Top 10 AI Receptionists for Small Business 2026

Top 10 AI Receptionists for Small Business 2026

The top 10 AI receptionists for small business in 2026, sorted by entry price: AIRA ($24.95/mo, 30 calls), UpFirst ($24.95/mo, 30 calls), Dialzara ($29/mo, 60 min), Trillet ($49/mo, 150 min), Marlie ($49/mo, 250 min), Hey Rosie ($49/mo, 250 min), Echowin ($49.99/mo, ~100 min), Phonely (free tier + $50/mo Starter, 250 min), Goodcall ($79/mo, 100 callers), Frontdesk (formerly My AI Front Desk, free tier + $99/mo, 200 min), and Smith.ai ($500/mo managed AI). For best overall value, Trillet wins at $49/month with voice, SMS, and WhatsApp included, the lowest overage on this list at $0.20/min, auto-callback, and HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, and GDPR compliance included on every plan. For lowest entry price, AIRA and UpFirst tie at $24.95/month. For highest included minutes at the $49 tier, Marlie and Hey Rosie both offer 250 minutes. For human backup on complex calls, Smith.ai is the only hybrid option, at roughly 10x Trillet's base price. This guide normalizes every platform's pricing, included minutes, overage rate, channels, and compliance into one comparable framework, then shows what each actually costs at 200 minutes per month.

The AI receptionist market has fragmented significantly since 2025, with new entrants undercutting on price while established players add features. That fragmentation makes direct comparison harder than it should be, because every platform bills differently, bundles differently, and defines "included" differently. Trillet's own Complete AI Receptionist Guide for Small Businesses covers how these systems work; this roundup focuses on the head-to-head numbers. All pricing data is current as of June 2026 and cross-checked against each provider's published pricing.

Which Trillet product is right for you?

• Small businesses: Trillet AI Receptionist, 24/7 call answering starting at $49/month with 150 minutes included
• Agencies reselling to clients: Trillet White-Label, build and resell voice AI agents under your own brand starting at $99/month

How We Evaluated These 10 Platforms

Every platform on this list was assessed against five criteria that matter to small business owners who miss calls and lose revenue because of it: total cost of ownership, channel coverage, compliance, setup complexity, and overage economics.

1. Total cost of ownership: Base price is just the starting point. We calculated what a business handling 200 minutes per month actually pays on each platform, including overages, required add-ons, and tier upgrades.
2. Channel coverage: Does the platform handle voice only, or does it also manage SMS follow-ups and WhatsApp messages? Multi-channel matters because customers increasingly text back after a missed call rather than calling again.
3. Compliance: HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, GDPR. Some platforms include compliance on every plan. Others gate it behind enterprise tiers or a separate agreement. Others offer no compliance at all.
4. Setup complexity: How long from signup to a working AI receptionist? We timed each platform's onboarding.
5. Overage economics: The advertised price means little if overage rates double your bill. We compared per-minute and per-call overage structures across all 10.

Master Comparison Table

As of June 2026, here is every platform compared side by side. Figures are taken from each provider's published pricing.

AIRA

AIRA is the joint-cheapest AI receptionist at $24.95/month with 30 calls included, $1.50 per call after that (dropping to $0.70 per call on higher tiers up to a $299 Scale plan with 600 calls), support for 31 languages, and a bilingual English/Spanish mode that switches mid-conversation. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The per-call billing model works well for businesses with low call volume but longer conversations. If your average call runs 5+ minutes, paying a flat per-call rate rather than per minute can save money. AIRA's 31-language support and native bilingual capability make it a strong pick for businesses serving multilingual communities.

The trade-off is scope. AIRA handles voice calls only, with no SMS or WhatsApp follow-up. Its HIPAA status is contradictory: AIRA's materials claim compliance in some places and not in others, so do not treat it as confirmed for healthcare, legal, or financial work. At 30 included calls, a moderately busy small business will exceed the base plan quickly. The AIRA vs Trillet comparison details where the per-call model and single-channel scope create gaps on complex calls.

Best for: Very low-volume businesses, especially those needing bilingual English/Spanish reception.

UpFirst

UpFirst matches AIRA's $24.95/month entry price almost exactly, publishing identical tiers ($24.95/$59.95/$159.95/$299) with the same 30 included calls and $1.50-to-$0.70 per-call overage. The two products appear to share pricing structures, so a head-to-head comes down to features rather than cost. Pricing verified as of June 2026.

