Sona by Quo vs AI Receptionist
AI answering services side by side: what a month of calls costs, what each does on the call, and where each falls short.
The short answer
- AI Receptionist costs least at 100 calls a month ($57.75), Sona by Quo at 500 ($232).
| SSona by Quosmall US and Canadian teams already wanting one phone system to answer missed callsVisit site | AAI Receptionistsolo professionals and small businesses that miss calls while workingVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | Sona by Quo$82 | AI Receptionist$57.75Lowest |
| At 500 calls a month | Sona by Quo$232Lowest | AI Receptionist$261.50 |
| Advertised from | Sona by QuoFree, then $25 a month | AI Receptionist$14 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | Sona by QuoThe $25 plan covers 40 of 100 calls. Tier 3 costs less for all 100. | AI ReceptionistThe $14 plan covers 30 of 100 calls.70 cost extra. |
| Bills | Sona by Quoper call | AI Receptionistper minute |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | Sona by QuoYesThe vendor documents both behaviours and which is the default: with overages off Sona… | AI ReceptionistPartlyCalls are not auto-upgraded or billed down: once the monthly minutes run out the… |
| Free trial or plan | Sona by QuoPartlyThere are two free ways in but each is bounded: a 7-day trial of everything including… | AI ReceptionistPartlyA 7-day trial lets it answer your real line: you get 30 minutes of live calls and can… |
| Month to month, cancel online | Sona by QuoYesMonth-to-month is published alongside a cheaper annual option, and cancellation is done… | AI ReceptionistYesMonth-to-month with no contract, and you cancel yourself in the app without phoning anyone |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | Sona by QuoPartlySona can text a scheduling link mid-call and, with Jobber connected, create a service… | AI ReceptionistPartlyIt books into the caller’s slot during the call, but only through a connected Google… |
| Transfers to a person | Sona by QuoPartlyTransfers to a teammate, a shared inbox or an external number are supported and the… | AI ReceptionistYesTransfers are warm by default: it texts you who is calling and why, shows the live… |
| Human receptionists as backup | Sona by QuoNot stated | AI ReceptionistNoNo human agents sit behind the AI |
| After-hours rules | Sona by QuoYesBecause Sona is a step in Quo's call flow builder you can place it only after the… | AI ReceptionistPartlyAnswering is 24/7 on every plan including weekends and holidays, and out-of-hours… |
| Urgent calls escalated | Sona by QuoPartlyEscalation is real but is something you author: a job instruction can detect the… | AI ReceptionistYesEmergency recognition is a documented behaviour: the vendor says it triages urgent calls… |
| Texts your callers | Sona by QuoYesA Send SMS action texts the live caller from the same business number, and a separate… | AI ReceptionistYesCallers can text the same number and hold a full SMS conversation answered from the same… |
| Call summary by text | Sona by QuoPartlySummaries and transcripts land in the Quo inbox immediately and can be pushed to email or… | AI ReceptionistYesYou can get per-call alerts by SMS as well as email, with a daily SMS and email digest as… |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | Sona by QuoPartlyEnglish, Spanish and French | AI ReceptionistYes57 languages |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | Sona by QuoPartlyA BAA is signed on both paid plans, but the vendor carves texting out of covered services… | AI ReceptionistNoNo BAA today on any plan: the vendor lists HIPAA compliance and Business Associate… |
| Hear it before you buy | Sona by QuoYesA public demo line is published so you can hear Sona before signing up, and inside the… | AI ReceptionistYesThree live demo receptionists are published with their phone numbers and suggested… |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | Sona by QuoYesQuo's own integrations directory lists CRMs, field-service and automation tools but no… | AI ReceptionistYesGoogle Calendar is the only calendar it books into, included from the $14 plan up |
| Outlook | Sona by QuoYesQuo's own integrations directory lists CRMs, field-service and automation tools but no… | AI ReceptionistYesthe vendor says support for other calendar platforms is still to come, and names no… |
| Calendly | Sona by QuoYesQuo's own integrations directory lists CRMs, field-service and automation tools but no… | AI ReceptionistYesthe vendor says support for other calendar platforms is still to come, and names no… |
| Your trade’s software | Sona by QuoYesTrade systems are covered directly - Jobber (including a Sona action that files a request… | AI ReceptionistNot stated |
| Keep your number | Sona by QuoYesQuo lists basic and advanced call forwarding on both plans and documents routing calls… | AI ReceptionistYesYou keep your existing line and forward it with carrier star codes, documented per… |
| Our verdict | ||
| In short | Sona by QuoSona is the AI voice agent built into Quo (formerly OpenPhone), a business phone system, answering inbound calls day and night. It is dropped into a Quo call flow, where it answers questions, takes messages, texts callers and transfers to staff.All answers for Sona by Quo | AI ReceptionistAI Receptionist is a 24/7 AI phone answering service for small businesses and solo operators. It greets callers, answers their questions from your own business information, books appointments, screens spam and sends you a summary of every call.All answers for AI Receptionist |
| Checked | Sona by QuoOctober 14, 2026 | AI ReceptionistOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price