Marlie AI vs Upfirst
The short answer
- Marlie AI costs least: $49 a month for 100 calls and $274 for 500.
- Upfirst has the lowest advertised price, $24.95, but costs Not priced yet at 100 calls.
- Pick Marlie AI if you want Spanish.
- Pick Upfirst if you want bookings made during the call or calls put through to you.
 Marlie AIsolo trades and service shops that miss calls on the jobVisit site |  Upfirstsmall businesses whose phone goes unanswered while the owner is out on the jobVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Marlie AI$49Lowest | UpfirstNot priced yet |
| At 500 calls a month | Marlie AI$274Lowest | UpfirstNot priced yet |
| Advertised from | Marlie AI$49 a month | Upfirst$24.95 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Marlie AIThe $49 plan covers all 100 calls. | UpfirstNot counted |
| Bills | Marlie AIper minute | Upfirst |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Marlie AIYesCalls keep being answered past the allowance | UpfirstYesCalls past the allowance keep being answered |
| Free trial or plan | Marlie AIPartlyA 14-day free trial lets you test on a real line within minutes | UpfirstPartlyYou can put it on your real line before paying, but only for the fourteen-day trial |
| Month to month, cancel online | Marlie AIYesPlans are month to month with no long-term commitment and no cancellation fee | UpfirstYesMonth to month with cancellation, upgrade or downgrade at any time and no call required |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Marlie AIPartlyReal booking into a synced calendar starts on the Standard plan | UpfirstYesIt checks the connected calendar during the call, offers open times |
| Transfers to a person | Marlie AIPartlyWarm transfer with the caller announced before you accept is real | UpfirstYesRule-based transfers to a person, department or extension, and warm transfers brief you on |
| Human receptionists as backup | Marlie AINoThere is no human agent pool behind the AI | UpfirstNoUpfirst supplies no human agents for calls |
| After-hours rules | Marlie AIYesIt answers around the clock and you can set different after-hours behavior | UpfirstYesCoverage is a choice per account: all calls, overflow only, or after hours only |
| Urgent calls escalated | Marlie AIPartlyUrgent keywords can trigger an immediate transfer to an on-call person | UpfirstYesEmergencies are recognized from what the caller describes and handled by your own rules |
| Texts your callers | Marlie AIPartlyIt texts callers links and automated SMS follow-ups after the call | UpfirstPartlyIt can text the caller mid-call on every plan with no extra charge |
| Call summary by text | Marlie AIYesA post-call report with caller, issue and urgency goes out by text as well as email | UpfirstYesA summary of the key details goes out by text or email the moment the call ends |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Marlie AIYes50+ languages | UpfirstYes35+ languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Marlie AINot stated | UpfirstPartlyA Business Associate Agreement is listed only in the Custom tier's feature set |
| Hear it before you buy | Marlie AIYesFour public demo lines by industry can be called directly, plus recorded sample calls | UpfirstYesA public number answered by its own AI receptionist is published on the site |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square |
| Outlook | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square |
| Calendly | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | UpfirstYesGoogle Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, Acuity, Square |
| Your trade’s software | Marlie AIPartlyTrade tools covered include Housecall Pro, Jobber, Shopmonkey, Clio | UpfirstPartlyField service tools such as ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro |
| Keep your number | Marlie AIYesYou keep your existing business number and forward it to the Marlie number | UpfirstYesEvery plan includes an Upfirst number and you keep your existing line |
| In short | ||
| What it is | 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 | UpfirstUpfirst is an AI receptionist that answers a small business's phone around the clock, answers caller questions from the owner's own information, books appointments and transfers urgent callers. Plans are sold by monthly call allowance and set up self-serve from the business website.All answers for Upfirst |
| Checked | Marlie AIOctober 15, 2026 | UpfirstOctober 16, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price