Frontdesk, RingCentral AI Receptionist, and Quo's Sona. We checked every price on each company's official US pricing page on October 21, 2026, and we say whether each price is for monthly or yearly billing.

After that, you'll find a worked example for a small plumbing business, a 10-step setup plan, common mistakes, an FAQ, and our final verdict.

A quick note on scope. This guide is about answering phone calls. If you want help with email, chat, and help desk tickets, read our guide to automating customer support with AI and our comparison of AI customer service tools and examples. If you want to chase new leads after the first call, read our guide to automating lead follow-up with AI.

What Is an AI Receptionist for Small Business?

A receptionist is the person who answers the phone and greets people when they arrive.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics lists their typical duties. They "answer the telephone and take messages or forward calls" and "schedule and confirm appointments and maintain calendars" (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).

An AI receptionist does the phone part of that job with software instead of a person.

AI, or artificial intelligence, is software that can understand and use human language. In this case, it can listen to a caller, work out what they want, and talk back in a natural voice.

Think of it as a very well-trained new hire who has memorized your price list, your opening hours, and your top 20 questions, never takes a lunch break, and can talk to several callers at once.

RingCentral describes the job well: an AI receptionist "answers calls and texts, responds to common questions about your hours, services, and policies, and routes callers by name, department, location, or keyword" (RingCentral).

How it's different from voicemail and phone menus

You probably already know two older ways to deal with calls you can't answer.

Voicemail: the caller leaves a message and hopes you call back.
A phone menu: "Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support." This is sometimes called an auto attendant. It's like a set of signposts. It can point people somewhere, but it can't answer a question.

An AI receptionist is more like a person at the front desk, where the caller can just say, "My water heater is leaking, can someone come today?" It understands the request, asks for the address, and takes the next step, just like a good receptionist would.

Quo puts it simply: "Voicemail is a dead-end, leaving callers without answers" (Quo).

How it's different from a human answering service

A human answering service is a company of real people who answer calls for many businesses. You pay them when your own team can't pick up.

Some AI receptionist companies mix both. Smith.ai, for example, says its AI handles calls first, "but if something complex comes up, the call can be transferred to a live North America-based receptionist" (Smith.ai).

We compare AI and human receptionists in depth in a separate guide. In this article, we only touch on it where it affects which tool you should buy.

How an AI Receptionist Works, in Plain English

You don't need to understand the technology to use an AI receptionist, but knowing the basic steps helps you set it up well and spot problems early.

Here's what happens on a typical call, step by step:

Call comes in → Your number forwards it → The AI answers → It listens and works out what the caller wants → It checks your business details → It answers, books, takes a message, or transfers → You get a summary.

Let's walk through each step.

Step 1: The call reaches the AI

Most services give you a new phone number, or let you keep your current one and use call forwarding.

Call forwarding means telling your phone company to send calls to another number. It works like mail forwarding when you move house: people still use your old address, and the post office quietly sends the letters on to your new one.

Upfirst, for example, says you "can forward calls from your cell phone, landline, or VoIP number" to its line "with no porting required" (Upfirst). VoIP means a phone line that runs over the internet instead of a copper wire. Porting means moving your number to a new phone company for good, a bit like taking your house number with you when you move.

Step 2: The AI listens and understands

The AI turns the caller's speech into text, and then a language model, which is the "brain" of the system, works out what the person wants.

It's like a waiter who listens to a long, rambling order and writes down "two coffees, one with oat milk."

Step 3: It checks your business details

The AI answers using the information you give it. This is often called a knowledge base. Think of it as the binder of notes you'd hand a new receptionist on day one: hours, prices, services, the area you cover, and what to say when someone asks for a discount.

RingCentral explains it this way: an AI receptionist "starts with your business information, such as your website, FAQs, hours, and policies" and "responds using what it knows about your business" (RingCentral).

Many services can build this binder for you. Rosie says it's "trained from your Google profile and website in minutes" (Rosie). Upfirst says you "enter your website and we'll use it as a starting point to train your receptionist" (Upfirst).

Step 4: It takes action

Depending on your plan and settings, the AI can:

Answer a question, like "Do you work on Saturdays?"
Take a message with the caller's name, number, and reason for calling.
Book an appointment straight into your calendar.
Text the caller a link, like a booking page or directions.
Transfer the call to you or a team member.

A warm transfer is the polite kind. Before the AI connects the call, it tells your team member who's calling and why. Rosie describes its warm transfers as: "Rosie briefs your team before connecting" (Rosie pricing). It's like a good receptionist saying, "I have Mrs. Lee on the line about a leaking water heater," before passing the phone to you.

Step 5: You get a summary

After the call, most services send you a short written summary by text or email. Many also save a recording and a transcript, which is a word-for-word written copy of the call.

Upfirst says it sends "the key details from every call, texted or emailed the moment it ends" (Upfirst).

Example: A dog groomer is mid-bath when a new customer calls at 2:15 p.m. The AI receptionist answers, explains the prices for a large dog, and books Friday at 10 a.m. By the time the groomer dries her hands, a text is waiting: "New booking: Max, golden retriever, full groom, Fri 10 a.m., owner Sam, (555) 010-0199."

What an AI Receptionist Can and Can't Do

An AI receptionist is good at the predictable parts of answering the phone, but it's weaker at anything that needs judgment, empathy, or a decision only you can make.

What it does well

Answering every call. Rosie says its AI "handles multiple calls simultaneously - no busy signals, ever" (Rosie pricing).
Working after hours. Every service in this guide advertises 24/7 answering.
Repeating facts the same way every time. Hours, prices, service areas, and policies.
Collecting details. Goodcall says its agent "spells back names, numbers and emails so the lead is right" (Goodcall).
Booking simple appointments when it's connected to your calendar.
Blocking spam calls. Upfirst says it blocks "spam, telemarketing, and other robocalls, so they don't count against your plan" (Upfirst).

