What is the best AI receptionist for a small business?

Here's how the 9 compare. "From" is the cheapest published plan. Bookings and call transfers show the cheapest plan that includes them.

Prices alone don't tell you which is best. The sections below cover what each one does well and what to watch out for.

We checked 6 things for each AI receptionist that publishes US prices:

1. 1Price, and any charge per minute or per call over the allowance.
2. 2How it bills: per minute, per call, per caller or a flat price.
3. 3Whether it can book callers into your calendar, and on which plan.
4. 4Whether it can transfer calls to you or your team, and on which plan.
5. 5What you get after each call, such as a summary, recording or transcript.
6. 6Whether you can try it free, and whether you need a card to start.

Everything comes from each provider's own pricing page on 9 November 2026. We haven't ranked providers on call quality, because the only fair test of that is calling it yourself during a free trial.

Ringzel answers every call you forward to it, 24/7, including evenings, weekends and holidays, for $99, $179 or $299 a month with unlimited calls and no per-call or per-minute charges. It answers in your business name, tells callers it's automated, asks the questions you've set and saves a summary of every call to your Ringzel account. Pay yearly and you get 12 months for the price of 10.

Why pick it: Every call comes with the recording, the transcript, a summary and a check report from a separate review of the call, so you can see how each caller was handled without listening to everything. A busy month costs the same as a quiet one. Professional adds website chat, bookings into your calendar, call transfers and team routing; Premium adds integrations and reputation management. You keep your own number and forward the calls you can't take, and the trial is 14 days with no card.

Watch out for: Ringzel isn't the cheapest for a few calls a month. Bookings and call transfers start on the $179 Professional plan, while Upfirst, Smith.ai and NextPhone include them on their entry plans. The Ringzel app is on Google Play for Android; the iPhone app is coming soon, so iPhone users manage everything from their Ringzel account online for now.

Upfirst's Starter plan is $24.95 a month for 30 calls, or $20 billed annually, then $1.50 a call. Bigger plans are $59.95 for 90 calls, $159.95 for 300 and $299 for 600.

Why pick it: Every plan includes 24/7 answering, warm transfers, appointment scheduling, two-way texting, recordings and transcripts. Spam and calls under 15 seconds aren't billed. The trial is 14 days or 100 calls, whichever comes first, with no card.

Watch out for: 30 calls is about one a day. Past that you pay per call, so a busy month costs more. Setup help is on the $299 Scale plan and above.

Rosie's Professional plan is $49 a month for 250 minutes. Scale is $149 for 1,000 minutes and Growth is $299 for 2,000.

Why pick it: Every plan includes iPhone and Android apps, 24/7 answering, call summaries, transcripts and recordings, and a website chat widget. On the $49 plan it texts callers a link to book.

Watch out for: Booking straight into your calendar and live or warm transfers start on the $149 Scale plan. 250 minutes is about 83 three-minute calls. The trial is 7 days.

Smith.ai's AI Receptionist has a free plan for 25 calls a month, then $3.00 a call. Pro is $150 a month for 75 calls, with bigger bundles of 150 calls for $270 and 300 for $500.

Why pick it: Smith.ai also runs a live receptionist service, and its AI can pass a complex call to a live receptionist. Every plan includes 24/7 answering, recordings, transcripts and summaries, call routing and AI scheduling, and the free plan lets you go live before you pay.

Watch out for: You pay per call, so a busy month costs more: extra calls are $3.00 each on Free and $2.50 on the 75-call Pro plan. Cancelling takes 30 days' notice. Its live receptionists cost more: $300 a month for 30 calls.

NextPhone's Pro plan is $199 a month with unlimited inbound calls. Growth is $299 and Scale is $599. Paying yearly saves about 17%.

Why pick it: Every plan has unlimited calls and team members, bookings into Google, Outlook and booking tools like Calendly, call transfers, recordings and transcripts, and an iOS app. On Growth and Scale, NextPhone's team builds, tests and tunes the agent for you.

Watch out for: It has the highest entry price here. On Pro you build the agent yourself. The trial is 7 days.

RingCentral's standalone AI Receptionist is $49 a month for 100 minutes, then $0.50 a minute. With a RingEX phone plan, it's $39 a month on top of RingEX from $30.

