Comparison
| Tool | Why it fits (from official info) | Pricing | Official pricing | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Goodcall | Billed per unique caller, never per minute: one number calling five times in a month counts once, and spam or wrong numbers don't count. Starter $79/month covers 100 unique customers, then 79¢ each; Growth $129 (500, then 26¢); Scale $299 (2,000, then 15¢). A local number is included, or forward your existing one. No free plan, but you can build and test a free demo agent before connecting a number. | Paid | Official pricing (2026-11-11): Starter $79/month (100 unique customers a month, then 79¢ each); Growth $129/month (500, then 26¢); Scale $299/month (2,000, then 15¢); Enterprise custom. No per-minute charges; a local number is included. | |
 Rosie | Lowest entry price: Professional $49/month for 250 minutes (message taking, appointment links by text, spam detection). Booking directly on your calendar and live/warm transfers start at Scale, $149/month for 1,000 minutes; Growth is $299 for 2,000 minutes. English and Spanish on every call, mobile apps, learns from your Google Business Profile and website. 7-day free trial; annual billing gives 2 months free. | Paid | Official pricing (2026-11-11, monthly): Professional $49/month (250 minutes); Scale $149/month (1,000 minutes, calendar booking and transfers); Growth $299/month (2,000 minutes). Annual billing gives 2 months free. Website chat free; Website Texting add-on $50/month (25 conversations, then $1 each). 7-day free trial. | |
 Smith.ai | The only free plan here: $0/month with 25 calls, then $3.00 per call. Pro starts at $150/month for 75 calls (about $2.00 each, extra calls $2.50). Billed per call, not per minute; 20M+ known spam numbers are filtered out before answering and you can remove up to 10% of calls as spam each cycle. Unique point: complex calls can be transferred to North America-based live receptionists 24/7. | Freemium | Official pricing (2026-11-11): Free $0/month with 25 calls, then $3.00 per call; Pro from $150/month (75 calls, about $2.00 per call; 150 and 300-call tiers too), extra calls $2.17–$2.50; Enterprise from $500/month (300 calls, about $1.67 per call). Month-to-month, no contract. | |
 My AI Front Desk | One plan, Business-in-a-Box: $99/month or $79/month billed annually, with 200 voice minutes plus 100 web-chat conversations, 400 SMS, email follow-ups and an AI CRM. Extra voice minutes cost $0.25 (25 credits), first from a 1,000-credit monthly pool, then $10 per 1,000 credits. Good if you also want website chat and texting from the same AI. No permanently free plan. | Paid | Official pricing (2026-11-11): Business-in-a-Box $99/month or $79/month billed annually, with 200 voice minutes a month and more; extra voice is 25 credits ($0.25) a minute, 1 credit = $0.01, auto-reload $10 for 1,000 credits; Partner/Enterprise custom. No permanently free plan. | |
 Intercom Fin | Not a phone-first receptionist, but if you already run support in Intercom, Fin AI Agent answers email, chat and phone at $0.99 per resolved outcome (charged once per conversation), plus seats from $29/month ($19 for new customers) and usage-based phone fees. 14-day free trial, no card. | Paid | From the official pricing page (2026-11-11): Fin AI Agent $0.99 per outcome on every plan; Intercom helpdesk billed yearly Essential $29 per seat/month ($19 for new customers), Advanced $85, Expert $132; Fin alone on an existing helpdesk (e.g. Salesforce) via sales, no seats, with a minimum monthly commitment (e.g. 50 outcomes). 14-day free trial, no card. |
How to do it with AI
- Count your real call volume for one or two weeks: total calls, how many different callers, and the typical call length. These three numbers decide which billing model is cheapest.
- Write the 5–10 answers callers always need (services, area covered, opening hours, call-out fee or 'from' prices, how booking works) and when a call must reach you directly (emergencies, existing jobs).
- Try one free path first: Smith.ai Free (25 calls a month), a Goodcall demo agent (free until you connect a number) or Rosie's 7-day trial. Call it yourself from a different phone with your hardest real questions.
- Start with after-hours and overflow only: forward unanswered or after-hours calls to the AI and keep answering during the day. All four let you keep your existing number by forwarding.
- Check the monthly total at your volume, not the headline price. Example at 100 calls a month averaging 3 minutes from about 100 different callers: Goodcall Starter $79; Rosie needs Scale ($149) because 300 minutes exceeds Professional's 250; My AI Front Desk about $99 plus roughly $15 in reload credits for the extra 100 minutes; Smith.ai Pro (75 calls) $150 plus 25 extra calls at $2.50 = $212.50.
- Read every call summary for the first two weeks and fix wrong answers in the knowledge base before relying on it for bookings.