Where it falls short

Upset or complicated callers. A customer who's angry about a botched job needs a person.
Questions you haven't prepared it for. AI tools can sound confident even when they're wrong. We explain why in our guide to why AI automation makes mistakes.
Decisions about money or risk. Refunds, special discounts, and "can you squeeze me in tonight?" are your call.
Emergencies. It should hand these to a person straight away, or tell the caller who to call.
Languages it doesn't support. Quo's Sona, for example, supports English, Spanish, and French, and "cannot detect or switch between languages mid-call" (Quo).

The rule of thumb: let the AI handle the routine calls, and make it very easy for the AI to hand the rest to a human.

Signs Your Small Business Needs an AI Receptionist

Not every business needs one, and if you get two calls a week, voicemail and a quick callback may be fine.

An AI receptionist starts to make sense when:

You often can't answer because you're with a customer, on a job site, or driving.
Many calls come after hours, when you're closed but customers are free.
You answer the same questions all day, like "What are your hours?" and "How much is a basic service?"
Calls arrive in bursts. A salon might get five calls in the 15 minutes after opening.
Each new customer is worth a lot. For a roofer, one missed call could be a missed job worth thousands of dollars.
You're thinking about hiring a receptionist but the budget isn't there yet.

For a sense of scale, the median pay for a receptionist in the US was $18.27 an hour, or $38,010 a year, in May 2025 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Most AI receptionist plans in this guide cost a small fraction of that. But they don't do everything a person does, which is why we compare the two fully in a separate guide.

Example: A two-person cleaning company gets about 60 calls a month. Half come in the evening, when the owners are cleaning offices. Most callers want a quote and a start date. That's a classic fit: the AI can collect the size of the home, the address, and the preferred day, and the owners can call back with a price the next morning.

If phone calls are only one part of your busy week, our list of 20 small business processes you can automate with AI can help you decide where to start.

What to Look For in the Best AI Receptionist for Small Business

Before you compare brands, decide what you need, because these eight questions will do most of the work for you.

1. How does it charge you?

AI receptionists use three main pricing styles, and this matters more than the headline price.

Per minute: you pay for talk time. It's like a taxi meter. Short calls are cheap, long calls cost more. Rosie, Frontdesk, and RingCentral use minutes.
Per call: you pay a set amount for each call, however long it lasts. It's like a flat bus fare. Upfirst, Smith.ai, and Quo's Sona count calls.
Per customer: Goodcall counts "how many different people it helped" each month, so one person calling five times counts once (Goodcall pricing). It's like a gym that charges per member, not per visit.

If your calls are long, like detailed quotes, per-call or per-customer pricing may work out better. If your calls are short, like "Are you open today?", minutes can go a long way.

2. How much is included, and what happens when you go over?

Every plan includes a set amount of calls, minutes, or customers. Look at the extra charge too. That's the price per call or minute after you use up your plan, often called an overage.

Example: RingCentral's standalone plan includes 100 minutes, then charges "$0.50 per minute" for extra use, and "call time is rounded up and billed in 30-second increments" (RingCentral pricing). So a call that lasts 2 minutes and 10 seconds counts as 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

3. Can it book appointments in your calendar?

If you run on appointments, this is a must, so check which calendars it connects to and whether booking is on the cheapest plan. On Rosie, for example, booking "directly on your calendar" starts on the Scale plan, while the cheaper Professional plan sends appointment links by text (Rosie pricing).

4. Can it hand calls to a real person?

The best AI receptionist knows when to step aside, so look for live call transfers, ideally warm ones, and check whether it can try more than one person. Goodcall says that if nobody picks up, "it moves to the next person on your list, up to three" (Goodcall).

5. Can you keep your business number?

You've printed your number on your van, your cards, and your Google listing, so you don't want to change it. Most services let you forward your existing number. Quo is the exception in one way: Sona works only inside Quo's own phone system, because "Sona is built to be used in Quo only" (Quo).

6. Does it connect to your other apps?

Many services link to other apps through Zapier. Zapier is a connector service that passes information between apps, like a courier that carries a new caller's details from your phone service to your spreadsheet or CRM. A CRM, or customer relationship management tool, is a digital address book that also keeps notes on every customer.

For a simple example of where caller details can go, see our guide to automating Google Sheets workflows. Before you connect anything, read our guide on whether it's safe to connect your business apps to AI automation tools.

7. Can you test it before customers hear it?

You wouldn't let a new hire answer the phone on day one without a practice run, and the same goes for AI, so look for test calls and a free trial. Smith.ai, for example, offers "Quality Studio - test before going live" on every plan (Smith.ai pricing).

8. Does it handle privacy and recording properly?

Most AI receptionists record and transcribe calls, which is useful, but recording laws vary by state. Justia's 50-state survey explains that most states need only one person on the call to agree to a recording, but "a smaller group of states requires all-party consent," meaning everyone on the call must agree (Justia). California, Florida, and Pennsylvania are among the all-party states, according to Justia.

The simple fix is a short line in your greeting, like "This call may be recorded so we can help you better." This isn't legal advice, so check your own state's rules. We cover recording consent in more detail in our guide to AI meeting notes.

If you handle health information, like a dental or medical office, you need to go a step further. Under HIPAA, the US health privacy law, a health care provider that shares patient information with a vendor needs a written contract called a business associate agreement, or BAA (HHS). HHS even lists a "third-party vendor Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot" that handles "appointment scheduling" as an example of a business associate. We cover this fully in our upcoming guide to AI receptionists for dental offices.

