AITeamGuide

Best of 2026 · Answer the business phone · Prices checked October 20, 2026 to October 22, 2026

Best AI receptionists in 2026

22 AI receptionists for the job "answer the business phone", each with its pricing as the vendor publishes it ("not published" where it doesn't), the source and the date we checked it. 19 publish prices, 3 quote only, 2 have a free plan and 1 have verified public use cases. Ordered by our data, never by payment.

Compare prices AI receptionists

All 22, in our order

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How we ordered this list: how many of our 10 industry rankings include each product, then our estimate of the real bill at 300 calls a month. Only full listings (verified starting price with its source) are included. We haven't tested these hands-on. How we rank.

Pricing compared

Public pricing of AI receptionists, with the date each price was checked
ProductAdvertisedReal bill, 300 calls/moFree trialPlansCheckedSource
Upfirst$24.95/mo (Starter, monthly)$159.95/mo14-day free trial
  • Starter: $24.95/mo ($20 annual) (30 calls)
  • Premium: $59.95/mo ($48 annual) (90 calls)
  • Pro: $159.95/mo ($128 annual) (300 calls, white-glove onboarding)
  • Scale: $299/mo ($240 annual) (600 calls)
  • Custom: Contact sales (600+ calls, BAAs for HIPAA)
October 20, 2026Source
Goodcall$79/mo (Starter)$129/moFree demo agent; pay when you connect a number
  • Starter: $79/mo (100 unique customers (~150 calls))
  • Growth: $129/mo (500 unique customers (~750 calls))
  • Scale: $299/mo (2,000 unique customers (~3,000 calls))
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (2,000+ customers, SLA)
October 20, 2026Source
NextPhone$199/mo (Pro)$199/mo7-day free trial
  • Pro: $199/mo (Unlimited calls, self-setup)
  • Growth: $299/mo (Unlimited calls, built and tuned for you)
  • Scale: $599/mo (Complex routing, 2-way SMS, multiple offices)
October 20, 2026Source
Rosie$49/mo (Professional)$149/mo7-day free trial
  • Professional: $49/mo (250 minutes, message taking, booking links by text)
  • Scale: $149/mo (1,000 minutes, direct calendar booking, warm & live transfers)
  • Growth: $299/mo (2,000 minutes, waterfall transfers, custom training, white-glove onboarding)
October 20, 2026Source
Ruby$250/mo (Call Ruby 50)≈ $3,128/moNot public (affiliate terms mention a money-back guarantee period)
  • Call Ruby 50: $250/mo (50 receptionist minutes)
  • Call Ruby 100: $395/mo (100 minutes)
  • Call Ruby 200: $720/mo (200 minutes)
  • Call Ruby 500: $1,725/mo (500 minutes)
  • Call Ruby 750: $2,550/mo (750 minutes)
  • Call Ruby 1,000: $3,350/mo (1,000 minutes)
October 20, 2026Source
Weave$199/mo (Base plan; AI add-on not public)$199 + AI add-on (not public)No platform trial; new products offered to existing customers on trials (third-party report)
  • Base plan: $199/mo (Phones, 2-way texting, missed-call text, payments, analytics)
  • Coordinate / Attract bundles: $149/mo each (Scheduling, reminders / reviews, marketing)
  • AI Receptionist add-on: not public (100 call-credit increments per location)
October 20, 2026Source
My AI Front Desk$99/mo (Business-in-a-Box, monthly; $79 billed annually)≈ $264/moAccount creation is free; trial terms 'depend on your chosen plan or offer' (check before signing up)
  • Business-in-a-Box: $99/mo ($79/mo billed annually) (200 voice minutes, 100 chats, 400 SMS, 1,000 overage credits/mo)
  • Partner / Enterprise: Contact sales (custom volume, API, account manager)
October 20, 2026Source
Dialzara$29/mo (Business Lite)$352/mo7-day free trial
  • Business Lite: $29/mo (60 minutes; blind transfer only)
  • Business Pro: $99/mo (220 minutes; warm transfer, bilingual, calendar sync)
  • Business Plus: $199/mo (500 minutes; multi-location, custom prompts)
  • Business Elite: $349/mo (1,000 minutes; priority SLA, API)
October 20, 2026Source
Smith.ai$150/mo (Pro plan entry price; a free 25-call plan also exists)≈ $501/moFree plan: 25 calls/mo
  • Free: $0/mo (25 calls/mo)
  • Pro: from $150/mo (75 calls ($2.00/call); 150 calls ($1.80/call); 300 calls ($1.67/call))
  • Enterprise: from $500/mo (300 calls ($1.67/call), 500 ($1.60), 1000+ custom)
October 20, 2026Source
Allo$32/mo (AI Receptionist add-on, billed yearly; also needs a seat)$90/mo (usage caps not published)7-day free trial
  • Solo: $15/mo ($10 annual) (1 seat (waitlist at time of check))
  • Business: $45/seat/mo ($32 annual) (CRM sync, shared inbox, US SMS)
  • AI Receptionist add-on: $45/agent/mo ($32 annual) (Answers, books, takes messages, SMS follow-up)
October 20, 2026Source
Retell AI$0.07/min (Pay as you go, from)≈ $115/mo + build timeFree sign-up; pay for usage
  • Pay as you go: $0.07-$0.31/min (Full platform, 20 concurrent calls, 10 knowledge bases)
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (Custom BAA/MSA, SSO, dedicated support)
October 20, 2026Source
Slang.ai$399/mo (Core, per location)from $399/monot public
  • Core: from $399/mo per location (Reservations, text links, insights, bilingual)
  • Premium: from $599/mo per location (Superhost, 97 languages, private events, alerts)
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (Custom workflows, dashboards, SSO)
October 20, 2026Source
Newo.ai$0 to start (Pay As You Go)≈ $449/mo50 free units on Pay As You Go
  • Pay As You Go: $0/mo (50 free units once)
  • AI Receptionist: $299/mo (200 units/mo)
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (Custom, white-label)
October 20, 2026Source
Arini$499/mo (Starter per Capterra; unverified)$499/mo (unverified)Capterra lists a free trial (credit card required)
  • Starter Package: $499/mo (Capterra listing) (Inbound call handling, online scheduling)
  • Growth Package: $799/mo (Capterra listing) (+ outbound patient workflows)
October 20, 2026Source
Sameday AI$449/mo (Launch)$789/monot public (demo)
  • Launch: from $449/mo (500 minutes, 3 locations, pro scheduling)
  • Scale: from $789/mo (1,000 minutes, unlimited locations, voice cloning)
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (Multilingual, API, custom integrations)
October 20, 2026Source
LomanContact salesContact salesnot public (demo call)
  • Starter: Contact sales (Call handling, SMS, transfers, menu updates)
  • Premium: Contact sales (+ ordering, reservations, POS integration, payments)
October 20, 2026Source
NumaContact salesContact salesnot public
  • All plans: Contact sales (Demo required)
October 20, 2026Source
SonantContact salesContact salesnot public
  • Custom: Contact sales (Quoted on call volume and offices)
October 20, 2026Source
Vapi$0.05/min (Hosting fee, plus providers)≈ $74-116/mo + telephony + build time$5 free credits
  • Usage only: $0.05/min hosting + providers at cost ($5 credit, 1 number, 4 concurrent)
  • Pro package: $999/mo minimum (30 concurrent, Slack support, SLA)
October 20, 2026Source
Bland AI$0.14/min (Start plan)≈ $126/mo + build time2 free credits, no card
  • Start: $0.14/min, $0 platform fee (Inbound number, 10 concurrent, 100 calls/day)
  • Build: $0.12/min + $299/mo (50 concurrent, 2,000 calls/day)
  • Enterprise: Contact sales (BAA, SSO, warm/live transfers, scheduling)
October 20, 2026Source
ElevenLabs Reception$29/mo (Basic)$199/mo14-day free trial (30 phone minutes, no card)
  • Free trial: $0 for 14 days (30 credits (up to 30 phone minutes), 1 phone number, no card required)
  • Basic: $29/mo (75 phone minutes, 1 phone number, 1 call at a time)
  • Plus: $79/mo (275 phone minutes, 3 phone numbers, up to 3 calls at a time, webhooks)
  • Premium: $199/mo (1,000 phone minutes, 5 phone numbers, up to 10 calls at a time, multi-location)
October 22, 2026Source
Synthflow$30,000/yr (Enterprise minimum)≥ $2,500/mo (contract minimum)None public
  • Enterprise: from $30,000/year (Scoped by volume, concurrency, integrations)
October 20, 2026Source

