Smith.ai
The established hybrid: AI receptionist plans plus North America-based human receptionists, strongest in legal and professional services.
Smith.ai is one of the most established answering services in the market, combining an AI receptionist product with human virtual receptionists based in North America. It handles 24/7 call answering, lead qualification and intake, appointment booking, payment collection, and outbound callbacks, with deep roots in legal intake (Clio, Lawmatics) and 100+ integrations.
Its differentiator is the hybrid model: AI-first plans with optional live-agent handoff, and full human-receptionist plans for businesses that want people on the line. That breadth comes at a higher price point than AI-only competitors.
Pricing
From $95/mo — AI Receptionist self-service: Starter $95/mo (~2 calls/day), Basic $270/mo (~5 calls/day), Pro $800/mo (~15 calls/day); $2.40/call overage; live-agent handoff $3/call. Managed AI plans (annual): $500–$2,000/mo with no overages. Human receptionist plans are priced separately on the vendor's site.
Verified 2026-06-11 against the vendor's pricing page. Pricing changes — always confirm with the vendor before buying.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Human + AI hybrid — real receptionists are available as an escalation path, which pure-AI vendors can't offer
- Long track record and the deepest legal-intake expertise in this list
- 100+ integrations including practice-management suites
- Per-call billing is predictable per interaction (no per-minute meter)
- 30-day money-back guarantee on published plans
Cons
- Materially more expensive than AI-only competitors — managed and human plans run into four figures monthly
- Overage fees ($2.40/call on self-service AI plans) can stack quickly during call spikes
- Unused calls expire monthly on self-service plans
- Human-receptionist tier pricing isn't easily readable from the public site
Feature checklist
| Feature | Smith.ai |
|---|---|
| 24/7 call answering | ✓ |
| Appointment scheduling | ✓ |
| SMS follow-up / texting callers | PartialCall summaries and notifications; text answering on some plans |
| Email follow-up | PartialCall summaries by email |
| CRM / back-office integrations | ✓100+ integrations incl. Clio, Lawmatics, HubSpot |
| Live transfer to a human | ✓Live-agent handoff at $3/call on AI plans; human plans available |
| Spanish / bilingual support | ✓Bilingual human agents |
| Custom call scripts & flows | ✓ |
| Outbound calling | ✓Callbacks and outreach campaigns |
| Call analytics dashboard | ✓Summaries, transcripts, and dashboard |
| Industry-specific packaging | ✓Strongest in legal intake |
| Self-serve signup | ✓Month-to-month AI plans |