AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) vs Goodcall
The short answer
- Goodcall costs least at both 100 and 500 calls a month.
- AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) has the lowest advertised price ($10), but costs $90 via sales at 100 calls.
- Only AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) has receptionists of its own to take over a call on every plan.
- Only Goodcall books into your calendar on every plan.
 AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)small businesses wanting cheap AI answering with a human receptionist still on the callVisit site |  GoodcallVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$90 via sales | Goodcall$79Lowest |
| At 500 calls a month | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$450 via sales | Goodcall$129Lowest |
| Advertised from | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$10 a month | Goodcall$79 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not counted | GoodcallThe $79 plan covers all 100 calls. |
| Bills | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)per call | Goodcallper caller |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesCalls past the plan allowance keep being answered and are billed as overage at $1.10… | GoodcallYesPast the allowance, service continues and each extra unique customer is billed at the… |
| Free trial or plan | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyA seven-day AI call answering free trial runs on your real diverted line… | GoodcallPartlyThere is no free trial on a real line |
| Month to month, cancel online | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesBilling is a rolling monthly subscription with no lock-in and no cancellation fee… | GoodcallYesEvery plan is month to month with monthly billing only |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyThe AI product is described as message-taking and transferring only | GoodcallYesBooks into Google Calendar during the call |
| Transfers to a person | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesThe AI can transfer a caller through to you, and the vendor states its human… | GoodcallYesTransfers callers to an escalation contact on every plan… |
| Human receptionists as backup | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA live receptionist takes over whenever the AI is stuck or a caller asks for a person… | GoodcallNoGoodcall supplies no human receptionists |
| After-hours rules | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyThe AI answers around the clock, so there is no out-of-hours gap… | GoodcallYesAnswers 24/7 on every plan and uses the hours, holidays and closures you set on calls |
| Urgent calls escalated | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not stated | GoodcallYesThe agent triages callers including urgent ones and transfers to the right person with a… |
| Texts your callers | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoOutbound SMS exists only to deliver messages to your own listed staff mobiles and is… | GoodcallPartlyThe agent can send a caller a text such as a confirmation or a link… |
| Call summary by text | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA full call summary with caller name, contact details and reason for calling is sent by… | GoodcallYesAfter a call the agent sends the captured lead to you by text and email… |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyEnglish and Spanish | GoodcallPartlyEnglish only |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not stated | GoodcallPartlyGoodcall signs a standard Business Associate Agreement only on the Scale plan… |
| Hear it before you buy | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA dedicated live demo number lets you talk to the Ginger AI agent about the service… | GoodcallYesYou can hear it before paying: a free demo agent you build and call from your browser… |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoGoogle Calendar and Outlook are not named anywhere | GoodcallYesGoogle Calendar is a native connection used for booking on every plan |
| Outlook | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoGoogle Calendar and Outlook are not named anywhere | GoodcallPartlyOutlook: only a custom connection set up by a developer is named as the route |
| Calendly | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesCalendly, Acuity Scheduling, Setmore and Square Appointments are supported… | GoodcallPartlyCalendly: only a custom connection set up by a developer is named as the route |
| Your trade’s software | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyTrade tools named are Clio for law firms and ResDiary for hospitality | GoodcallPartlyNo trade software… |
| Keep your number | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesYou keep your advertised business number and divert it to the receptionist number issued… | GoodcallYesYou keep your existing number with your carrier and forward either every call or only… |
| In short | ||
| What it is | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)AnsweringService.com SmartMessage is an AI phone receptionist that answers calls 24/7 in English or Spanish, takes messages and transfers callers. A live receptionist takes over any call the AI cannot handle.All answers for AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) | GoodcallGoodcall is an AI phone agent for small businesses, started inside Google in 2017, that answers a company's calls in place of voicemail. Its agent is built and changed by Gabi, an AI assistant that takes instructions in plain language.All answers for Goodcall |
| Checked | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)October 14, 2026 | GoodcallOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price