Nine AI receptionist and answering services side by side: who answers, what the entry plan costs, how usage is billed and who each one suits. Every price is the vendor's own, checked in October 2026.
A still of the Masheev console: a full inbox of conversations, one of them an AI-drafted WhatsApp reply awaiting a person's approval.
Demo board. Synthetic conversations, real product interface.
Disclosure: Masheev publishes this page and is one of the services compared. We list it first because it is our product, not because of a test result. Every competitor price comes from that vendor's own pricing page, linked below, and we did not test call quality.
There is no single best AI receptionist, because the services bill in different ways and the cheapest one changes with your call pattern. Masheev ($18/month plus metered usage) suits small businesses with light or uneven volume that want phone, SMS and web chat in one inbox. Rosie ($49/month for 250 minutes) costs less per minute at steady volume. Goodcall bills per unique caller with unlimited minutes, which suits long calls. Upfirst bills per call.
If your callers often need a person, look at Smith.ai or Abby Connect, which pair AI with human receptionists, or Ruby, which is fully human and priced accordingly.
Entry plans as published, checked in October 2026. Each name links to a fuller comparison with sources.
| Service | Answers with | Entry plan | How usage is billed | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masheev | AI | $18/month, incl. $7 usage | Voice $0.30/minute, web chat $0.10/message | AI first with your team taking over; phone, SMS and web chat in one inbox |
| Smith.ai | AI and people | $0/month, 25 calls | Per call | AI with live receptionists behind it |
| Ruby | People | $250/month, 50 receptionist minutes | Receptionist minutes, 60-second increments rounded up | A person on every call |
| Goodcall | AI | $79/month per agent, 100 unique customers, unlimited minutes | Per unique customer, unlimited minutes | Long calls or repeat callers, with unlimited minutes |
| Rosie | AI | $49/month, 250 minutes, link-based booking | Minute bundles; exceeding them auto-upgrades the plan | Low cost per minute at steady volume |
| My AI Front Desk | AI | $99/month, 200 voice minutes, 100 chatbot conversations, 400 SMS, 500 email drafts | Bundled allowances, then $0.25 per extra voice minute | Several channels bundled at one price |
| Dialzara | AI | $29/month, 60 minutes | Minute bundles, then $0.35 to $0.48 per minute | Very low call volume, from $29/month |
| Upfirst | AI | $24.95/month, 30 calls | Per call; spam calls not charged | Predictable per-call pricing |
| Abby Connect | AI and people | $165/month, 50 Abby Minutes | Abby Minutes: 1 human minute or 2 AI minutes each | Human receptionists and AI on one plan |
Four questions settle most decisions before you compare features.
Software handles routine questions and bookings at a fraction of the cost. If most callers need judgment or reassurance, pay for people, or route those calls to your own team.
Count calls and average length for a typical month. Per-minute pricing favors short calls, per-call pricing favors long ones, and a low base with metered usage favors uneven months.
Check the overage rate, and whether going over moves you to a higher plan automatically. This is where bills most often surprise people.
Some services cover the phone only and sell texting or web chat as add-ons. If customers also text or message you, check that those conversations land in the same place.
What each vendor says it does, and where it is strongest.
AI · $18/month, incl. $7 usage
Our own product. An AI receptionist that answers phone calls, SMS and web chat in one shared inbox, books through a connected calendar or supported booking tool, and hands off to your team with a written summary. Voice works in 40+ languages. It is AI first: your team can take over any conversation, Masheev learns from how they resolve escalations, and usage is metered at published rates with unlimited seats.
AI and people · $0/month
Smith.ai provides 24/7 phone answering through an AI Receptionist, with live-agent escalation to North America-based receptionists, and separately sells fully human Virtual Receptionist plans. Its AI Receptionist records, transcribes and summarizes calls, qualifies leads, schedules appointments and makes warm transfers, in English and Spanish.
Smith.ai and Masheev compared · Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing · Smith.ai AI Receptionist · Smith.ai website chat · Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists pricing
People · $250/month
Ruby provides 24/7 live answering by human receptionists, with Spanish bilingual answering included, appointment scheduling and call transcripts. It also sells separate live chat plans for websites. There are no setup fees and no long-term contract.
Ruby and Masheev compared · Ruby plans and pricing · Ruby FAQs
AI · $79/month per agent
Goodcall offers an AI phone agent that answers calls, syncs with CRMs and calendars to book appointments, transfers calls and sends notifications by SMS and email. It connects to other tools through Zapier. Plans are priced per agent by unique customers, with unlimited minutes.
AI · $49/month
Rosie is an AI answering service that picks up calls, takes messages, books appointments and provides summaries, transcripts and recordings, in English and Spanish. It includes a website chat widget, spam filtering, mobile apps and Zapier, and says setup takes minutes.
Rosie and Masheev compared · Rosie pricing · Rosie terms of service
AI · $99/month
My AI Front Desk is an AI receptionist covering voice, SMS, WhatsApp, email and chat, with calendar booking, warm transfers and a built-in CRM. It offers Zapier, with API access on its Partner/Enterprise plan, supports 20+ languages, and has a program for agencies that want to white-label the product.
My AI Front Desk and Masheev compared · My AI Front Desk pricing · My AI Front Desk
AI · $29/month
Dialzara is an AI receptionist that answers calls in English and Spanish, books appointments, transfers calls and screens spam. It connects to other tools through Zapier, includes a web chatbot with its voice plans, and offers an SMS agent as an add-on. There are no setup fees or long-term contracts.
AI · $24.95/month
Upfirst is an AI receptionist that answers calls, sends texts during the call, books appointments and makes warm transfers, with recordings and transcripts. It books through Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square and Clio, supports 35+ languages, connects to Zapier and does not charge for spam calls.
AI and people · $165/month
Abby Connect provides phone answering by US-based human receptionists and AI on the same plan, in English and Spanish, with appointment scheduling, call recording and transcription. It connects to more than 1,000 tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio, Zapier and Google Calendar. Plans are month-to-month with no setup fee.
Abby Connect and Masheev compared · Abby Connect pricing · Abby Connect
Masheev is $18/mo plus published usage rates, with unlimited seats and a 14-day Starter trial.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. Masheev is not affiliated with or endorsed by the other services listed.