- Re-check the pricing page on the day you sign up — per-call, per-caller and per-minute rates change, and annual prices differ from monthly.
Instructions you can paste into any AI receptionist's setup or knowledge base (our suggested wording, not a test output)
You answer the phone for Northside Plumbing & Heating, a two-van plumbing business in Columbus, Ohio. Hours: Mon–Fri 7am–6pm, Sat 8am–1pm. We cover Columbus, Westerville, Dublin and Worthington. Services: leaks, water heaters, drain clearing, boiler and furnace repairs. Call-out fee: [fill in]. For burst pipes, gas smells or no heat with young children or elderly people at home, take name, address and phone number and transfer to the owner immediately. For everything else, collect name, address, phone number, the problem and preferred day, then offer the next available booking slot. Never quote a final repair price, never promise an exact arrival time, and never make up reviews, licences or guarantees.
Hands-on log
- 2026-11-11 · Not tested
Not tested hands-on yet. Smith.ai, Goodcall, Rosie and My AI Front Desk all require creating an account (and for live calls, connecting a phone number) before the receptionist can be set up and called, so we did not run them. Facts on this page come from the official pricing pages only; the 100-call cost example is our arithmetic from those published rates.
China-made vs Western: NetEase Qiyu next to Smith.ai, Goodcall, Rosie and My AI Front Desk
NetEase Qiyu (qiyukf.com, from NetEase) is listed in our mainland China section. It is an enterprise customer service suite where an inbound voice bot is one module next to live chat, a cloud call center and tickets; prices are not published and it offers a free trial. The Western tools above are self-serve phone receptionists with public monthly prices in USD.
| Need | NetEase Qiyu | Smith.ai / Goodcall / Rosie / My AI Front Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Answering the phone | Inbound voice bot plus a cloud call center with 5-level IVR menus and batch outbound tasks | AI answers every call 24/7, takes messages, books appointments and transfers when needed |
| Free way to start | Free trial (request on the official site) | Smith.ai Free (25 calls a month); Goodcall free demo agent; Rosie 7-day trial; My AI Front Desk no free plan |
| Pricing | Not published; ask sales | Published: Rosie from $49/month, Goodcall from $79, My AI Front Desk $99 ($79 yearly), Smith.ai Pro from $150 |
| Channels beyond phone | Web, apps, WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Alipay and Baidu mini programs, video support | Rosie and My AI Front Desk add website chat and texting; Smith.ai and Goodcall focus on calls |
| Best for | Businesses serving customers in mainland China, often larger teams with a hotline | Small English-speaking (Rosie also Spanish) service businesses in the US and similar markets |
Marketing and customer service tools usable in mainland China →
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI receptionist for a small business?
On sticker price, Rosie Professional at $49/month, but it includes 250 minutes and calendar booking starts on Scale ($149). Smith.ai has a free plan with 25 calls a month. For about 100 callers a month with longer calls, Goodcall Starter at $79/month is the most predictable because it never charges per minute.
Is there a free AI phone receptionist?
Smith.ai's AI Receptionist Free plan is $0/month and includes 25 calls a month, then $3.00 per call. Goodcall lets you build and test a demo agent free until you connect a number, and Rosie has a 7-day free trial. My AI Front Desk says it has no permanently free plan.
Per call, per caller or per minute — which billing is cheaper?
It depends on your calls. Per-minute plans (Rosie, My AI Front Desk) suit short calls. Per-caller billing (Goodcall) counts each phone number once a month, so repeat callers and long booking calls cost nothing extra. Per-call billing (Smith.ai, about $1.67–$3.00 a call) is simplest to predict but costs the most at volume; Smith.ai says it bills per call so it isn't rewarded for longer calls.
Do spam calls count against my plan?
Goodcall says spam and wrong numbers don't count at all. Smith.ai filters 20 million+ known spam numbers before answering (those don't count) and lets you remove up to 10% of calls as spam each billing cycle. Rosie lists automatic spam detection on every plan.
Can I keep my existing business number?
Yes with all four: you forward your current number to the AI. Goodcall also includes a local number on every plan, and Rosie lets you pick your area code.
Can the AI hand a caller to a real person?
Smith.ai can transfer complex calls to its North America-based live receptionists at any time. Rosie Scale and Growth do live and warm transfers to your own team (Growth tries several numbers in turn), and My AI Front Desk lists call transfer among its agent actions.
Which AI receptionist answers in Spanish?
Rosie lists English and Spanish on every call on all plans. My AI Front Desk advertises 20+ languages.
Is there a mainland China alternative?
NetEase Qiyu (qiyukf.com) offers an inbound voice bot, cloud call center and chatbot for businesses in mainland China, with a free trial; prices are not published. See our mainland China section.
Head-to-head comparisons
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