Prices are copied from each vendor's public pricing page on the date shown. "not published" or "Contact sales" means the vendor doesn't publish a price; we don't guess. Real bill = our estimate from public pricing: 300 calls/month, average 3 minutes per call (900 talk minutes), billed monthly (not annual), US local number, no add-ons. Prices change; confirm with the vendor.

FAQ

What are the best AI receptionists in 2026?

We list 22 AI receptionists as full listings, with pricing checked on each vendor's own site. Ordered by our data (how many of our 10 industry rankings include each product, then our estimate of the real bill at 300 calls a month), the first three are Upfirst ($24.95/mo (Starter, monthly)), Goodcall ($79/mo (Starter)) and NextPhone ($199/mo (Pro)). We haven't tested them hands-on, and no vendor can pay to change this order.

How much do AI receptionists cost?

At about 300 calls a month (3-minute average), our estimates from public pricing range from $74-116/mo + telephony + build time (Vapi) to $3,128/mo (Ruby). Loman, Numa and Sonant don't publish prices (not published). Prices checked October 20, 2026 to October 22, 2026.

Which AI receptionists have a free plan?

Smith.ai and Newo.ai have a free plan or free tier, according to their public pricing pages (checked October 20, 2026 to October 22, 2026).

Which AI receptionists have real-world use cases?

We've found verified public use cases for Retell AI (1). Each is summarised and credited to its original source on the agent's page.

Did AITeamGuide test these products?

Not yet. This page is built from public pricing pages (with the date we checked each one), published product information and credited public use cases. Hands-on tests will be marked when we add them.

Can a vendor pay to rank higher here?

No. The order comes from our data only. Paid placements are always labelled "Sponsored" or "Featured", sit outside the list and never change the order.

Head-to-head comparisons

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Alternatives guides

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Work at a company on this page? Vendors can claim their listing for free or feature it with a label that says "Sponsored"; paid status never changes the order on this page. Building a different agent? List it here.

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