Beside Phone vs SkipCalls
The short answer
- SkipCalls costs least at 100 calls a month: $19.99.
- Beside Phone costs least at 500: $29.99.
- Pick Beside Phone if you want the lower bill at 500 calls or text conversations with callers.
- Pick SkipCalls if you want the lower bill at 100 calls or a summary by text after each call.
 Beside Phonesolo trades and local teams who miss inbound calls while on the jobVisit site |  SkipCallssolo trades and service businesses that miss calls while on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99 | SkipCalls$19.99Lowest |
| At 500 calls a month | Beside Phone$29.99Lowest | SkipCalls$176.50 |
| Advertised from | Beside Phone$29 a month | SkipCalls$19.99 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Beside PhoneThe $29 plan it advertises stops answering after 30 calls. | SkipCallsThe $19.99 plan covers all 100 calls. |
| Bills | Beside Phoneper call | SkipCallsper call |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Beside PhoneYesOn Baseline the AI stops answering once 30 calls are used and callers drop to voicemail | SkipCallsPartlyNothing is cut off or auto-charged past the call allowance on Starter and PRO |
| Free trial or plan | Beside PhonePartlyOnly the pricier Unlimited plan has a seven-day free trial on your real line | SkipCallsPartlyA seven-day free trial lets you run it on your real line before paying |
| Month to month, cancel online | Beside PhoneYesBaseline and Unlimited are month-to-month only and you cancel yourself in billing settings | SkipCallsYesMonth-to-month with no contract, cancellable from the app without contacting anyone |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Beside PhoneYesWith a connected Google or Outlook calendar the Receptionist checks live availability | SkipCallsYesThe agent checks live calendar availability during the call and writes the event itself |
| Transfers to a person | Beside PhoneYesThe Receptionist transfers to a teammate or external number on rules you define | SkipCallsYesBoth warm and cold transfers are offered |
| Human receptionists as backup | Beside PhoneNoNo human answering service sits behind the AI | SkipCallsNoThere is no vendor-staffed human answering tier |
| After-hours rules | Beside PhoneYesIt answers around the clock by default and Business Hours sends daytime calls to your team | SkipCallsYesAnswering runs nights, weekends and holidays |
| Urgent calls escalated | Beside PhoneYesA Scenario rule can recognize emergency wording | SkipCallsYesYou define keyword triggers per agent |
| Texts your callers | Beside PhoneYesA Send a Text action texts the caller a link or confirmation during the call | SkipCallsPartlyAutomatic SMS follow-ups come on every plan |
| Call summary by text | Beside PhoneNoSummaries arrive in the app and, if enabled, by email to an address you set | SkipCallsYesSummaries are pushed by text as well as email and the dashboard |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Beside PhonePartly5 languages | SkipCallsYes10 languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Beside PhoneNot stated | SkipCallsNoThe vendor states plainly on its transcription page |
| Hear it before you buy | Beside PhoneYesAnyone can phone a published demo number | SkipCallsYesA public demo number answers without signup |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Outlook | Beside PhoneYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are booked into directly | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Calendly | Beside PhoneYesCalendly is only textable as a link | SkipCallsYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, Calendly, Cal.com, Apple Calendar, TidyCal |
| Your trade’s software | Beside PhoneNot stated | SkipCallsPartlyHousecall Pro and Jobber are supported for home-services scheduling and job creation |
| Keep your number | Beside PhoneYesYou keep your carrier number and forward calls to the Beside line | SkipCallsYesYou keep your number and carrier and switch on forwarding |
| 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 | SkipCallsSkipCalls is an AI receptionist and answering service for small businesses that answers calls on a forwarded or SkipCalls number, books appointments, screens spam and sends summaries. It is run from an iOS, Android or web app.All answers for SkipCalls |
| Checked | Beside PhoneOctober 14, 2026 | SkipCallsOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price