Comparison · Smith.ai AI Receptionist
A Smith.ai
alternative,
priced flat.
Smith.ai's AI receptionist bills by the call. We bill by the month, and we build yours around your business at every price. Here's the comparison, with their published numbers.
First, the right product
Smith.ai sells two different things.
They have a human virtual receptionist service and an AI receptionist, and the prices are nothing like each other. Their humans start at $300 a month for 30 calls. Their AI starts free.
The AI one is what competes with us, so that's what this page compares against. If you're weighing up real people answering your phone, that's a different decision and their human service is a fair way to make it.
The difference in one line
They bill by the call. We bill by the month.
Every Smith.ai tier includes a set number of calls and then charges for each one past it, from $2.10 to $3.00 depending on the tier. Ours is a flat monthly price with no per-call charge at all.
That's the whole thing. Per-call billing is at its most expensive in the month your phone actually went mad, which is the month you most needed the help and the one you could least predict. Ours doesn't move.
Published prices, side by side
What a month actually costs.
| Calls a month | Smith.ai | OnCallAI Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $213 — $150 tier plus 25 at $2.50 | $175 — Small |
| 200 | $385 — $270 tier plus 50 at $2.30 | $300 — Standard |
| 400 | $717 — $500 tier plus 100 at $2.17 | $500 — Busy |
| 800 | $1,430 — $800 tier plus 300 at $2.10 | $850 — High Volume |
Worked from their own grid: each tier's monthly price plus its stated overage rate for the calls above what it includes. These are the call volumes the businesses we work with actually run — a shop taking a handful of calls a month is a different conversation, and worth having on the phone. Prices change; check theirs before you decide.
The part that isn't about price
Custom prompting starts at $500 there. It's the whole product here.
Read down their comparison grid and three rows matter more than the money: custom AI prompting, custom integrations and full-service setup & optimization are all crossed out until the $500 a month tier.
So at $150 or $270 you are configuring a general-purpose receptionist yourself. That's a real product and plenty of businesses are happy with it. But it isn't a receptionist that knows your labour rate, which Saturday you close early, and that the guy who calls every Tuesday about his fleet goes straight to you.
We build that at $300, it's the only way we build, and we sit down with you every two weeks and go through the real calls. Their free tier gets no setup support, no account manager and no live support at all.
Common questions
Switching from Smith.ai.
Is OnCallAI Pro cheaper than Smith.ai?
Once you have a real phone, yes, and the gap widens as you get busier. At 200 calls a month they work out to $385 on their published rates and we're a flat $300. At 800 calls it's $1,430 against our $850.
That's the per-call model doing it: their rate runs $2.10 to $3.00 a call, so your busiest month is also your most expensive one. Ours doesn't move.
What does Smith.ai charge per call?
Their AI receptionist includes a set number of calls per tier and then charges for extras: $3.00 a call on the free tier, $2.50 on the $150 tier, down to $2.10 on the $800 tier.
We don't have a per-call rate. If you outgrow a plan you move up a rung, which you can see coming, rather than finding it on an invoice.
Do I get a receptionist built around my business?
With us, always — it's the only way we do it, at every price. On their grid, custom AI prompting, custom integrations and full-service setup are all unavailable until the $500 a month tier.
Below that you're configuring a general-purpose receptionist yourself and keeping it current yourself.
Can I try it before I cancel anything?
Yes, and you should. Call our demo line at 210-794-7310 and talk to one. Then you spend a week calling your own receptionist as a customer before it ever touches your real line.
Nothing forwards until you say so, so there's no window where you've left one service and not yet trusted the other.
The next call is already on its way.
Half an hour is enough to know whether she'd work for you.
Not ready for either? Leave us a note instead.