UpFirst supports 35+ languages, the broadest on this list, and offers a BAA on its Custom tier, which gives it a path to HIPAA coverage that AIRA does not clearly publish. That matters if you handle health information and want a contractual compliance commitment rather than a marketing claim.

Like AIRA, UpFirst is voice-only with no SMS or WhatsApp follow-up on its standard plans. The per-call model also means costs are less predictable than per-minute billing, since you pay the same flat rate whether a call lasts 30 seconds or 10 minutes. For businesses fielding many short or spam calls, that can add up faster than the headline price suggests, which is exactly the dynamic the AI receptionist overage trap breakdown covers.

Best for: Budget-conscious businesses that want the lowest possible entry price and value broad language coverage.

Dialzara

Dialzara starts at $29/month with 60 minutes included and a $0.48/minute overage rate (dropping toward $0.35/minute on higher tiers, up to a $349 Elite plan with 1,000 minutes). Its standout feature is 50+ voice options and automated website scraping during setup, which builds a knowledge base from your existing site content. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The voice variety is genuinely useful for brand matching. A law firm and a surf shop should not sound the same, and Dialzara's library lets you pick a voice that fits your business personality. The website scraping setup is similar to Trillet's, pulling business details from your site to train the AI without manual data entry. Dialzara also added outbound agents in 2026 and markets HIPAA across its tiers.

The downside is overage cost. At $0.48/minute on the entry plan, Dialzara has the highest per-minute overage rate among the per-minute platforms on this list. A business using 200 minutes per month pays $29 + (140 x $0.48) = $96.20/month, against Trillet's $59 for the same usage. For a deeper comparison of how this stacks up, see the Trillet vs Dialzara breakdown.

Best for: Low-volume businesses that prioritize voice customization and can stay within the 60-minute base.

Marlie

Marlie offers 250 minutes at $49/month with a $0.35/minute overage rate (dropping toward $0.25/minute on higher tiers, up to a $399 plan with 2,000 minutes). It is a newer platform focused on the trades, with voice and SMS support. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The 250 included minutes match the most generous count at the $49 tier, and the $0.35 overage is cheaper than Dialzara's $0.48 though still well above Trillet's $0.20. Marlie's trades focus means its prompts and call flows are tuned for service businesses (plumbers, HVAC, electricians) rather than general reception, which can be a fit if you operate in those niches.

The caveats are maturity and verification. Marlie is a younger product than most platforms here, and its HIPAA posture is not independently verified, so treat any compliance claim as unconfirmed until you see a signed BAA. The Marlie vs Trillet comparison covers where the trades-specific tuning helps and where the multi-channel and compliance gaps show up.

Best for: Trades businesses that want a service-tuned voice agent and high included minutes at the $49 tier.

Trillet

Trillet is a voice AI platform priced at $49/month with 150 minutes included, $0.20/minute overage, and multi-channel support (voice, SMS, WhatsApp) on every plan. As of June 2026, it carries the lowest overage rate on this list and is the only platform here that includes HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, and GDPR compliance, auto-callback scheduling, and multi-channel follow-up at the base price with no add-on fee.

Setup takes 5 minutes. You enter your phone number and website URL, Trillet scrapes your site and aggregates your online reviews, builds a knowledge base, and starts answering calls. No conversation flows to configure, no training documents to upload. The platform processes 2.5M+ calls per month across 12,000+ active agents and responds in under 2 seconds, fast enough that callers do not notice they are talking to AI. Trillet backs its plans with a 28-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.

The $0.20/minute overage is 58% cheaper than Dialzara's $0.48/minute entry rate and 20% cheaper than Phonely's $0.25/minute. A business using 200 minutes per month pays $49 + (50 x $0.20) = $59/month total. That same usage costs $96.20 on Dialzara. Phonely's $50 Starter plan absorbs 200 minutes within its 250-minute allowance and would cost $50, but it bills voice only and gates HIPAA behind an enterprise agreement, while Trillet includes SMS, WhatsApp, and compliance at $59.

Auto-callback is unique to Trillet on this list. When a caller requests a callback, the AI schedules it at the customer's preferred time and notifies you. Spam callers and telemarketers are detected and terminated automatically. To be clear about the trade-off: Trillet's 150 included minutes are fewer than Marlie's, Hey Rosie's, or Phonely's 250, so very high-volume users who do not need multi-channel or compliance may pay less elsewhere (see the honest accounting in Where Competitors Win Over Trillet below).

