Marlie AI vs VoiceController
The short answer
- Marlie AI costs least: $49 a month for 100 calls and $274 for 500.
- Pick Marlie AI if you want booking in Calendly or Spanish.
- Pick VoiceController if you want bookings made during the call.
 Marlie AIsolo trades and service shops that miss calls on the jobVisit site |  VoiceControllerindependent auto repair shops and tow yards that book jobs over the phoneVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Marlie AI$49Lowest | VoiceControllerNot priced yet |
| At 500 calls a month | Marlie AI$274Lowest | VoiceControllerNot priced yet |
| Advertised from | Marlie AI$49 a month | VoiceController$129 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Marlie AIThe $49 plan covers all 100 calls. | VoiceControllerNot counted |
| Bills | Marlie AIper minute | VoiceController |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Marlie AIYesCalls keep being answered past the allowance | VoiceControllerNot stated |
| Free trial or plan | Marlie AIPartlyA 14-day free trial lets you test on a real line within minutes | VoiceControllerPartlyThere is a 14-day free trial on a real line rather than a standing free plan |
| Month to month, cancel online | Marlie AIYesPlans are month to month with no long-term commitment and no cancellation fee | VoiceControllerNot stated |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Marlie AIPartlyReal booking into a synced calendar starts on the Standard plan | VoiceControllerYesThe product's whole pitch is write-back booking during the call rather than a callback link: it reads live availability |
| Transfers to a person | Marlie AIPartlyWarm transfer with the caller announced before you accept is real | VoiceControllerPartlyIt can hand a live call to a person or team using rules based on hours, availability |
| Human receptionists as backup | Marlie AINoThere is no human agent pool behind the AI | VoiceControllerNot stated |
| After-hours rules | Marlie AIYesIt answers around the clock and you can set different after-hours behavior | VoiceControllerYes |
| Urgent calls escalated | Marlie AIPartlyUrgent keywords can trigger an immediate transfer to an on-call person | VoiceControllerPartlyUrgency routing is documented only for the towing product line |
| Texts your callers | Marlie AIPartlyIt texts callers links and automated SMS follow-ups after the call | VoiceControllerPartlyAgentic texting sends links, forms and follow-ups based on what the caller said |
| Call summary by text | Marlie AIYesA post-call report with caller, issue and urgency goes out by text as well as email | VoiceControllerPartlyEvery call produces an instant summary with sentiment and conversation highlights |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Marlie AIYes50+ languages | VoiceControllerPartlyMultilingual support is listed as an Advanced Plan feature |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Marlie AINot stated | VoiceControllerNot stated |
| Hear it before you buy | Marlie AIYesFour public demo lines by industry can be called directly, plus recorded sample calls | VoiceControllerYesThe homepage hosts three recorded sample calls, each about a minute and a half |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | VoiceControllerYesGoogle Calendar has its own integration page describing live conflict checking |
| Outlook | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | VoiceControllerYesGoogle Calendar has its own integration page describing live conflict checking |
| Calendly | Marlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targets | VoiceControllerNoCalendly is not mentioned anywhere on the site |
| Your trade’s software | Marlie AIPartlyTrade tools covered include Housecall Pro, Jobber, Shopmonkey, Clio | VoiceControllerYesTrade software is the core of the product: dedicated integration pages cover Tekmetric |
| Keep your number | Marlie AIYesYou keep your existing business number and forward it to the Marlie number | VoiceControllerYesThe vendor states it plugs into the shop's existing phone setup rather than replacing it |
| 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 | VoiceControllerVoiceController is an AI phone receptionist sold to auto repair shops, tow yards and other trades. It answers calls around the clock, books jobs into the shop's own scheduling calendar during the call, and follows up by text.All answers for VoiceController |
| Checked | Marlie AIOctober 15, 2026 | VoiceControllerOctober 16, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price