Johnni AI vs Skaala
The short answer
- Johnni AI costs least at 100 calls a month: A$144 (about $100).
- Skaala costs least at 500: $200.
- Pick Johnni AI if you want the lower bill at 100 calls.
- Pick Skaala if you want the lower bill at 500 calls, a summary by text after each call or Spanish.
 Johnni AIAustralian and NZ trades who miss calls on the job and want the booking madeVisit site |  Skaalasolo owners and small service teams who miss calls while on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Johnni AIA$144about $100Lowest | Skaala$100 |
| At 500 calls a month | Johnni AIA$559about $386 | Skaala$200Lowest |
| Advertised from | Johnni AIA$49 (about $34) a monthabout $34 | Skaala$60 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Johnni AIThe A$49 (about $34) plan covers 24 of 100 calls.76 cost extra. | SkaalaThe $60 plan covers 20 of 100 calls.80 cost extra. |
| Bills | Johnni AIper minute | Skaalaper minute |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Johnni AIYesCalls keep being answered past the allowance and the extra minutes are billed per minute | SkaalaYesCalls keep being answered past the allowance |
| Free trial or plan | Johnni AIPartlyThe 7 day trial comes with 30 free minutes to set up and test the receptionist | SkaalaPartlyYou can run the full product on a real line for seven days |
| Month to month, cancel online | Johnni AIYesReceptionist plans are month to month with no lock-in, and you can terminate at any time | SkaalaYesPlans bought online run month to month and cancel in one click from the dashboard |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Johnni AIYesIt checks the live calendar and books into Google Calendar during the call | SkaalaYesIt completes the booking during the call against staff availability |
| Transfers to a person | Johnni AIYesWarm transfer is on every plan: it puts the caller through and briefs you first | SkaalaYesTransfers run on rules you configure for urgency |
| Human receptionists as backup | Johnni AINoThere is no vendor-staffed human team behind the AI | SkaalaNoNo human agents stand behind the AI: unusual calls are handed to your own team |
| After-hours rules | Johnni AIYesAnswers 24/7 including nights, weekends and public holidays, and you choose the scope | SkaalaYesAnswering runs 24/7 including evenings, weekends and holidays |
| Urgent calls escalated | Johnni AIPartlyEscalation chains that ring an on-call roster until someone accepts are offered in the custom build tier, not in the self-serve plans | SkaalaYesThe AI captures urgency during intake, flags the call and transfers to the on-call person |
| Texts your callers | Johnni AIPartlyTexting the caller works but is a paid add-on at $50 a month on every plan | SkaalaPartlySMS confirmations and summaries go out on every plan |
| Call summary by text | Johnni AIPartlyEmail summaries plus a recording and transcript are on every plan | SkaalaYesCall summaries are delivered by both email and SMS, alongside the dashboard record |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Johnni AIPartlyEnglish only | SkaalaYes70+ languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Johnni AINot stated | SkaalaNoThe vendor states it holds no HIPAA attestation today |
| Hear it before you buy | Johnni AIYesThere is a live demo number you can ring to hear the same receptionist | SkaalaPartlyThere is a live browser voice demo on the same stack as the paid product |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Johnni AIYesGoogle Calendar sync and the vendor's own free Scheduler are included on every plan | SkaalaYesBooking writes directly into Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook during the call |
| Outlook | Johnni AIPartlyThe site names no Outlook, Microsoft 365 or Calendly booking path | SkaalaYesBooking writes directly into Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook during the call |
| Calendly | Johnni AIPartlyThe site names no Outlook, Microsoft 365 or Calendly booking path | SkaalaNoCalendly is not named anywhere on the vendor's integration pages |
| Your trade’s software | Johnni AIPartlyTrade job software is supported in principle, naming ServiceM8, simPRO and ServiceTitan | SkaalaNot stated |
| Keep your number | Johnni AIYesYou keep your existing business number and forward calls to the Johnni local number | SkaalaYesYou keep your existing number and forward to Skaala |
| In short | ||
| What it is | Johnni AIJohnni AI is an Australian AI receptionist that answers a small business's phone 24/7 in an Australian or New Zealand voice, qualifies the inquiry and books the job. It also makes follow-up calls and answers website voice and text chats.All answers for Johnni AI | SkaalaSkaala is an AI receptionist and business phone system for small businesses that answers inbound calls around the clock on your own or an included local number. It books, reschedules, qualifies leads, transfers urgent callers by your rules, and documents each call.All answers for Skaala |
| Checked | Johnni AIOctober 15, 2026 | SkaalaOctober 15, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price
“About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of Oct 15, 2026.