Best for: Small businesses that need a complete AI receptionist with multi-channel follow-up, included compliance, and the lowest overage rate on the list.

Hey Rosie

Hey Rosie offers 250 minutes at $49/month with an overage rate around $0.25/minute, tying for the highest minute count at this price point. As of June 2026, Hey Rosie no longer advertises unlimited minutes on any plan; its tiers now cap at 250, 1,000, and 2,000 minutes, which confirms the broader pattern covered in Unlimited AI Receptionist Minutes: What You're Actually Getting.

The 250 included minutes are generous for $49, but the critical detail is feature gating. Calendar integration, advanced call routing, and other features that many businesses consider essential sit on the $149/month and higher tiers. The base plan handles straightforward call answering and message taking, but if you need the AI to book appointments or integrate with your workflow, the real cost can be triple the advertised price.

Hey Rosie adds SMS but does not offer WhatsApp, and it does not publish HIPAA compliance. For businesses that genuinely only need basic call answering with high minute volume, the base plan delivers. For anything beyond that, the Trillet vs Hey Rosie comparison details where the feature-gating creates real limitations.

Best for: Businesses with high call volume that only need basic call answering and message taking.

Phonely

Phonely offers a genuinely free tier with 100 minutes per month, plus a $50/month Starter plan with 250 minutes and $0.25/minute overage. The free tier is the only no-cost monthly option on this list and works well for testing or very low-volume use. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The catch is compliance. HIPAA coverage, which healthcare practices, therapists, and any business handling health information needs, is available only through Phonely's enterprise tier via a separate Business Associate Agreement, not the $50 Starter plan. Regulated businesses cannot simply pay the advertised price and be covered; they have to move up to enterprise and negotiate a BAA. Businesses outside healthcare are unaffected by this.

Phonely supports voice, SMS, and chat but not WhatsApp. The $0.25/minute overage is reasonable, sitting between Trillet's $0.20 and Dialzara's $0.48. For businesses that want to test AI call answering with zero upfront cost, Phonely's free tier is the obvious starting point, but moving into regulated work means paying for an enterprise tier where Trillet includes compliance at $49.

Best for: Businesses wanting to test AI reception for free, or non-regulated businesses with moderate call volume.

Echowin

Echowin charges $49.99/month with approximately 100 minutes of call time via a credit-based system (roughly $0.16/minute effective), plus a pay-as-you-go option at $0 base and about $0.23/minute. It includes a built-in CRM that most competitors lack and supports voice and chat. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The CRM integration is Echowin's real differentiator. Call data, caller information, and interaction history flow into a single dashboard without needing a separate CRM subscription or integration setup. For businesses that do not already use a CRM, this bundled approach simplifies their stack.

Two limitations stand out. First, credits do not roll over between billing periods, so unused minutes are lost. Second, the credit-based pricing is less transparent than flat per-minute billing: you have to calculate how many credits each minute consumes, which varies by feature usage, and the exact included-minute figure is hard to confirm from the published page. Echowin claims compliance but does not publish certification proof, so treat HIPAA as unverified.

Best for: Businesses without an existing CRM that want call management and contact tracking in one tool.

Goodcall

Goodcall costs $79/month on its base plan, which includes 100 unique callers and charges $0.50 per caller beyond that, rather than billing by the minute. Its top published tier runs $249/month for 500 callers. Pricing is current as of June 2026, and the base price has risen from the $59 some older roundups still cite.

The per-caller model is the critical constraint. A business receiving calls from more than 100 distinct callers per month pays $0.50 for each additional caller, regardless of how short those calls are. This penalizes businesses with broad customer bases (retail, restaurants, service businesses with one-time customers) while favoring businesses with a small, recurring client pool (therapists, financial advisors, property managers) who stay under the cap.

User-reported reliability issues are worth noting. Multiple reviews cite dropped calls, delayed transcripts, and inconsistent AI behavior. Goodcall is voice-only and does not publish compliance certifications. The pricing model is distinctive, but the reliability concerns and per-caller cap make it a narrower fit than the headline pricing suggests.

Best for: Businesses with a small, recurring client base (under 100 unique callers/month) that need lengthy call handling.