How We Chose the Best AI Receptionist Services

We looked for AI receptionist services that a typical small business could sign up for and run without a technical team.

To make our list, a service had to:

Publish real US prices in dollars on its own website. We left out tools that only say "contact sales," and tools whose prices we couldn't confirm.
Answer inbound calls with a natural-sounding AI voice, not just a phone menu.
Offer the basics: call summaries, message taking, and a way to reach a human.
Suit small businesses in price, setup, and contract terms.

Then we compared them on pricing style, what's included, booking, transfers, languages, trials, and contracts.

We checked every price and feature on each company's official website on October 21, 2026. Prices change often, so always confirm on the vendor's page before you buy. We didn't place live test calls for this guide, so we only describe features the companies state on their own pages.

We also checked some services we didn't include. Dialpad lists its AI agents as "Custom Pricing" (Dialpad pricing). Others showed prices we couldn't match up clearly, so we left them out rather than guess.

AI Receptionists at a Glance

Here are the seven services side by side. "Monthly" means the price when you pay month to month.

Upfirst (best overall value) — Lowest paid plan: $24.95/mo monthly, or $20/mo billed annually; Includes: 30 calls; Free option: 14-day free trial
Rosie (simple setup, minute-based plans) — Lowest paid plan: $49/mo monthly, or $490/yr billed annually; Includes: 250 minutes; Free option: 7-day free trial
Smith.ai (human backup when the AI gets stuck) — Lowest paid plan: $150/mo, month-to-month; Includes: 75 calls; Free option: Free plan, 25 calls/mo
Goodcall (repeat callers and long calls) — Lowest paid plan: $79/mo; Includes: 100 unique customers; Free option: Free demo agent
Frontdesk (phone, chat, texts, and CRM in one) — Lowest paid plan: $99/mo monthly, or $79/mo billed annually; Includes: 200 voice minutes; Free option: 7-day free trial
RingCentral AIR (a big-name platform with CRM links) — Lowest paid plan: Starts at $49/mo (billing basis not stated); Includes: 100 minutes; Free option: 14-day free trial
Quo + Sona (a business phone system with AI built in) — Lowest paid plan: $28/user/mo monthly, or $15/user/mo billed annually, for the phone plan; Includes: About 10 Sona calls a month; Free option: 7-day free trial of Quo

Sources: Upfirst pricing, Rosie pricing, Smith.ai pricing, Goodcall pricing, Frontdesk pricing, RingCentral pricing, Quo pricing.

Now let's look at each one in detail.

1. Upfirst — Best Overall AI Receptionist for Small Business

Upfirst

Upfirst is the one we'd look at first if you're not sure where to start.

It has a low starting price, clear per-call pricing, and a long free trial, and it lists a strong set of features on every plan, not just the expensive ones.

What Upfirst does well

Every Upfirst plan lists the same core features (Upfirst pricing):

24/7 answering, with a choice of "every call, overflow only, or after hours."
Instant call summaries by text or email.
Call recordings and transcripts.
Live, warm call transfers.
Appointment booking that "books straight into Google, Outlook, Clio, Acuity, Calendly, Square, and more."
Texting the caller during the call, for things like booking links or directions.
Spam blocking.
Zapier links to other apps.
More than 35 languages. Upfirst says it "switches languages automatically, then translates the transcript into yours."
Memory, so it "recognizes returning callers and recalls past calls."

Overflow means the AI only picks up when you can't. It's like a backup goalkeeper who steps in only when the first one is busy.

Upfirst also says it doesn't bill "for calls under 15 seconds or calls where the caller never speaks," so pocket dials and silent calls don't eat into your plan (Upfirst pricing).

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

All prices are in US dollars. Upfirst says "if you pay annually, you get 20% off" (Upfirst pricing).

Starter: 30 calls a month. $24.95/month billed monthly, or $20/month billed annually. Extra calls are $1.50 each.
Premium: 90 calls a month. $59.95/month billed monthly, or $48/month billed annually. Extra calls are $1 each.
Pro: 300 calls a month. $159.95/month billed monthly, or $128/month billed annually. Extra calls are $0.75 each. Adds white-glove onboarding (the Upfirst team helps you set it up) and custom integrations.
Scale: 600 calls a month. $299/month billed monthly, or $240/month billed annually. Extra calls are $0.70 each.
Custom: more than 600 calls, with custom pricing.

The free trial gives "full access to every feature in your selected plan for 14 days," and you can forward real calls during it (Upfirst pricing).

Best for

Service businesses that book jobs by phone, like plumbers, cleaners, and HVAC companies.
Owners who want to start small and grow.
Businesses that use popular booking tools such as Calendly, Acuity, or Square.
Businesses with callers who speak different languages.

Best feature

All the key features, including booking and transfers, come on the cheapest plan.

Things to Keep in Mind About Upfirst

The Starter plan is small.

Thirty calls a month is about one a day, so a busy shop will outgrow it fast, and you should count your calls before you choose a plan.

Long calls cost the same as short ones.

That's good news if your calls run long, but if most of your calls are 30-second questions, a minute-based plan could stretch further.

There's no contract, but check before you switch plans.

Upfirst says you can "cancel, upgrade, or downgrade anytime" (Upfirst pricing). If you choose annual billing to save 20%, check how and when you'll be charged, and make sure it works for you during the trial first.

Example: A mobile mechanic gets about 70 calls a month. The Premium plan's 90 calls covers that for $59.95 a month on monthly billing. During the 14-day trial, he forwards only after-hours calls first. Once he trusts the answers, he switches to overflow, so the AI also picks up when he's under a car.