Why pick it: It works with any phone system through forwarding, and plugs into RingCentral's phone, queues and analytics if you already use them. Call transfers, appointment scheduling through calendar integrations or text links, transcripts and recordings are included. The trial is 14 days.

Watch out for: 100 minutes is about 33 three-minute calls. After that it's $0.50 a minute, with call time rounded up to the next 30 seconds.

Goodcall's Starter plan is $79 a month for 100 unique customers, then 79¢ each. Growth is $129 for 500 and Scale is $299 for 2,000.

Why pick it: You pay per different caller each month, not per call or minute, so a customer who calls five times in a month counts once, and spam doesn't count at all. Every plan includes a local number, or you can keep your own by forwarding. You can build and test a demo agent free.

Watch out for: Starter has 1 team member and 30 days of call history. Each new caller over 100 costs 79¢ on Starter.

Dialzara's Business Lite plan is $29 a month for 60 minutes of talk time, then $0.48 a minute. Pro is $99 for 220 minutes, Plus $199 for 500 and Elite $349 for 1,000.

Why pick it: It's the lowest per-minute entry price we found. Every plan includes call recordings, summaries, message taking with your questions and blind transfers to your team, with no contract.

Watch out for: 60 minutes is about 20 three-minute calls. Calendar sync, warm transfers and after-hours rules start on the $99 Pro plan. The trial is 7 days.

My AI Front Desk's Business-in-a-Box plan is $99 a month, or $79 billed annually, with 200 voice minutes.

Why pick it: The plan covers more than calls: web chat, two-way texting, a CRM and follow-up automations, as well as phone answering that can book appointments and transfer calls.

Watch out for: The 200 minutes cover voice chats on your website as well as phone calls. After that, each extra minute takes 25 credits ($0.25) from a monthly credit pool, and auto-reload adds $10 of credits when it runs out. The trial is 7 days.

Pick by your call volume first, then by the 1 or 2 features you can't do without:

Whichever you pick, call it yourself during the free trial. Ask it what your customers ask, then check what you get after the call.

For contractors, the best AI receptionist is 1 that gets the caller's name, number, address and the job, and gets it to you fast enough to call back before they call someone else. Contractors miss calls because they're on a job, on a roof or driving.

Call volume swings with the season, so watch how each plan bills. Ringzel's flat price means a busy week of no-heat calls costs the same as a quiet one. Per-call and per-minute plans cost more in the busy months. See how it works for plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians and roofers.

The best answering service for you depends on whether your calls need a person: if they do, a live service; if most calls are routine, an AI answering service costs a fraction of the price. Smith.ai, which sells both, charges $300 a month for 30 calls on its live service and $150 a month for 75 calls on its AI Receptionist Pro plan.

A person can handle calls that need judgment, and some callers prefer it. An AI receptionist costs less per call and answers every call at once, however many come in. Our guide to AI receptionists vs answering services covers when each one fits, and our AI receptionist cost guide works out each provider's price at 60 and 200 calls. If you're weighing a person against software, our virtual receptionist guide compares live and AI virtual receptionists' prices.

Check these 7 things before you sign up:

1. 1How it sounds. Call it yourself. If it sounds robotic or talks over you, your callers will notice.
2. 2What it asks. It should get the details you need, such as name, number, address and what they want, without you having to call back for them.
3. 3What you get after the call. A summary, recording and transcript let you check what was said.
4. 4Bookings and transfers. Check which plan includes them, not just whether the provider offers them.
5. 5How it bills. Per minute, per call, per caller or flat. Work out what 100 calls a month would cost.
6. 6Keeping your number. You should be able to forward your existing number, so customers call the number they know.
7. 7Contract and trial. Look for month-to-month plans and a free trial, ideally without a card.

Ringzel is an AI receptionist for small businesses, with unlimited calls on every plan from $99 a month. It answers every call 24/7, so you can leave it on and check your Ringzel account when it suits you. It answers in your business name, asks your questions and gives you the recording, transcript, summary and check report for every call.

Build your receptionist in about two minutes and talk to it before you pay anything.

14-day free trial. No card to start. Keep your number.