Smith.ai

Smith.ai's managed AI Receptionist runs $500/month (about $6,000/year) for a 24/7 service, with a $3 per call fee whenever a call is handed off to a live human agent. A lower-cost self-service AI tier is also advertised from $95/month with per-call rates ($2.40 down to $2.10 at higher volumes), but Smith.ai's published pricing centers on the $500 managed plan. Either way, Smith.ai is the most expensive option here, and the premium buys the one thing no other platform on this list offers: human backup. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

That human fallback is genuinely valuable for businesses where call quality directly determines revenue, such as law firms qualifying high-value cases, medical practices handling sensitive patient concerns, or real estate agents fielding buyer inquiries. No other platform here offers a hybrid AI-plus-human model. The Trillet vs Smith.ai comparison details the full cost difference at various volumes.

The economics scale steeply. The managed plan starts at $500/month before any live-agent handoffs, which is roughly 10x Trillet's $49 base and 8x its $59 cost at 200 minutes. Smith.ai also sends mixed signals on HIPAA: its AI receptionist page states it is not HIPAA-compliant and cannot handle protected health information, while some third-party roundups list it as compliant, so do not assume coverage either way without confirming directly. Smith.ai makes sense only if you have verified that pure AI mishandles a meaningful percentage of your calls and those mishandled calls cost you more than the premium.

Best for: High-value service businesses (law firms, real estate) that need guaranteed human backup on complex calls and can absorb the premium.

Frontdesk (formerly My AI Front Desk)

Frontdesk, which rebranded from My AI Front Desk in 2026, charges $99/month for 200 minutes with a $0.25/minute (credit-based) overage rate, plus a free tier with 20 minutes. The old "$149 / 300 minutes / $0.12 overage" structure some roundups still cite is stale. Pricing is current as of June 2026.

The free tier and a $99 Starter make Frontdesk easy to trial, and it now markets a broader "AI workforce" bundle with voice, chat, SMS, and email touchpoints. For a business that wants to test before committing, the no-cost entry point is a genuine plus.

The problem is cost at volume and compliance. At $0.25/minute, Frontdesk's overage matches Phonely's and is higher than Trillet's $0.20, so the $99 base no longer buys a cheap-overage advantage. A business using 500 minutes per month pays $99 + (300 x $0.25) = $174, against Trillet at $49 + (350 x $0.20) = $119. Frontdesk publishes no HIPAA or SOC 2 compliance and has drawn weak support reviews, so regulated businesses should look elsewhere.

Best for: Non-regulated businesses that want to start free and value the bundled chat, SMS, and email touchpoints.

Per-Call vs. Per-Minute Billing: Which Model Costs Less?

Per-call billing (AIRA, UpFirst) charges a flat rate per answered call regardless of duration, per-minute billing (Trillet, Dialzara, Marlie, Hey Rosie, Phonely, Frontdesk, Echowin) charges based on actual talk time, Goodcall bills per unique caller, and Smith.ai layers a $3 live-agent handoff fee on top of a managed monthly plan. The right model depends entirely on your call volume and average call length.

Per-call billing favors businesses with long calls. If your typical call runs 8 to 10 minutes (common in legal intake, medical scheduling, or detailed service quoting), paying a flat $1.50 per call on AIRA or UpFirst beats paying $1.60 to $4.80 per call on per-minute plans at those durations. Conversely, per-minute billing favors businesses with short calls. A 2-minute call on Trillet costs $0.40 in overage, while that same call costs a flat $1.50 on a per-call plan.

For the median small business with an average call length of 3 minutes, per-minute billing on a platform with a reasonable base (Trillet at $0.20/min, Phonely at $0.25/min) produces the most predictable and lowest total cost. For a full breakdown of how these models interact at different volumes, see the AI receptionist pricing models guide.

Why Multi-Channel Matters More Than You Think

As of June 2026, Trillet is the only platform on this list that includes voice, SMS, and WhatsApp together on every plan. Several competitors now add SMS or chat (Dialzara, Marlie, Hey Rosie, Phonely, Echowin, and Frontdesk all offer at least one extra channel), but none bundle WhatsApp, and most reserve the extra channels for higher tiers or charge separately. AIRA, UpFirst, and Goodcall remain voice-only.

The reason this matters is behavioral. When a customer misses your callback, they often do not call again, they text. Texting a business is now a mainstream preference rather than a fallback, so an AI receptionist that answers the initial call but cannot handle the SMS or WhatsApp reply that follows leaves a gap in the lead capture pipeline.