2. Rosie — Best for Simple Setup and Minute-Based Plans

Rosie

Rosie is built for owners who "can't always answer the phone," in its own words (Rosie pricing).

Its biggest selling point is how fast it gets going. Rosie says it's "trained from your Google profile and website in minutes — no tech skills, no developer needed" (Rosie).

What Rosie does well

Every Rosie plan includes (Rosie pricing):

24/7 answering that handles several calls at once.
Training from your Google profile and website.
Custom answers to common questions.
More than 10 voices, and a custom name and greeting.
English and Spanish on every call.
Call summaries, transcripts, and recordings.
Email and text alerts for every call.
iPhone and Android apps.
A website chat widget, free with all plans.
Zapier links to "1,000+ apps."

Higher plans add calendar booking, warm transfers, and "waterfall transfers," where "Rosie tries multiple numbers until someone answers." It's like a phone tree for your team: if the owner doesn't pick up, it tries the manager, then the front desk.

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

Rosie offers monthly or annual billing. Annual billing is labelled "2 months free" (Rosie pricing).

Professional: 250 minutes a month. $49/month billed monthly, or $490 billed annually (shown as $41/month). Includes message taking and appointment links by text.
Scale: 1,000 minutes a month. $149/month billed monthly, or $1,490 billed annually (shown as $124/month). Adds calendar booking, warm transfers, live transfers, and texting callers during the call.
Growth: 2,000 minutes a month. $299/month billed monthly, or $2,990 billed annually (shown as $249/month). Adds waterfall transfers, custom training from your own documents, white-glove onboarding, and priority support.
Website texting add-on: $50/month for 25 conversations, then $1 per extra conversation.

Rosie offers a 7-day free trial (Rosie pricing).

Let's check the "2 months free" math. On Professional, 12 months at $49 is $588. The annual price is $490. That's $98 less, which is exactly two months at $49.

Best for

Solo owners who want something running the same day.
Businesses with lots of short calls, where minutes stretch further.
Businesses with English- and Spanish-speaking customers.
Teams that want a website chat widget at no extra cost.

Best feature

The setup from your Google profile and website, which means less typing for you.

Things to Keep in Mind About Rosie

Calendar booking isn't on the cheapest plan.

On Professional, Rosie can text callers a booking link, but booking straight into your calendar starts on Scale at $149 a month on monthly billing (Rosie pricing).

Minutes can run out on long calls.

Two hundred and fifty minutes is about 83 three-minute calls. If your calls are long, like detailed quotes, you'll use minutes faster.

Check the overage terms.

We didn't find a per-minute overage price on Rosie's pricing page, so ask what happens if you go over before you sign up.

Example: A hair salon gets lots of quick calls: "Are you open Sunday?" and "How much is a trim?" Most last under two minutes. The Professional plan's 250 minutes covers about 125 two-minute calls for $49 a month, and the AI texts a booking link to anyone who wants an appointment.

3. Smith.ai — Best AI Receptionist With Human Backup

Smith.ai

Smith.ai started as a human answering service, and it shows, because its AI receptionist is designed to pass tricky calls to real people.

Smith.ai says your calls are "always handled by our AI first, but if something complex comes up, the call can be transferred to a live North America-based receptionist — any time, day or night" (Smith.ai pricing).

It's honest about the price, too: "it's a bit pricier than the competition" (Smith.ai pricing).

What Smith.ai does well

The free plan already includes (Smith.ai pricing):

Quality Studio, to test before you go live.
24/7 AI call answering.
Recording, transcription, and summaries.
Lead qualification and call routing. Lead qualification means asking a caller the right questions to see if they're a good fit, like a bouncer checking the guest list.
AI scheduling with "Calendly & more."
Links to apps like Clio, which is software for law firms, and Zapier.
Analytics and call history.

Smith.ai also offers "conversational fluency in English and Spanish" (Smith.ai).

On spam, it says calls from "20 million+ known spammers" are filtered out before the AI answers, and you can remove up to 10% of your calls from your bill each billing cycle for spam that slips through (Smith.ai pricing).

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

Smith.ai bills per call and says its AI Receptionist "is a month-to-month service" with no long-term contract. If you cancel, it needs "30 days' notice" (Smith.ai pricing).

Free: $0 a month for 25 calls, then $3.00 per call. Smith.ai says a credit card is "required at signup, no charge until you authorize" (Smith.ai).
Pro: starts at $150 a month for 75 calls, which is $2.00 per call. Extra calls on that tier are $2.50 each. Higher Pro tiers of 150 and 300 calls are listed at $1.80 and $1.67 per call. Adds dedicated onboarding, live phone, email, and chat support, and custom text branding.
Enterprise: starts at $500 a month for 300 calls, which is about $1.67 per call. Adds full-service setup, custom AI instructions written by Smith.ai's team, unlimited custom integrations, and multi-location support.

What about the human backup? Smith.ai says "if the escalation is AI-initiated, there is no fee." If you want a live agent involved for things like checking information or scheduling, that's "a per-call add-on" (Smith.ai).

Best for

Law firms, accountants, and other businesses where a bad call could cost a client.
Owners who worry about the AI getting stuck.
Businesses that want to try an AI receptionist for free with real calls first.

Best feature

The handoff to a live, North America-based receptionist, at no extra fee when the AI starts it.

Things to Keep in Mind About Smith.ai

It costs more per call.

At $2.00 per call on the starting Pro tier, it's pricier than Upfirst's Premium plan, which works out to about $0.67 per call on monthly billing ($59.95 ÷ 90 calls). You're paying for the human safety net.

Every answered call counts.

Smith.ai says "every call answered by your AI Receptionist counts toward your call quota by default," apart from known spam that's filtered out first (Smith.ai pricing).

