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Marlie AI vs Zinng

The short answer

  • Marlie AI costs least at 100 calls a month: $49.
  • Zinng costs least at 500: $224.
  • Pick Marlie AI if you want the lower bill at 100 calls or Spanish.
  • Pick Zinng if you want the lower bill at 500 calls.
Marlie AI vs Zinng, compared
Marlie AIsolo trades and service shops that miss calls on the jobVisit siteZinngservice businesses like lawn care, plumbing, HVAC, dental and legal that miss callsVisit site
Cost
At 100 calls a monthMarlie AI$49LowestZinng$49
At 500 calls a monthMarlie AI$274Zinng$224Lowest
Advertised fromMarlie AI$49 a monthZinng$49 a month
The advertised plan coversMarlie AIThe $49 plan covers all 100 calls.ZinngThe $49 plan covers all 100 calls.
BillsMarlie AIper minuteZinngper minute
Keeps answering past your allowanceMarlie AIYesCalls keep being answered past the allowanceZinngYesNo forced upgrade: you buy minute buckets at published prices
Free trial or planMarlie AIPartlyA 14-day free trial lets you test on a real line within minutesZinngPartlyA 7-day free trial lets you run a real agent on a Zinng number
Month to month, cancel onlineMarlie AIYesPlans are month to month with no long-term commitment and no cancellation feeZinngYesMonth to month through Stripe, cancellable from billing settings with no contract
On the call
Books appointmentsMarlie AIPartlyReal booking into a synced calendar starts on the Standard planZinngPartlyLive booking on the call needs the $99 Pro plan
Transfers to a personMarlie AIPartlyWarm transfer with the caller announced before you accept is realZinngPartlyWarm and cold transfers exist, but Essentials transfers to one number only
Human receptionists as backupMarlie AINoThere is no human agent pool behind the AIZinngNoEscalation goes to your own staff numbers
After-hours rulesMarlie AIYesIt answers around the clock and you can set different after-hours behaviorZinngYesIt answers 24/7 and your carrier's time-based forwarding can hand calls over only after hours
Urgent calls escalatedMarlie AIPartlyUrgent keywords can trigger an immediate transfer to an on-call personZinngYesEmergency escalation is configured during setup, flagging urgent calls
Texts your callersMarlie AIPartlyIt texts callers links and automated SMS follow-ups after the callZinngPartlyFull two-way SMS is a Pro feature
Call summary by textMarlie AIYesA post-call report with caller, issue and urgency goes out by text as well as emailZinngYesAn opt-in SMS alert fires whenever an AI call finishes, sent to a mobile number you choose
Language, privacy and trying it
LanguagesMarlie AIYes50+ languagesZinngYes63 languages
HIPAA, with a signed BAAMarlie AINot statedZinngYesA standard BAA is signed electronically in the dashboard, included free on any plan
Hear it before you buyMarlie AIYesFour public demo lines by industry can be called directly, plus recorded sample callsZinngYesThere is a public number answered by Zinng's own agent, plus recorded voice samples
What it connects to
Google CalendarMarlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targetsZinngYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are reached via those tools, not directly
OutlookMarlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targetsZinngYesGoogle Calendar and Outlook are reached via those tools, not directly
CalendlyMarlie AIYesThe vendor names Google Calendar, Outlook and Calendly as booking targetsZinngYesLive booking runs through Cal.com and Calendly
Your trade’s softwareMarlie AIPartlyTrade tools covered include Housecall Pro, Jobber, Shopmonkey, ClioZinngNot stated
Keep your numberMarlie AIYesYou keep your existing business number and forward it to the Marlie numberZinngYesYou keep your number and forward all, unanswered or after-hours calls
In short
What it isMarlie 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 AIZinngZinng is an AI phone receptionist for small businesses that answers calls around the clock, books appointments, captures leads and transfers callers to a human. Calls, texts and website chats land in one shared inbox.All answers for Zinng
CheckedMarlie AIOctober 15, 2026ZinngOctober 16, 2026

Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price