Trillet's approach keeps the conversation in one thread: the AI answers the call, sends an SMS summary to the caller, and handles any WhatsApp or SMS responses that come back. No separate tools, no manual follow-up. For businesses in trades and services where customers are on job sites (and cannot take calls during the day), this multi-channel continuity turns a single missed call into a booked appointment rather than a lost lead.

Emergency Call Handling Across Platforms

For service businesses like plumbers, HVAC technicians, electricians, and locksmiths, emergency call handling is not optional. A burst pipe at midnight or a broken AC in summer is a $500+ service call that goes to whoever answers first.

Trillet handles this by detecting urgency in the caller's language, prioritizing the call, and immediately notifying the business owner via SMS with call details. The AI can be configured to escalate emergency requests and schedule immediate callbacks. Most other platforms on this list offer basic message-taking for urgent calls but lack automated escalation or instant owner notification.

Smith.ai's human backup provides the most robust emergency handling, since a live person can make judgment calls about urgency. But at $500/month for its managed AI plan plus a $3 fee per live-agent handoff, you are paying a steep premium for that capability. For most service businesses, AI-based urgency detection with SMS notification (Trillet's model) catches emergencies fast enough that the cost difference does not justify human backup.

Compliance: Who Includes It and Who Charges Extra

HIPAA (US health data), TCPA (US telemarketing rules), ACMA (Australian communications), and GDPR (EU data protection) compliance is not optional for businesses that handle customer phone calls and sensitive data. TCPA violations alone can carry statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per call, which is why a published, included compliance posture matters more than a marketing claim.

As of June 2026, Trillet includes HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, and GDPR compliance on every plan at no additional cost. Among the rest, the picture is mixed: Phonely offers HIPAA only through its enterprise tier and a separate Business Associate Agreement, UpFirst offers a BAA on its Custom tier, and Dialzara markets compliance across its tiers. Smith.ai sends contradictory signals (its own receptionist page says it is not HIPAA-compliant). AIRA, Marlie, and Echowin claim compliance without publishing proof, so those should be treated as unverified. Hey Rosie, Goodcall, and Frontdesk do not publish compliance certifications at all.

This does not mean the platforms without included compliance are non-compliant. It means the responsibility falls on you as the business owner to verify coverage, often by moving up a tier or negotiating a BAA. If you operate in healthcare, legal, financial services, or any regulated industry, the absence of clearly published, included compliance is a risk factor, not just a missing feature. For the cheapest options that include proper compliance, the field narrows significantly.

Where Competitors Win Over Trillet

Trillet is not the best choice in every scenario, and pretending otherwise would waste your time.

AIRA and UpFirst win on price. At $24.95/month each, they cost roughly half of Trillet's $49/month. For a solo operator receiving 10 to 15 calls per month who does not need SMS follow-up, WhatsApp, or published compliance, the cheaper option is the better option. Not every business needs multi-channel, and paying for features you will not use is not value.

Marlie and Hey Rosie win on included minutes. Both offer 250 minutes at $49/month versus Trillet's 150 at the same price, a 67% advantage in raw call time at the base tier. If you need high call volume and only basic call answering (no WhatsApp, no included compliance, and you can live with feature gating on Hey Rosie's higher tiers), they deliver more minutes per dollar. Marlie also tunes its flows specifically for the trades.

Phonely wins on free testing. Phonely's free tier (100 minutes) and $50 Starter (250 minutes) let a non-regulated business absorb 200 minutes for $50 versus Trillet's $59, and start at zero cost. Trillet's 28-day money-back guarantee removes the financial risk of paying first, but Phonely is the cheaper pure-trial path if you do not need WhatsApp or included compliance.

Smith.ai wins on human backup. Trillet is AI-only. When the AI cannot handle a call, it takes a message and schedules a callback. Smith.ai hands the call to a live human receptionist. For law firms doing intake on high-value cases or businesses where a single mishandled call is expensive, that human safety net may justify the much higher price (its managed AI plan starts at $500/month).

The Cost at 200 Minutes: What You Actually Pay

Advertised prices are almost meaningless without usage context. A business handling 200 minutes of calls per month, roughly 65 calls averaging 3 minutes each, pays very different amounts depending on the platform.

*Goodcall bills per unique caller, not per minute. The $79 assumes 100 or fewer unique callers; each caller beyond that costs $0.50.