Cancelling takes 30 days.

That's not a long contract, but you should plan for it if you're switching from one provider to another.

Example: A small family law office gets about 60 calls a month. Most are new clients who need to be screened carefully. The Pro plan covers 75 calls for $150 a month. When a caller is upset or the AI can't help, the call passes to a live receptionist instead of going to voicemail.

4. Goodcall — Best for Repeat Callers and Long Calls

Goodcall

Goodcall takes a different approach to pricing: it doesn't count minutes or calls, it counts people.

"You pay one price for each customer your AI phone agent serves," it says, "and the only thing we count is how many different people it helped" (Goodcall pricing).

What Goodcall does well

According to Goodcall's own pages (Goodcall, Goodcall pricing):

You set it up by talking or typing to Gabi, Goodcall's built-in setup assistant. You tell it what you do, and it builds your phone agent.
You can add your website or price list, plus your hours and holidays.
It runs practice calls so you can listen before going live.
You can keep your number by forwarding it, with "step-by-step guides for 24 phone carriers," or pick a new local number.
It "spells back names, numbers and emails so the lead is right," then texts and emails you the details.
It transfers calls, retries a busy line, and tries up to three people.
Bookings go on your Google Calendar, and leads can land in a Google Sheet or in HighLevel, a CRM.
Every plan includes a local phone number.

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

Goodcall's prices are shown "a month." We didn't see an annual billing option on the page (Goodcall pricing).

Starter: $79 a month for 100 unique customers, then 79¢ each. Goodcall estimates this at "about 150 calls/month."
Growth: $129 a month for 500 unique customers, then 26¢ each. "About 750 calls/month."
Scale: $299 a month for 2,000 unique customers, then 15¢ each. "About 3,000 calls/month."
Enterprise: custom pricing for more than 2,000 customers a month.

A unique customer is "one phone number, once a month." If the same person calls back five times in March, "that is one customer." And "spam and wrong numbers don't count at all" (Goodcall pricing).

There's no free trial in the usual sense. Instead, you get "a free demo agent," and you "only pay when you connect a number" (Goodcall pricing).

Best for

Trades and repair businesses where the same customer calls several times about one job.
Businesses with long calls, since minutes aren't counted.
Owners who'd rather describe changes in plain words than fill in forms.
Businesses that live in Google Calendar and Google Sheets.

Best feature

You never pay for minutes, so a nine-minute booking call costs the same as a 30-second one.

Things to Keep in Mind About Goodcall

Customer counts and call counts aren't the same.

If most of your callers are new people who call once, 100 customers means about 100 calls, not the "about 150" estimate. Check your phone log to see how often the same people call back.

Plan limits go beyond customers.

Each plan also limits "workers" (specialist skills inside your agent, like a booker or a message taker), "external tools," and team members. Starter allows 5 workers, 1 external tool, and 1 team member (Goodcall pricing).

Call history is short on Starter.

Starter keeps 30 days of call history. Growth keeps 90 days (Goodcall pricing).

Example: A roofing company gets about 80 calls a month from roughly 55 different people. Many customers call two or three times: once for a quote, once to book, and once to check the date. On Goodcall's Starter plan, that's 55 unique customers, well under the 100 included, for $79 a month.

5. Frontdesk — Best All-in-One Front Office for Phone, Chat, and Texts

Frontdesk

Frontdesk (its website is myaifrontdesk.com) is more than a phone answerer, because it bundles an AI receptionist with website chat, two-way texting, a CRM, and follow-up automations in one plan.

Its pricing page sums it up: the plan "includes 200 voice minutes plus the full Frontdesk AI workforce: web chat, 2-way SMS, an AI-native CRM, and sequence automations" (Frontdesk pricing).

A sequence automation is a set of follow-ups that run on their own, such as texting a new lead and then emailing them the next day if they don't reply. It's like a row of dominoes: you tip the first one, and the rest fall in order.

What Frontdesk does well

According to Frontdesk's pages (Frontdesk pricing, Frontdesk):

24/7 call answering, lead qualifying, and appointment booking.
More than 20 languages.
You forward your existing number to Frontdesk.
Each month on the Business-in-a-Box plan: 200 voice minutes, 100 chatbot conversations, 400 text messages, 500 email drafts, and 300 website form submissions.
Up to 20 outbound calls a day, such as appointment reminders.
Zapier links to calendars, CRMs, and "thousands of other apps."
"Unlimited" sequence automation workflows.

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

Frontdesk has one main self-serve plan (Frontdesk pricing):

Business-in-a-Box: $99/month billed monthly, or $79/month billed annually. Frontdesk says the annual price is "billed upfront," which works out to $948 for the year ($79 × 12).
Partner / Enterprise: custom pricing based on volume.

Frontdesk uses credits for extra use. Credits work like arcade tokens: each action costs a set number of tokens. On the Business plan, one voice minute costs 25 credits. The plan includes "1,000 monthly overage credits," and auto-reload adds "1,000 credits" for "$10" (Frontdesk pricing).

Here's what that means in dollars. At $10 per 1,000 credits, one credit costs 1 cent. So one extra voice minute costs 25 cents. The 1,000 included overage credits cover 40 extra voice minutes (1,000 ÷ 25).

There's a 7-day free trial, and Frontdesk says there are "no contracts" (Frontdesk pricing).

Best for

Businesses that get leads by phone, website chat, and text, and want one place for all of them.
Owners who don't have a CRM yet.
Businesses that want automatic follow-ups after the first contact.
Businesses with callers who speak many languages.

Best feature

Phone, chat, texts, CRM, and follow-ups all in one plan, so you're not paying for five separate tools.

