Best AI receptionists for small businesses
Short answer: Upfirst is the best starting point for most small businesses: $24.95 a month (Upfirst), a 14-day trial with no card, and calendar booking, warm transfers and 35+ languages on every plan. Choose Smith.ai for human backup, Goodcall if most callers are repeat customers, Quo if your team already uses it, and Rosie or Dialzara for cheap minute-based plans.
Prices change often. Every price below is as of 14 Nov 2026 and comes from the vendor's own pricing page, linked in the table.
| Pick | Best for | From (as of 14 Nov 2026) | Included | Free trial or plan | Languages listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upfirst | Most small businesses | $24.95/mo ($20 billed annually) | 30 calls, then $1.50/call | 14 days or 100 calls, no card | 35+ |
| Smith.ai | Human backup | $0; Pro $150/mo | 25 calls free; Pro 75 calls, then $2.50/call | Free plan | "Bilingual" (not named) |
| Goodcall | Repeat callers | $79/mo | 100 unique customers, then $0.79 each | Free demo agent | Not stated |
| Quo (Sona) | Teams already on Quo | $19/user/mo plan | About 10 AI calls/mo, then packs from $25 | 7 days | Not stated |
| Rosie | English and Spanish | $49/mo | 250 minutes | 7 days | English, Spanish |
| Dialzara | Lowest minute-based entry | $29/mo | 60 minutes, then $0.48/min | 7 days | 10 |
| Phonely | Per-minute at volume | $50/mo ($33 billed annually) | 200 or 250 minutes (the page lists both) | Not stated | 50+ (premium voices) |
| My AI Front Desk | Calls, texts, chat and CRM in one | $99/mo ($79 billed annually) | 200 voice minutes | 7 days | 20+ |
Which AI receptionist is best for most small businesses?
1. Upfirst
- Best for: most small businesses that want booking and transfers on the cheapest plan.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Starter $24.95/month ($20 billed annually) with 30 calls, then $1.50 per call. Premium is $59.95 (90 calls), Pro $159.95 (300) and Scale $299 (600) (Upfirst). Calls under 15 seconds, spam and silent calls aren't billed.
- Free trial: 14 days or 100 calls, whichever comes first, plus 25 texts. No card.
- Key features: booking into Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square or Clio; any CRM with an API, or Zapier; warm and waterfall transfers; 35+ languages; two-way SMS. All on every plan.
- Watch out: 30 calls fill up fast, extra AI agents cost $9.95/month each, and BAAs for healthcare are Enterprise-only.
2. Smith.ai
- Best for: businesses that want a human receptionist team behind the AI.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Free plan with 25 calls a month ($3 per extra call). Pro is $150/month for 75 calls ($2.50 per extra call) and Enterprise $500/month for 300 calls (Smith.ai). Month-to-month, with 30 days' notice to cancel.
- Free trial: the Free plan.
- Key features: AI scheduling via Calendly "& more"; native Clio and Zapier integrations; bilingual answering (languages not named). The vendor says the AI can hand calls to a live North America-based receptionist.
- Watch out: per-call billing gets expensive at volume, and the AI pricing page doesn't mention HIPAA or a BAA.
3. Goodcall
- Best for: shops with many repeat callers, because it bills per unique customer, not per minute.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Starter $79/month for 100 unique customers ($0.79 each after), Growth $129 (500, then $0.26 each), Scale $299 (2,000, then $0.15 each) (Goodcall). The vendor says "We never meter minutes."
- Free trial: build and hear a demo agent for free; you pay when you connect a number.
- Key features: a local number included, or forward yours; transfers to the people you choose; links to outside tools (an API, an MCP server or your own code block), with 1 tool on Starter, 5 on Growth and 15 on Scale.
- Watch out: the pricing page names no calendar or CRM and lists no languages, so confirm your booking tool works before you pay.
4. Quo (Sona)
- Best for: teams already running their business phones on Quo (formerly OpenPhone).
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Quo plans cost $19, $33 or $47 per user per month ($15, $23 or $35 billed annually), and Sona is included (Quo). Each call uses 100 credits. Every workspace gets 1,000 free credits (about 10 calls) a month, and packs run from $25 (40 calls) to $199 (600 calls) (Quo support).
- Free trial: 7 days for Quo. Paid Sona packs need a paid plan.
- Key features: Quo says Sona answers 24/7; warm transfers to any person or team on the Business and Scale plans; HubSpot and Salesforce integrations on those plans. Calls under 15 seconds don't count.
- Watch out: Quo's pages don't list booking or languages for Sona, and overages are off by default, so calls past your credits go to your fallback route.
5. Rosie
- Best for: low-cost answering in English and Spanish.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Professional $49/month (250 minutes), Scale $149 (1,000), Growth $299 (2,000) (Rosie). Annual billing gives "2 months free".
- Free trial: 7 days.
- Key features: English and Spanish on every call; Zapier on all plans. Scale adds direct calendar booking, warm and live transfers and texts during calls; Growth adds waterfall transfers.
- Watch out: the $49 plan only texts a booking link and lists no transfers, and the overage rate isn't published.
6. Dialzara
- Best for: the lowest-priced minute-based entry plan.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Business Lite $29/month (60 minutes, then $0.48/min), Pro $99 (220), Plus $199 (500), Elite $349 (1,000, then $0.35/min) (Dialzara). No setup fees.
- Free trial: 7 days.
- Key features: booking, lead qualification, call routing and CRM/calendar integration (not named) from Lite up; 10 languages; an AI SMS agent free with any voice plan.
- Watch out: 60 minutes goes quickly, and blind and warm transfers to your team first appear on the $349 Elite plan.