At 200 minutes, Marlie ($49), Hey Rosie ($49), and Phonely Starter ($50) cost the least on a pure-price basis. Trillet ($59) sits just above them but is the only one of the group that bundles SMS, WhatsApp, included HIPAA/TCPA/ACMA/GDPR compliance, and auto-callback at that price. Dialzara ($96.20), Frontdesk ($99), and Smith.ai ($500+) are the most expensive at this usage level.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best AI receptionist for small business in 2026?

For best overall value, Trillet at $49/month with 150 minutes, multi-channel support (voice, SMS, WhatsApp), the lowest overage on this list at $0.20/min, and included HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, and GDPR compliance. For lowest price, AIRA or UpFirst at $24.95/month. For the most included minutes at $49, Marlie or Hey Rosie at 250 minutes. For human backup, Smith.ai (managed AI from $500/month). All pricing as of June 2026.

How much does an AI receptionist cost per month?

AI receptionist pricing ranges from free (Phonely's 100-minute tier and Frontdesk's 20-minute tier) up to $500/month (Smith.ai's managed AI plan) for base plans as of June 2026. Most small businesses on AI-only platforms pay between $49 and $99/month total when factoring in overage. The critical variable is overage rate: from $0.20/min (Trillet, the lowest here) to $0.48/min (Dialzara), with per-call platforms charging $1.50/call (AIRA, UpFirst) and Smith.ai adding $3 per live-agent handoff.

Which Trillet product should I choose?

If you are a small business owner needing AI call answering, start with Trillet AI Receptionist at $49/month. If you are an agency wanting to resell voice AI to clients under your own brand, explore Trillet White-Label starting at $99/month with $0.12/minute usage and unlimited sub-accounts.

Do AI receptionists work with my existing phone number?

Yes. All 10 platforms on this list work via call forwarding from your existing business number. You set up conditional forwarding so calls go to the AI when you miss, decline, or are busy. Your customers dial the same number they always have. No new hardware or SIM card required. Trillet's Complete AI Receptionist Guide for Small Businesses walks through the forwarding setup step by step.

Is per-call or per-minute billing better for small business?

Per-minute billing is better for most small businesses. A typical small business call lasts 2 to 3 minutes, which means per-minute billing (Trillet at $0.20/min, Phonely at $0.25/min) costs less per call than per-call billing (AIRA and UpFirst at $1.50/call). Per-call billing only wins if your average call exceeds roughly 8 to 10 minutes.

Can an AI receptionist handle multiple calls at the same time?

Yes. Unlike human receptionists, AI receptionists handle unlimited concurrent calls. During busy periods, every caller gets answered immediately with no hold times. Trillet processes 2.5M+ calls per month across 12,000+ active agents, so capacity is not a constraint.

Do any AI receptionists include HIPAA compliance?

As of June 2026, Trillet includes HIPAA, TCPA, ACMA, and GDPR compliance on every plan at no extra cost. Phonely offers HIPAA only through its enterprise tier and a separate Business Associate Agreement, and UpFirst offers a BAA on its Custom tier. Smith.ai's own receptionist page states it is not HIPAA-compliant. The remaining platforms either claim compliance without published proof or do not list certifications at all, so verify directly before relying on any of them for regulated work.

What happens if the AI cannot answer a caller's question?

Most AI receptionists take a detailed message and notify you for follow-up. Trillet adds auto-callback scheduling, where the AI arranges a callback at the caller's preferred time. Smith.ai is the only platform that transfers to a live human receptionist when the AI reaches its limits, though this comes at a significant cost premium.

Updated for June 2026: Refreshed all competitor pricing against published rates (Smith.ai now $500/month managed AI plus $3/call handoff, My AI Front Desk rebranded to Frontdesk at $99/200 min with $0.25/min overage, Goodcall raised to $79/month with per-caller billing, Hey Rosie dropped unlimited minutes), added Marlie to the ranking, and corrected the multi-channel and compliance comparisons to reflect competitors that now offer SMS or chat.

Related Resources

• Best AI Receptionist for Small Business 2026
• AI Phone Answering Service Cost Breakdown
• Best My AI Front Desk Alternatives in 2026
• Phonely vs Trillet: Which AI Receptionist Should You Choose? (2026)
• Echowin vs Trillet: Which AI Answering Service is Right for You? (2026)