Things to Keep in Mind About Frontdesk

The voice minutes are fairly modest.

Two hundred minutes, plus the 40 minutes covered by the included overage credits, is about 80 three-minute calls. A busy business may need to buy more credits or talk to sales.

Credits take a little getting used to.

Voice, texts, chats, and form leads all use credits at different rates, so keep an eye on your usage for the first month.

You may not need all of it.

If you only want calls answered, a phone-only service may be simpler.

Example: A small gym gets questions by phone, on its website chat, and by text. Frontdesk answers all three, adds each new lead to its CRM, and texts a free-trial booking link. If the lead doesn't book, a follow-up email goes out the next day. For more ideas on what happens after the first contact, see our guide to automating lead follow-up with AI.

6. RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR) — Best for Businesses That Want a Big-Name Platform

RingCentral AI Receptionist

RingCentral is a large business phone company, and its AI receptionist, called AIR, can work on its own or alongside RingCentral's phone system, RingEX.

RingCentral says AIR "works with your existing phone system," and you can train it "with your website, FAQs, or uploaded documents" (RingCentral).

What RingCentral AIR does well

According to RingCentral's pages (RingCentral pricing, RingCentral):

24/7 call handling with smart routing.
Appointment booking, lead capture, and text follow-ups.
"Launch unlimited AI Receptionists."
Works "with any business phone system."
Auto-setup from your website.
Support for several languages.
Analytics and call transcripts.
Links to CRMs "such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho."
WhatsApp, Calendly, and Shopify integrations, which the pricing page marks as "coming soon."
When a caller needs a person, it "transfers the call and shares a summary, so the caller doesn't have to repeat themselves."

RingCentral also says AIR "is designed to support HIPAA compliance" (RingCentral pricing). That matters for health care businesses, which we'll cover in our dental office guide.

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

AI Receptionist (standalone): "starts at $49/month" with "100 minutes included" (RingCentral pricing).
AIR with RingEX: starts at $39/month for the AI receptionist plus $30/month for the RingEX Core phone plan, with 100 AI minutes included (RingCentral pricing).
Extra minutes: "$0.50 per minute," rounded up "in 30-second increments." Minute bundles are also available.

RingCentral's AI receptionist page doesn't say whether the $49 is for monthly or yearly billing, so confirm that at checkout. RingCentral says both AIR plans come "with a 14-day free trial" (RingCentral pricing).

Best for

Businesses that already use RingCentral for their phones.
Clinics, law firms, and real estate offices, which RingCentral names as target users.
Businesses that use Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho.
Teams with several locations or departments.

Best feature

It works with any business phone system, and it links to big-name CRMs.

Things to Keep in Mind About RingCentral AIR

100 minutes doesn't go far.

That's about 33 three-minute calls, and after that, every extra minute is 50 cents.

Extra minutes add up.

If you used 300 minutes in a month, you'd pay for 200 extra minutes. At $0.50 each, that's $100 on top of the $49 starting price, or $149 in total, before any taxes or other charges.

The billing basis isn't on the page.

Check whether the $49 needs a yearly commitment before you buy.

Example: A real estate agent uses AIR on nights and weekends only, when she's showing homes. She gets about 25 after-hours calls a month, averaging three minutes each. That's about 75 minutes, inside the 100 included, so she stays at the $49 starting price.

7. Quo With Sona — Best If You Also Need a Business Phone System

Quo

Quo, a business phone service, comes with an AI agent called Sona. Sona "answers calls 24/7 so you never lose an opportunity — even when you're busy or after hours" (Quo pricing).

The catch is that Sona only works inside Quo, so this is the right pick if you also want a proper business phone line, with your own number, an app, and shared lines for your team.

What Sona does well

According to Quo's Sona page (Quo):

Takes messages, answers questions, and captures leads.
Transfers calls "to the right teammate or department."
Sends a text during the call, "with a scheduling link, form, directions, and more."
Records every call and adds "an in-depth summary."
Lets you test Sona's answers before launch.
Lets you set up different greetings and knowledge for business hours and after hours.
Supports English, Spanish, and French.
Can also follow up with leads by text. Quo says this is "free during beta, on every plan." Beta means the feature is still being tested and may change.

Pricing (US page, checked October 21, 2026)

You pay for a Quo phone plan per user, plus Sona credits. Quo says "1 Call = 100 credits" (Quo pricing).

Quo phone plans:

Starter: $28/user/month billed monthly, or $15/user/month billed annually ($180 a year).
Business: $33/user/month billed monthly, or $23/user/month billed annually ($276 a year). Adds AI summaries for all calls, call transfers, phone menus, and auto call recording.
Scale: $47/user/month billed monthly, or $35/user/month billed annually ($420 a year).

Sona credit tiers (Quo pricing):

Tier 1: $0/month for 1,000 credits, or 10 calls. Extra calls are $1.00 each.
Tier 2: $25/month for 40 calls. Extra calls are $0.75 each.
Tier 3: $49/month for 100 calls. Extra calls are $0.65 each.
Tier 4: $99/month for 250 calls. Extra calls are $0.55 each.
Tier 5: $199/month for 600 calls. Extra calls are $0.45 each.

Quo says the free tier gives you "~10 calls a month at no cost," and you "can cap usage to avoid unexpected charges" (Quo). Quo offers a 7-day free trial of its phone service (Quo pricing).

Best for

New businesses that need a business phone number and an AI receptionist together.
Small teams that want shared numbers and one app for calls and texts.
Owners who want to start with about 10 free AI-answered calls a month.

Best feature

A full business phone system and an AI receptionist in one app, with a free starter tier of Sona calls.

Things to Keep in Mind About Quo

Sona doesn't work with other phone systems.