7. Phonely
- Best for: higher call volumes priced by the minute.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Starter $50/month ($33 billed annually), Pro $150 ($100 billed annually). Starter overage is $0.25 or $0.35 a minute (the page lists both) and Pro's is $0.30; Enterprise is "as low as 5¢/min" (Phonely).
- Free trial: none stated.
- Key features: call transfer and routing (time after a transfer costs $0.02/min); CRM integrations from Pro (not named); premium voices in 50+ languages; a BAA for Enterprise customers, per its FAQ. No calendar integration is named.
- Watch out: for Starter the page lists both 200 and 250 included minutes and both $0.25 and $0.35 overage; for Pro it lists both 650 and 750 minutes. Get the numbers in writing.
8. My AI Front Desk
- Best for: one bundle covering calls, texts, web chat and a built-in CRM.
- Price (as of 14 Nov 2026): Business-in-a-Box $99/month ($79 billed annually) with 200 voice minutes. Extra minutes cost 25 credits and 1 credit is $0.01, so $0.25 a minute; 1,000 overage credits a month are included (My AI Front Desk).
- Free trial: 7 days.
- Key features: booking, rescheduling and no-show follow-ups; its own CRM; call transfer as an agent action; 20+ languages; 400 texts and 100 chat conversations a month; Zapier.
- Watch out: credits make the bill harder to predict, outbound calls cap at 20 a day, and API access is for Partner/Enterprise only.
Why aren't Retell, Vapi or Synthflow on this list?
They're building blocks, not ready-made receptionists. Retell charges $0.07-$0.31 a minute and you assemble the agent yourself (Retell). Vapi's $0.05/min hosting fee excludes model and phone costs (Vapi). Synthflow now sells only annual enterprise contracts and says it has "no free plan or trial" (Synthflow).
If you have a developer, see Best voice AI platforms for developers. If you're moving off Synthflow, see Synthflow alternatives after its move to enterprise-only.
How do you choose an AI receptionist?
- Match the billing unit to your calls. Per-call plans (Upfirst, Smith.ai, Quo) suit many short calls. Per-minute plans (Rosie, Dialzara, Phonely, My AI Front Desk) suit fewer, longer calls. Goodcall bills per unique caller. Our AI voice agent pricing guide shows the math.
- Check booking on your tier. Rosie books directly only from Scale, and Dialzara's transfers to your team first appear on Elite.
- Name your calendar and CRM. Upfirst names the most. If yours isn't listed, ask before you pay.
- Plan the handoff to a person. Confirm warm transfer is on your plan and what transfer time costs.
- Check healthcare and recording rules. Clinics need a signed BAA: see Best AI receptionists for dental and medical clinics. Recording and AI-disclosure rules vary by state and country: see Are AI phone calls legal? US, UK, EU and India.
How we picked
- Ready-made receptionists a non-technical owner can set up, with self-serve sign-up.
- Prices published on the vendor's own page, re-checked on 14 Nov 2026.
- A free trial, free plan or free demo for 7 of the 8 picks.
- The features small businesses ask for: booking, calendar and CRM links, transfer to a person, texting and languages.
- Full method: How Kall tests and ranks AI voice agents.
Sources
- Upfirst pricing, Upfirst, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- AI receptionist pricing, Smith.ai, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Goodcall, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Quo, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Sona pricing, Quo Resource Center, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Rosie, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Dialzara, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Phonely, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, My AI Front Desk, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Retell AI, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Vapi, accessed 14 Nov 2026
- Pricing, Synthflow, accessed 14 Nov 2026
FAQ
How much does an AI receptionist cost for a small business?
As of 14 Nov 2026, dedicated AI receptionist plans start at $24.95 a month (Upfirst): Dialzara $29, Rosie $49, Phonely $50, Goodcall $79 and My AI Front Desk $99. Quo's phone plans start at $19 per user with about 10 AI calls a month, and Smith.ai has a free plan with 25 calls.
Which AI receptionist has a free trial?
Upfirst gives 14 days or 100 calls with no card. Rosie, Dialzara, My AI Front Desk and Quo offer 7 days. Smith.ai has a free plan, and Goodcall lets you build a demo agent for free and pay only when you connect a number.
Can an AI receptionist book appointments into my calendar?
Yes, but check the plan. Upfirst lists Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio on every plan. Rosie books directly into your calendar only from its $149 Scale plan; its $49 plan texts callers a booking link instead.
Is a small-business AI receptionist HIPAA compliant?
Usually not on standard plans. Upfirst lists BAAs only on its custom-priced Enterprise plan, Phonely's FAQ says it can sign one for Enterprise customers, and we found no BAA offer on the other pricing pages here. Clinics should use a healthcare-focused receptionist that signs a BAA.
Related
- Best voice AI platforms for developersVapi, Retell, LiveKit, Pipecat, ElevenLabs, OpenAI Realtime, Twilio and Bland compared on open source, pricing, telephony, models and self-hosting.
- Synthflow alternatives after its move to enterprise-onlySynthflow now sells only annual enterprise contracts. 7 self-serve alternatives for building voice agents without code, priced as of 14 Nov 2026.
- AI voice agent pricing per minute: the real all-in costWhat AI voice agents and receptionists really cost per minute once platform, LLM, voice, transcription and phone line are added. 15 platforms.
- Best AI receptionists for dental and medical clinicsWhich dental and medical AI receptionists sign a HIPAA BAA, on which plan and at what cost, and which connect to Dentrix, Open Dental or Epic.
About KallKall is an independent comparison site for AI voice agents and AI receptionists: real all-in prices, compliance and features, with test calls on the same script for every platform. Ranks are never for sale. How we rank.
Ranks are never for sale. This page has no affiliate links and no paid placements. Prices change often: check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.