AI receptionist, answering service or voicemail?
Three ways to deal with the calls you cannot take. They differ in who picks up, what happens next, and how the bill is counted. The prices for other services are the ones printed on their own pages on November 5, 2026.
Other services' prices checked on .
Side by side
| Voicemail | Live answering service | Reception, an AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who picks up | Nobody. A greeting plays and the caller may leave a message | A person at the service, in your company's name | Software, which says it is an automated assistant |
| What a caller can get done | Leave a message | Whatever the service is set up to do: messages, transfers, often booking | Your written answers, a transfer to your phone, a booking from your free times, or a message |
| Hard or unusual calls | Left as a recording | A person can use judgement | Takes a message when the answer is not one you wrote. Money, medicine and staff questions always go to a person |
| After hours | Same as daytime | Ruby and Smith.ai both include 24/7 answering in the price | Answers at any hour; tells callers you are closed and carries on |
| How the bill is counted | Usually part of your phone plan | Ruby: per receptionist minute. Smith.ai: per call | Per number, with minutes included and a per-minute rate past them |
| Price per month | Usually included | Ruby from $250 for 50 minutes. Smith.ai from $300 for 30 calls | From $149, with 300 minutes included |
| What you have afterwards | A recording to listen to | A message or a summary from the receptionist | A summary, every promise quoted word for word, and the whole call as text |
Where the other prices come from
Voicemail
Voicemail costs nothing extra and needs no setup. What it cannot do is help the caller: they hear a greeting, and either leave a message or ring the next name on their list. You find out by listening to recordings, usually after the job has gone elsewhere.
It is fine for calls that can wait and for callers who already know you. It is a poor fit for a first-time caller with a leak, a toothache or a booking they want made now.
A live answering service
A person answers in your company's name, follows the script you agreed, and passes on messages or transfers calls. A good receptionist can deal with a confused caller or an odd request in a way no software does, and that is the strongest reason to pay for one.
The bill follows the work. Ruby's plans start at $250 a month for 50 receptionist minutes and are billed by the minute; Smith.ai's start at $300 a month for 30 calls, with each call past that billed separately, and appointment booking priced as an add-on per call. Both include answering around the clock.
An AI receptionist
Reception is software that answers your business number. It says it is an automated assistant, then does what you set up: puts the caller through to the phone you chose for their kind of call, reads the answer you wrote, books a time from your opening hours and texts the caller a confirmation, or takes a message. A caller who hangs up gets a text with a link to pick a time for a callback.
It does not use judgement the way a person does. When the answer is not one you wrote, it says so and takes a message. Questions about money, medicines or other people's bookings always go to a person, by design. Every call is in your console a few minutes later as a short summary and the full text.
Which one fits
Voicemail if most of your calls are from regulars and nothing is lost by calling back tomorrow.
A live service if your calls need a person's judgement, such as a law firm's intake or a distressed caller, and the per-minute or per-call bill makes sense for your volume.
An AI receptionist if most calls are the same twenty questions, bookings and emergencies that should ring your phone, and you want every call answered at a flat monthly price. Some owners keep a person for the hard calls and let the line take the rest.
Questions owners ask
- What is the difference between an AI receptionist and an answering service?
- An answering service is people answering in your name, billed by the minute or by the call. An AI receptionist is software: it answers at any hour from what you wrote, books and transfers, and takes a message for anything else.
- Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?
- Usually, per call. The live services we checked start at $250 to $300 a month for 50 minutes or 30 calls; Reception starts at $149 a month with 300 minutes.
- Will callers know it is not a person?
- With Reception, yes. Every call says "You are speaking with an automated assistant." right after your greeting, and that sentence cannot be removed.
- Can an AI receptionist replace voicemail?
- It can answer the calls voicemail would take, book the ones that want a time, and still take a message when that is what the caller needs.
Tonight's calls, answered.
From $149 a month.
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