Quo says plainly that "Sona is built to be used in Quo only" (Quo).

Check transfers on the Starter plan.

Quo lists call transfers as a Business plan feature (Quo pricing). If you need Sona to put callers through to your team, confirm it works on your plan before you buy.

It only answers incoming calls.

"Sona currently answers only inbound calls" (Quo).

You can't add Sona during Quo's free trial.

Quo says "you must be on a paid Quo plan to purchase Sona" (Quo). Eligible paid customers can start a separate 7-day Sona trial.

The Starter plan has limits.

On Starter, AI call summaries and transcripts are "available for Sona-handled calls" only. You need Business for summaries on every call (Quo pricing).

Example: A one-person bookkeeping firm is starting out and needs a business number. She picks Quo Starter at $15/month billed annually and Sona Tier 2 at $25/month for 40 calls. That's $40 a month in total for a business phone line and an AI receptionist that covers her during client meetings.

Worked Example: Choosing an AI Receptionist for a Small Plumbing Business

Let's put the seven services side by side for one made-up business.

Meet Dave's Plumbing. Dave works alone with one helper. His phone log shows:

About 80 calls a month.
An average call length of about 3 minutes, so roughly 240 minutes a month.
About 60 different callers, because some customers call back to confirm a time.
Most calls are quotes, bookings, and "Can you come today?"

Here's roughly what each service's plan would cost Dave in one month, on monthly billing. These are illustrations based on the published prices above, before taxes and fees.

Rosie: $49 a month (Professional plan) — Why: Dave's 240 minutes fit inside the plan's 250.
Upfirst: $59.95 a month (Premium plan) — Why: Dave's 80 calls fit inside the plan's 90.
Quo + Sona: $77 a month (Starter + Tier 3) — Why: $28 for the phone plan + $49 for 100 Sona calls = $77.
Goodcall: $79 a month (Starter plan) — Why: Dave's 60 different callers fit inside the plan's 100 unique customers.
Frontdesk: $99 a month (Business-in-a-Box plan) — Why: 200 minutes + 40 minutes from the included overage credits = 240 minutes.
RingCentral AIR: about $119 a month (Standalone plan) — Why: $49 + 140 extra minutes × $0.50 ($70) = $119, before any rounding up.
Smith.ai: $162.50 a month (Pro plan, 75 calls) — Why: $150 + 5 extra calls × $2.50 ($12.50) = $162.50.

Sources: Rosie pricing, Upfirst pricing, Quo pricing, Goodcall pricing, Frontdesk pricing, RingCentral pricing, Smith.ai pricing.

The cheapest plan isn't automatically the best one for Dave, and here's why.

Rosie at $49 is the lowest, but its Professional plan texts a booking link instead of booking straight into his calendar. Calendar booking starts on Scale at $149 a month.
Upfirst at $59.95 includes calendar booking, transfers, and texting on every plan. For Dave, that's probably the best value.
Goodcall at $79 is a good choice if his calls get longer, since it never counts minutes.
Frontdesk at $99 uses up every included minute and credit at 240 minutes, so a busy month would cost extra.
Smith.ai at $162.50 costs the most, but it's the only one here that can pass a tricky caller to a live receptionist.

Our pick for Dave: Upfirst Premium. It covers his calls, books jobs straight into his calendar, and leaves room for 10 more calls before extra charges kick in.

We'll go much deeper on prices, including more call volumes and yearly billing, in our separate guide to how much an AI receptionist costs.

How to Set Up an AI Receptionist for Your Small Business: 10 Steps

Most services say setup takes minutes. Smith.ai, for example, says you can "set up your AI Receptionist in ~15 minutes" (Smith.ai). Getting it right takes a little longer. Here's a simple plan.

1. Count your calls

Look at last month's phone log and write down how many calls you got, how long they lasted, and how many came after hours, because this tells you which plan size you need.

2. List your top 20 questions

Write down the questions callers ask most, with your best answers. "Do you do emergency call-outs?" "What's your service area?" "How much is a callout fee?"

3. Decide what the AI should never do

Set clear limits, for example: never promise a price for big jobs, never give legal or medical advice, and never confirm a same-day visit without checking with you.

4. Write your handoff rules

Decide which calls go straight to a person, starting with emergencies, angry customers, and existing clients with a problem. Add the phone numbers in the order they should be tried.

5. Pick a service and start a free trial

Use the comparison above to choose one or two to try. Most of the services here offer a free trial, a free plan, or a free demo.

6. Let it learn from your website, then check its work

Many services build your setup from your website or Google profile, so read what it creates and fix old prices, wrong hours, and anything it made up.

7. Add a recording notice to your greeting

For example: "Thanks for calling Dave's Plumbing. I'm Dave's virtual assistant, and this call may be recorded." It's honest, and it helps with recording laws in all-party consent states (Justia).

8. Run practice calls

Call it yourself at least 10 times, and ask easy questions, hard questions, and silly ones. Pretend to be angry, and ask for a discount. Ask in Spanish if you have Spanish-speaking customers. Fix anything that sounds wrong.

9. Start with after-hours calls

Forward only evening and weekend calls at first, and once you trust it, add overflow calls (the ones you miss during the day). Upfirst, for example, lets you choose "every call, overflow only, or after hours" (Upfirst pricing).

10. Review calls every week

Read a handful of call summaries and transcripts each week, and look for wrong answers, missed bookings, and questions it couldn't handle. Then add the missing answers to its knowledge base.

Example: A pet groomer follows these steps over one weekend. In her practice calls, the AI tells a caller that nail trims are free. They aren't. She fixes the price in the setup, runs three more test calls, and goes live on Monday evening, after hours only.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even the best AI receptionist for small business owners can go wrong if it's set up badly. Watch out for these.

