Beside Phone vs Marlie AI
The short answer
- Beside Phone costs least: $29.99 a month for 100 calls and $29.99 for 500.
- Pick Beside Phone if you want the lower bill, bookings made during the call or calls put through to you.
- Pick Marlie AI 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 |  Marlie AIsolo trades and service shops that miss calls on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99Lowest | Marlie AI$49 |
| At 500 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99Lowest | Marlie AI$274 |
| Advertised from | Beside Phone$29 a month | Marlie AI$49 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Beside PhoneThe $29 plan it advertises stops answering after 30 calls. | Marlie AIThe $49 plan covers all 100 calls. |
| Bills | Beside Phoneper call | Marlie AIper minute |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Beside PhoneYesOn Baseline the AI stops answering once 30 calls are used and callers drop to voicemail | Marlie AIYesCalls keep being answered past the allowance |
| Free trial or plan | Beside PhonePartlyOnly the pricier Unlimited plan has a seven-day free trial on your real line | Marlie AIPartlyA 14-day free trial lets you test on a real line within minutes |
| Month to month, cancel online | Beside PhoneYesBaseline and Unlimited are month-to-month only and you cancel yourself in billing settings | Marlie AIYesPlans are month to month with no long-term commitment and no cancellation fee |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Beside PhoneYesWith a connected Google or Outlook calendar the Receptionist checks live availability | Marlie AIPartlyReal booking into a synced calendar starts on the Standard plan |
| Transfers to a person | Beside PhoneYesThe Receptionist transfers to a teammate or external number on rules you define | Marlie AIPartlyWarm transfer with the caller announced before you accept is real |
| Human receptionists as backup | Beside PhoneNoNo human answering service sits behind the AI | Marlie AINoThere is no human agent pool behind the AI |
| After-hours rules | Beside PhoneYesIt answers around the clock by default and Business Hours sends daytime calls to your team | Marlie AIYesIt answers around the clock and you can set different after-hours behavior |
| Urgent calls escalated | Beside PhoneYesA Scenario rule can recognize emergency wording | Marlie AIPartlyUrgent keywords can trigger an immediate transfer to an on-call person |
| Texts your callers | Beside PhoneYesA Send a Text action texts the caller a link or confirmation during the call | Marlie AIPartlyIt texts callers links and automated SMS follow-ups after the call |
| Call summary by text | Beside PhoneNoSummaries arrive in the app and, if enabled, by email to an address you set | Marlie AIYesA post-call report with caller, issue and urgency goes out by text as well as email |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Beside PhonePartly5 languages | Marlie AIYes50+ languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Beside PhoneNot stated | Marlie AINot stated |
| Hear it before you buy | Beside PhoneYesAnyone can phone a published demo number | Marlie AIYesFour public demo lines by industry can be called directly, plus recorded sample calls |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets |
| Outlook | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets |
| Calendly | Beside PhoneYesCalendly is only textable as a link | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets |
| Your trade’s software | Beside PhoneNot stated | Marlie AIPartlyTrade tools covered include Housecall Pro, Jobber, Shopmonkey, Clio |
| Keep your number | Beside PhoneYesYou keep your carrier number and forward calls to the Beside line | Marlie AIYesYou keep your existing business number and forward it to the Marlie number |
| 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 | Marlie AIMarlie AI is a 24/7 AI answering service that picks up a service business's forwarded calls, screens spam, qualifies callers and books jobs into a connected calendar. Call reports with summaries and transcripts go out by email and text after every call.All answers for Marlie AI |
| Checked | Beside PhoneOctober 14, 2026 | Marlie AIOctober 15, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price