AI receptionists: the first AI hire most businesses should actually make
Missed calls are lost jobs, and this is the category with the best ratio of money saved to effort spent. I've put these into a plumbing company and two clinics. Setup took an afternoon in both cases; the hard part is writing down how you actually want calls handled, not the software. One warning before the table: half these vendors hide pricing behind a demo, and in this category that's usually a sign you're too small for them.
| Tool | What it costs (checked 20 Oct 2026) | My read | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai | Starter $300/mo (30 calls); Basic $810/mo (90 calls); Pro $2,100/mo (300 calls); overage $8.50-$11.50/call; AI-first/Hybrid/Human-first modes no free trial · monthly billing |
Humans catch what the AI fumbles, which matters most for medical or legal intake. Monthly call bundles replace per-call billing; overage runs $8.50-11.50/call. | ||
| Goodcall | from $79/mo incl. 100 unique customers/mo then $0.79 each; $129/mo (500 cust); $299/mo (2,000 cust); Enterprise volume pricing free trial · monthly billing |
The one I installed for the plumber. Answers, books, routes, and doesn't get snarky at 7am. For a local business this is probably enough. | ||
| Slang.ai | Core starting at $399 per location; Premium starting at $599 per location; Enterprise custom (billing period not stated on page) custom quote |
Built for restaurants, handles reservations and "is the patio open" better than generic tools. Expect a sales call. | ||
| Front Desk Hero | AI agents: Free plan (100 credits); $149/mo incl. 5,000 credits ($0.030/credit); overage $0.045/credit; Enterprise custom (clerk.ai) free trial · monthly billing | (site unreachable when checked)Medical and dental front desk. If you take insurance details over the phone, check their compliance story first. | ||
| Clerk | AI plans not priced publicly; live receptionist plans $129-319/mo no free trial · monthly billing |
Aimed at service businesses with scheduling. Solid, unglamorous, does the job. | ||
| Davinci Virtual | Not public | Traditional virtual receptionist adding AI tiers. Useful if you want a real address and live humans as backup. |
The math that sells this category: one missed service call is worth a few hundred dollars to a trades business. At $59/month, Goodcall pays for itself if it catches a single job per month. Compare that to the SDR page, where you're out $3k before you know if it works.
Prices from vendor pricing pages on 20 Oct 2026. A couple still quote only after a call; "not public" means exactly that, not that they're expensive. Nobody pays to be listed here.