Choosing on headline price alone. As Dave's example shows, what's included matters more than the starting number.
Skipping practice calls. Your customers shouldn't be the first people to test it.
Making it hard to reach a human. Callers who need a person and can't get one may simply hang up.
Forgetting to update it. New prices, holiday hours, and new services all need adding.
Hiding that it's an AI. Being upfront builds trust. A simple "I'm the virtual assistant" works.
Ignoring recording rules. Add a notice to your greeting, and check your state's law.
Connecting every app on day one. Start with summaries by text or email. Add calendar and CRM links once it's working well.
Using it to make sales calls. The services here are mainly for answering incoming calls. Outgoing AI calls have their own strict rules, which we explain in our guide to automating lead follow-up with AI.

Example: A bakery sets up its AI receptionist in March. In November, it starts taking holiday pie orders, but nobody tells the AI. For a week, callers hear that pie orders "aren't available." A two-minute update would have fixed it.

A Quick Word on Cost, Humans, and Special Industries

This guide is about choosing a service, and three related questions get their own guides in this series.

What will it really cost?

The plans in this guide range from $0 (Smith.ai's free plan for 25 calls) to a $500-a-month starting price (Smith.ai Enterprise). The cheapest paid plan we found was Upfirst Starter at $24.95 a month on monthly billing. What you'll actually pay depends mostly on how many calls you get and how long they last. Our upcoming cost guide breaks this down by call volume.

Should you use AI or hire a person?

An AI receptionist is cheaper than a full-time hire. The US median pay for receptionists was $18.27 an hour in May 2025 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). But a person can greet visitors, calm upset customers, and use judgment in ways AI can't. Many small businesses use both: a person during busy hours, and AI for overflow and after hours. We compare the two fully in our upcoming guide.

What about dental and medical offices?

Health care businesses need a vendor that will sign a business associate agreement, as HHS explains (HHS). They may also need links to their practice software. Our upcoming guide to AI receptionists for dental offices covers what to check.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Best AI Receptionist for Small Business

What is the best AI receptionist for small business?

For most small businesses, we think Upfirst is the best place to start. Its plans begin at $24.95 a month on monthly billing, and every plan includes calendar booking, warm transfers, and texting during calls (Upfirst pricing). If you want a live human backup, look at Smith.ai. If you also need a business phone system, look at Quo with Sona.

How much does an AI receptionist for small business cost?

Paid plans in this guide start at $24.95 a month (Upfirst Starter, monthly billing) (Upfirst pricing). Smith.ai has a free plan for 25 calls a month (Smith.ai pricing). Most services charge by the minute, the call, or the customer, so your cost depends on how many calls you get.

Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small business?

It can be, if you often miss calls or get many calls after hours, but it's less useful if you get only a few calls a week. Use a free trial and count how many calls it saves you in the first month.

Can an AI receptionist book appointments?

Yes, on most services, once it's connected to your calendar. Upfirst says it books into "Google, Outlook, Clio, Acuity, Calendly, Square, and more" (Upfirst pricing). Check the plan, though. On Rosie, calendar booking starts on the Scale plan (Rosie pricing).

Can I keep my business phone number?

Usually, yes. Most services let you forward your existing number. Goodcall offers "step-by-step guides for 24 phone carriers" (Goodcall). Quo's Sona is different, because it only works inside Quo's phone system (Quo).

Can an AI receptionist transfer calls to me?

Yes. All seven services in this guide list some form of call transfer. Some, like Rosie on its Scale plan, do warm transfers, where the AI briefs your team before connecting (Rosie pricing). On Quo, call transfers are listed as a Business plan feature (Quo pricing).

Is it legal for an AI receptionist to record my calls?

It depends on your state. Most states need only one person on the call to agree, but some, like California and Florida, need everyone to agree (Justia). The simple fix is to say in your greeting that the call may be recorded. This isn't legal advice, so check your state's rules.

Can an AI receptionist speak Spanish?

Many can. Rosie and Smith.ai both offer English and Spanish (Rosie pricing, Smith.ai). Upfirst lists more than 35 languages (Upfirst pricing), and Frontdesk lists more than 20 (Frontdesk pricing).

Is there a free AI receptionist?

Smith.ai's free plan covers 25 calls a month, then $3.00 per call (Smith.ai pricing). Quo includes about 10 Sona calls a month at no extra cost, but you still need a paid Quo phone plan (Quo). Goodcall lets you build and test a demo agent for free (Goodcall pricing).

Can an AI receptionist replace a human receptionist?

It can take over the routine calls, but not the whole job. A person still handles upset customers, tricky decisions, and visitors at the door. We compare the two in detail in a separate guide.

How long does it take to set up an AI receptionist?

The basic setup can be quick. Smith.ai says about 15 minutes (Smith.ai). We suggest a weekend: an hour to set it up, an hour of practice calls, and a few days of after-hours calls before you go fully live.

Final Verdict

The best AI receptionist for small business owners is the one that answers your calls the way you would, at a price that fits your call volume.

Here's our quick summary:

Upfirst: the best overall value, with booking, transfers, and texting on every plan.
Rosie: the easiest setup, with minute-based plans and English and Spanish on every call.
Smith.ai: the best safety net, with live receptionists ready when the AI gets stuck.
Goodcall: the best for repeat callers and long calls, because it charges per customer, not per minute.
Frontdesk: the best all-in-one, with phone, chat, texts, and a CRM together.
RingCentral AIR: the best big-name option, with CRM links and a 14-day free trial.
Quo with Sona: the best if you need a business phone system and an AI receptionist in one app.