Beside Phone vs AI Receptionist
The short answer
- Beside Phone costs least: $29.99 a month for 100 calls and $29.99 for 500.
- AI Receptionist has the lowest advertised price, $14, but costs $57.75 at 100 calls.
- Pick Beside Phone if you want the lower bill.
- Pick AI Receptionist if you want a summary by text after each call.
 Beside Phonesolo trades and local teams who miss inbound calls while on the jobVisit site |  AI Receptionistsolo professionals and small businesses that miss calls while workingVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99Lowest | AI Receptionist$57.75 |
| At 500 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99Lowest | AI Receptionist$261.50 |
| Advertised from | Beside Phone$29 a month | AI Receptionist$14 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Beside PhoneThe $29 plan it advertises stops answering after 30 calls. | AI ReceptionistThe $14 plan covers 30 of 100 calls.70 cost extra. |
| Bills | Beside Phoneper call | AI Receptionistper minute |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Beside PhoneYesOn Baseline the AI stops answering once 30 calls are used and callers drop to voicemail | AI ReceptionistPartlyCalls are not auto-upgraded or billed down |
| Free trial or plan | Beside PhonePartlyOnly the pricier Unlimited plan has a seven-day free trial on your real line | AI ReceptionistPartlyA 7-day trial lets it answer your real line: you get 30 minutes of live calls |
| Month to month, cancel online | Beside PhoneYesBaseline and Unlimited are month-to-month only and you cancel yourself in billing settings | AI ReceptionistYesMonth-to-month with no contract, and you cancel yourself in the app without phoning anyone |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Beside PhoneYesWith a connected Google or Outlook calendar the Receptionist checks live availability | AI ReceptionistPartlyIt books into the caller’s slot during the call |
| Transfers to a person | Beside PhoneYesThe Receptionist transfers to a teammate or external number on rules you define | AI ReceptionistYesTransfers are warm by default: it texts you who is calling and why |
| Human receptionists as backup | Beside PhoneNoNo human answering service sits behind the AI | AI ReceptionistNoNo human agents sit behind the AI |
| After-hours rules | Beside PhoneYesIt answers around the clock by default and Business Hours sends daytime calls to your team | AI ReceptionistPartlyAnswering is 24/7 on every plan including weekends and holidays |
| Urgent calls escalated | Beside PhoneYesA Scenario rule can recognize emergency wording | AI ReceptionistYesEmergency recognition is a documented behavior: the vendor says it triages urgent calls |
| Texts your callers | Beside PhoneYesA Send a Text action texts the caller a link or confirmation during the call | AI ReceptionistYesCallers can text the same number |
| Call summary by text | Beside PhoneNoSummaries arrive in the app and, if enabled, by email to an address you set | AI ReceptionistYesYou can get per-call alerts by SMS as well as email, with a daily SMS |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Beside PhonePartly5 languages | AI ReceptionistYes57 languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Beside PhoneNot stated | AI ReceptionistNoNo BAA today on any plan: the vendor lists HIPAA compliance |
| Hear it before you buy | Beside PhoneYesAnyone can phone a published demo number | AI ReceptionistYesThree live demo receptionists are published with their phone numbers |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | AI ReceptionistYesGoogle Calendar is the only calendar it books into, included from the $14 plan up |
| Outlook | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | AI ReceptionistYesThe vendor says support for other calendar platforms is still to come |
| Calendly | Beside PhoneYesCalendly is only textable as a link | AI ReceptionistYesThe vendor says support for other calendar platforms is still to come |
| Your trade’s software | Beside PhoneNot stated | AI ReceptionistNot stated |
| Keep your number | Beside PhoneYesYou keep your carrier number and forward calls to the Beside line | AI ReceptionistYesYou keep your existing line and forward it with carrier star codes, documented per carrier |
| In short | ||
| What it is | Beside PhoneBeside Phone is a mobile and web business phone line whose AI receptionist answers inbound calls around the clock, captures caller details, qualifies leads and books appointments. Calls, texts, summaries and transcripts live in one shared team app.All answers for Beside Phone | AI ReceptionistAI Receptionist is a 24/7 AI phone answering service for small businesses and solo operators. It greets callers, answers their questions from your own business information, books appointments, screens spam and sends you a summary of every call.All answers for AI Receptionist |
| Checked | Beside PhoneOctober 14, 2026 | AI ReceptionistOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price